Illinois Stakes Day Saturday at Arlington

Illinois-breds will be front-and-center this weekend at Arlington Park as the track plays host to a pair of feature stakes races for both fillies and colts bred in the state. Saturday will see the running of both the Lincoln Heritage Handicap for fillies, as well as the Black Tie Affair open to all runners three-years-old and up. Both races are run over the Arlington turf course at 1 1/16 miles, and offer a purse of $100,000. Post time for racing is 1:00 PM ET on June 15, 2013.

La Tia and Goldway rivalry renewed Heritage Handicap

The field for the Lincoln Heritage will be led by Hernandez Racing Club’s La Tia. After breaking her maiden at Arlington last July, the four-year-old daughter of City Place has won four of her last six starts, including the Grade III Arlington Oaks last year. She most recenty went wire to wire in winning an $80,000 Allowance race at Arlington in mid-May, and now holds a record of five wins and a third in 10 lifetime starts.  The second place finisher in that race, Goldway, will once again take her on in the Lincoln Heritage.

Illinois champions battle in Black Tie Affair Stakes

Two horses voted as Illinois-bred three-year-old champions in seasons past will battle it out in the Black Tie Affair. The lightly raced Suntracer, a five-year-old son of Kitten’s Joy, has two open stakes victories to his credit  in five starts for his career. He’ll be challenged by The Pizza Man, who is 7-for-10 lifetime, including 5-for-6 at Arlington, and who holds career earnings of almost $250,000. Nine horse are expected to go postward for the Black Tie Affair, while six thoroughbreds will contest the Lincoln Heritage.