Arrest Me Red receives class relief, cutback in distance in Atlantic Beach

by Ryan Martin

Following a fifth in his two-turn debut, Arrest Me Red will cut back to six furlongs on the outer turf in search of a stakes victory in Friday's $100,000 Atlantic Beach on Opening Day of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Owned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stable, Arrest Me Red was fifth beaten four lengths last out to Mutasaabeq in the Grade 2 Bourbon on October 4 at Keeneland after a successful career debut sprinting on August 27 at Laurel Park, winning by 4 ½ lengths over a turf course rated good.

"He ran well first out on the soft turf at Laurel," Delacour said. "We went and took a shot against a tough field at Keeneland. I was a little disappointed that he didn't finish better, but we know he likes to sprint, and I like the distance for him."

Arrest Me Red recently blitzed through a half-mile in 48 flat over the all-weather surface at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Maryland on Sunday morning. Last week, the son of Pioneerof the Nile went five furlongs in a swift 59 flat.

"He's been very impressive over the Tapeta at Fair Hill," Delacour said. "That's why we tried turf with him first, even though he has some dirt in his pedigree. He breezed once over the dirt at Keeneland and did well, so dirt is something we could try in the future."

A Kentucky homebred, Arrest Me Red is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Maraschino Red - the dam of stakes winner Hidden Treat, who also was trained by Delacour.

"She won first out and she was a decent stakes-caliber filly," Delacour recalled. "They are both quality horses. Right now, we just want to give him the experience. He should be a much better 3-year-old."

Jockey Hector Diaz, Jr. will be aboard Arrest Me Red from post 1.

Trainer Christophe Clement sends out a pair of recent New York-bred maiden winners in Chrome Dixie [post 8, Kendrick Carmouche] and Phantom Smoke [post 9, Eric Cancel].

Owned by Darlene Bilinski and Harry Patten, Chrome Dixie was fifth to subsequent stakes winner Step Dancer in a September 4 maiden event at Saratoga, which was contested over a Mellon turf rated good and showed a new dimension in his following start on October 11 at Belmont Park going six furlongs, winning in wire-to-wire fashion over the Widener turf at Belmont.

A homebred, Chrome Dixie is by two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome and out of the Dixie Union mare My Dixie Doodle - a black-type producer.

West Point Thoroughbreds and New Phoenix Stable, Stephen Rocco and Daniel Burke's Phantom Smoke backed up his favoritism on debut winning by 1 ¼ lengths on October 4 over a firm inner turf at Belmont Park.

Bred in New York by Kathleen Schweizer and Daniel Burke, the son of Ghostzapper was bought for $200,000 from the OBS March Sale and is the first progeny out of the Street Sense mare Smoke Signals.

"They both won last time out and it may be ambitious on paper, but they look great and everything has been fine, so we'll see what happens. The race is there, so let's go," Clement said.

Trainer George Weaver also will have a pair of runners, including Whatmakessammyrun, who arrives off a sensational maiden triumph going seven furlongs over the Widener turf last out.

Owned by Sterling Racing, the son of We Miss Artie registered an 87 Beyer Speed Figure for the 8 ¾-length victory in the restricted maiden event, which came after a distant sixth in an off-the-turf maiden event on August 22 at Saratoga.

Jockey Trevor McCarthy will be aboard from post 4.

R. A. Hill Stable and BlackRidge Stable's Texas Basin will be going back to the turf after a second out maiden triumph over the main track for Weaver. The son of veteran sire Successful Appeal was sixth beaten 4 ¾ lengths on debut to eventual graded stakes winner Second of July and followed up with a last-to-first win at second asking.

Jockey Nik Juarez will pilot Texas Basin from post 7.

Completing the field are Light Us Up [post 2, Pablo Morales], Town of Gold [post 3, Reylu Gutierrez], Trade Deal [post 5, Cristian Torres] and Lookin for Loki [post 6, Luis Reyes].

The Atlantic Beach is slated as Race 9 on Opening Day's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 11:15 a.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the Aqueduct fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

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