ARCTIC conditions at Aqueduct forced the New York Racing Association to cancel racing and shift the $250,000 Grade 3 Withers Stakes on a week to last Saturday.

It made no difference to the Brad Cox-trained Hit Show as he pulled away in the stretch and posted a convincing five-and-a-half-length victory over Arctic Arrogance in the first mile-and-half-a-furlong Kentucky Derby prep for three-year-olds in New York.

The victory on his stakes race debut, put the Gary and Mary West-owned Hit Show fourth on the leaderboard for one of 20 spots in the starting gate for the May 6th Kentucky Derby.

“We’ve known from the start he would stretch out and be at his best around two turns, and I’m proud of what he was able to accomplish.

“He needs to get bigger and stronger and continue his march to the Kentucky Derby,” Cox said on BloodHorse. The Tapit colt posted his third win in four starts. The Wood Memorial is his next likely outing.

“He’s a Tapit colt and that line is very strong in New York. They run well at all the tracks and especially the Belmont Stakes. He’s a nice colt, and with distance, the more the better for him,” Cox added. The trainer now has five Derby prep wins from his barn with Hit Show, Instant Coffee (32 points), Jace’s Road (15), and Victory Formation (10).

Linda Rice’s second placed and beaten favourite Arctic Arrogance, second last year in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes, is now bound for the March 4th Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at a one-turn mile.

El Camino

On the west coast, connections of Chase The Chaos enjoyed victory in another Derby - the $101,350 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields last Saturday.

Jockey Armando Ayuso punched the air the Pennsylvania-bred son of Astern ran down seven rivals to secure his first stakes score by a length and a half and poicked up 10 Derby qualifying points.

Horses trained by Baffert are ineligible for points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby due to a suspension handed out to him by Churchill Downs Inc. after the Medina Spirt positive drug tests and his two starters, Gilmore (second) and Nullarbor (fifth), were not awarded any points here.

Arlington sale complete

THE sale of the 326 acres of the former famed Arlington International Racecourse as property to the NFL’s Chicago Bears for $197.2 million was completed this week.

It is expected the Bears may use the property to build a new stadium or negotiate a better deal on their current home stadium, Soldier Field, in Chicago.

Owners Churchill Downs Inc. had previously sold Hollywood Park in 2005 to the Bay Meadows Land Company for a reported $257.7 million; the now SoFi Stadium is home to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.

Arlington Racecourse initially opened in 1927 and in the 1980s the Arlington Classic Stakes, became one of the top races in the country for three-year-olds.

Arlington was the first racetrack to offer the world’s first $1 million race for Thoroughbreds and the Arlington Million would become the track’s signature race. It began in 1981 and is still held to this day, but has been moved; most recently to Churchill Downs with plans to conduct the race this year at Colonial Downs.

In 1985 the clubhouse was destroyed by fire, but the track was able to pull off the Arlington Million the following month.

The track closed for two seasons in 1998 and 1999 before transferring ownership from the late Richard Duchossois to CDI in 2000.

Asmussen hits landmark for career wins

TRAINER Steve Asmussen is expected to reach another career milestone this weekend, two years after setting the record for North American wins for a trainer.

Asmussen began the week with 9,997 North American wins and also has two wins overseas – including Curlin’s victory in the 2008 Dubai World Cup. This give him at an grand total of 9,999 career wins.

Asmussen moved to 9,997 within three wins of 10,000 in North America when Spoiler won a maiden special weight last Sunday at Sam Houston.

Asmussen picked up the chase yesterday as he had a number of horses entered at Oaklawn Park and Fair Grounds.