Another Million Disappointment for Trainer

It was yet another disappointing second-place result for UK-based trainer Mike de Kock in the Arlington Million, and he’d likely be hard-pressed to decide which was worse. In 2008, his horse, the French-bred Archipenko was the favorite for the Million but ran into traffic trouble. He fought his way through and made a determined charge for the wire, only to lose by ¾ of a length to long-shot Spirit One. This year, de Kock watched as his 7-1 entry, The Apache, finished first, only to be disqualified to second.

Leader bumps the closer in deep stretch

Out of the gate a step slow, The Apache – with veteran European rider Christophe Soumillon in the tack – settled into the pack in fifth-place early through the first mile of the 1 ¼ mile race, but only a length off the lead of defending champion Little Mike. Catching that one at the top of the straight, The Apache surged to a head lead. Meanwhile, Real Solution was launching his bid from sixth, and drawing a bead on the front-runner. Under left-hand urging, The Apache came out into the path of Real Solution and made contact.

de Kock agrees with stewards' decision on reversal

At the wire it was The Apache by a head, followed by Real Solution two lengths in front of Side Glance. The jockey on Real Solution, Alan Garcia, filed a claim of foul and after a review, the stewards reversed the order of finish for the top two. After watching the replay, de Kock told reporters that he agreed with the stewards’ decision. The change cost the connections of The Apache $372,000, the difference between first place and second place in the $1,000,000 event.  The Million was the first graded or group-stakes victory for Real Solution in four tries.