East Meets West in Arlington's Pucker Up

Edited from Arlington Park reports
Ticker Tape, a grade I stakes winner on the West Coast, and Green Hills Farm's Spotlight, a grade II winner in the East, converge in the Midwest at Arlington Park as they headline an overflow field of 13 entered for Saturday's $200,000 Pucker Up Stakes (gr. IIIT). The Pucker Up, for sophomore fillies, will be run at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

A British-bred, Ticker Tape comes to Arlington off a second-place finish as the 2-1 favorite in the grade I Del Mar Oaks in Southern California. In that nine-furlong race, the James Cassidy trainee rallied three wide in the stretch to take the lead at the eighth-pole but was caught in the final strides by Amorama. Prior to that, she upset her rivals with a similar move in the 1 1/4-mile American Oaks (gr. IT) at Hollywood Park on July 3. Her regular rider, Kent Desormeaux, will make the trip to Arlington to guide Ticker Tape on Saturday.

Her main competition will come from Spotlight, who is undefeated in two starts since coming to America from her native England earlier this year. In her most recent start, the Christophe Clement-trained filly stalked the pace and rallied in the lane to win the grade II Lake Placid Handicap at Saratoga under Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey. With Bailey on the sidelines with a broken wrist, the mount on Ticker Tape will go to Arlington Park's leading jockey Rene Douglas.

Field for the Pucker Up Stakes, in post position order, with weight and jockey:
1--Bonanza Jellybean, 116, Earlie Fires
2--Sister Swank, 116, Frank Lovato, Jr.
3 -- Erhu, 116, Tommy Molina
4--Key To The Cat, 116, Daniel Coa
5--Code Of Ethics, 116, Eusebio Razo, Jr.
6--Humorous Miss, 118, James Graham
7--Unbridled Echo, 116, Jesse Campbell
8--Dancing Liebling, 116, Larry Sterling, Jr.
9 -- Lenatareese, 120, Brice Blanc Brice
10--Ticker Tape, 122, Kent Desormeaux
11--Ms. Lydonia, 116, Christopher Emigh
12 -- Spotlight, 122, Rene Douglas
13--Skip Poker, 116, Carlos Marquez, Jr.