Block taking his shots in turf stakes

Trainers Wayne Catalano and Chris Block occupy the center of two Illinois-bred turf stakes Saturday at Arlington.

Block has three entrants in the $75,000-added Black Tie Affair Handicap, but Catalano’s lone runner, Christian C, rates a narrow edge.

In the $75,000 Mike Spellman Memorial Handicap, the Catalano-trained One Liz would look strong but for the presence of the Block-trained Prado’s Sweet Ride.

Both races are carded at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The Black Tie Affair comes first as race 5; the female-restricted Spellman is carded as race 7. The National Weather Service forecasts a 20 percent chance of rain Saturday, but Friday night could bring thunderstorms that soften the course.

Wet ground would not be ideal for Prado’s Sweet Ride, who was third as the even-money favorite in the 2017 Spellman while racing on a yielding course.

“I’d prefer it firm,” Block said. “On good turf she’s okay; real soft, she doesn’t run her best.”

Six-year-old Prado’s Sweet Ride is the 124-pound starting highweight, giving three pounds to One Liz and two to Lovely Loyree, who won this race last year and can’t at all be discounted Saturday. Prado’s Sweet Ride, however, is a solid Grade 3-type mare who got in a useful dirt race against males in late April at Hawthorne, a prep for the Spellman.

“I think she got a lot of benefit out of that race, and her works subsequently have been what I was hoping for,” Block said. “I’d be surprised if she didn’t run a good race.”

One Liz was up to win a May 25 Polytrack sprint allowance race, her first start of the season, and could improve second time out. She’ll at least be a pace factor and is drawn outside Lovely Loyree, who has done much of her best work racing on or near the lead. Lovely Loyree faced some of North America’s top female grass horses in two Tampa races this spring and won this race last year returning from an 11-month layoff.

Cammack was beaten threequarters of a length in the 2017 Black Tie Affair after Oak Brook got an easy lead on a wet course. Block said he’s confident he has Cammack, an 8-year-old with six Arlington turf wins, ready to roll in his first start since December, but Cammack shoulders 125 pounds Saturday and the seven pounds he gives Christian C might be too much.

Christian C, a lightly raced 5-year-old by Kitalpha, won four times last summer at Arlington before ending his campaign with an 11th in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile and a better sixth in the Grade 3 River City. He was a well-beaten seventh last month in the Grade 3 Hanshin, a one-turn Polytrack mile at Arlington, a race that should have him set for his best in the Black Tie Affair.