Juveniles Send Off 2004 Arlington Park Season

A pair of grade III stakes for 2-year-olds--the $200,000 Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Futurity and the $100,000 Arlington-Washington Lassie--will bring the curtain down on the Arlington Park meet Sept. 19. Six colts are entered in the Futurity, and nine fillies in the Lassie.

Thunderhead Farms' Rocky River, undefeated in two starts, looks to keep his streak intact in the Futurity at one mile around one turn. Rocky River, a Florida-bred by Concorde's Tune, won the Spectacular Bid Stakes by 4 3/4 lengths.

Trained by Don Von Hemel, Rocky River drilled five furlongs in :58.80 Sept. 12 in preparation for the Futurity. Chris Emigh is named at 119 pounds.

James Hines Jr.'s Elusive Chris, winner of the James C. Ellis Juvenile Stakes at Ellis Park in his last start, is the 122-pound highweight. The Elusive Quality   colt, trained by Bob Holthus, will be ridden by John McKee.

In the one-mile Lassie, OFER Stables' Kota, another Ellis Park stakes winner, seeks her second consecutive victory. Trained by Holthus, Kota finished second in the Silver Maiden Stakes at Arlington earlier in the meet. McKee has the call on the Indian Charlie filly, who will carry 118 pounds.

Naveed Chowhan's Runway Model, who just fell short of winning the Bassinet Stakes at River Downs with a strong late run, also in entered in the Lassie. By Petionville  , Runway Model is trained by Bernie Flint and will be ridden by Robby Albarado.

The Futurity is the sixth race on the Arlington program, and the Lassie the ninth event. Here are the fields, in post-position order, with jockeys and weights:

Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Futurity

1 Elusive Chris John McKee 122 pounds
2 Straight Line Carlos Marquez 119
3 Santana Strings Emanuel Cosme 117
4 Rocky River Chris Emigh 119
5 Exceptional Ride Robby Albarado 117
6 Three Hour Nap Eusebio Razo Jr. 119

Arlington-Washington Lassie

1 Bubble N Squeak Emigh 116
2 Culinary Marquez 116
3 Runway Model Albarado 118
4 My Three Sisters Jesse Campbell 118
5 Mary Alex Rene Douglas 116
6 Patience Pays Razo 116
7 Kota McKee 118
8 Lady Dynasty Carlos Silva 116
9 Queansco Tim Doocy 118