Kasaqui taking familiar route

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Kasaqui, a sharp winner of the Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes on Saturday night at Churchill Downs, is likely to make his next start July 8 at Arlington in the Arlington Handicap.

Trainer Ignacio Correas, who has strings at Arlington and Keeneland this summer, said Kasaqui appeared to have come out of his Wise Dan win in good shape, but that he would know more later this week. After he races, Kasaqui spends four or five days at Greenfield Farm near Lexington, Ky. Kasaqui is due to return to Correas’s barn at Keeneland on Friday.

“That’s my intention, to run in the Arlington Handicap,” Correas said. “If he looks like he did when he left for the farm, I think we’ll do both races.”

By both races, Correas means the Arlington Handicap and the Arlington Million on Aug. 13. Last year, Kasaqui won the Handicap and finished second by a neck to Mondialiste in the Million.

Kasaqui, a 7-year-old Argentine-bred, ran one of his best races in the Wise Dan, which he won by almost three lengths after making a strong run to the lead before the quarter pole. He equaled his career-best Beyer Speed Figure, a 102, while posting his first win since the Arlington Handicap last year.

Kasaqui had run well enough to win the Tampa Bay Stakes and the Mervin Muniz Memorial earlier this year – he finished second in both – but lacked the good fortune he found Saturday.

“In turf racing, so much is about the trip,” said Correas. “Everything went his way this time.”

Correas said he also plans to send a second horse for Million Preview Day, another Argentine import named Dona Bruja. The 5-year-old mare, a Group 1 winner in South America, made her U.S. debut June 10 in the Mint Julep Handicap and won it impressively, beating the sharp mare Believe in Bertie by 1 1/2 lengths and, like Kasaqui, earning a 102 Beyer. Dona Bruja will start here July 8 in the Modesty Handicap as her connections eye the Grade 1 Beverly D. on Aug. 13.

Probably the best horse Correas currently stables at Arlington is the twice-started 3-year-old Malraux, who won a May 10 off-the-turf Arlington maiden sprint by nearly 10 lengths. Correas said he passed on a first-level allowance this week in order to give Malraux a little more time between starts, and that he is pointing Malraux to the $100,000 Quick Call Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf Aug. 9 at Saratoga.

Options for Oak Brook

Oak Brook came out of his 17-1 upset win Saturday in the Black Tie Affair Handicap in good shape, trainer Brian Williamson said, and will make his next start either in the Arlington Handicap on July 8 or the Warrior Veterans Stakes at Indiana Grand on July 15.

Oak Brook won Saturday for the first time in more than a year and got a 94 Beyer Speed Figure after wiring the Black Tie Affair on a very soft turf course. Two summers ago, Oak Brook finished second by a neck in a $75,000 turf stakes at Indiana Grand.

Meanwhile, Williamson said that Streamline, the multiple graded stakes-winning dirt mare he trains, is out of action indefinitely after being diagnosed with what seems to be a growth on her ovary. Williamson had been pointing Streamline to the Fleur de Lis Handicap last weekend at Churchill Downs when blood tests showed signs of an irregularity.

Williamson said no surgery would be performed on Streamline until ovarian swelling receded, but that Streamline’s prognosis was good, and that she might be able to race again late this summer.

“I think it’s going to be okay,” Williamson said. “It looks like we got it early enough.”

Streamline, an Illinoisbred by Straight Line, won the Grade 2 Azeri at Oaklawn this year and most recently finished third in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill.

◗ Friday’s nine-race Arlington card is a decent one, but it lacks higher-end races. The nominal feature, race 2, is a first-level Polytrack sprint allowance that’s also open to $18,000 claimers.