Maple Lane Farm's Ariana D, third in each of her last two trips postward, has accepted high impost of 121 pounds for her engagement in the $150,000 Chicago Handicap (gr. III) June 30 at Arlington Park.
The seven-furlong event attracted a field of eight other older fillies and mares.
A daughter of Rock Slide , Ariana D makes her second straight stakes start over the Arlington oval after posting a third-place finish going 1 1/16 miles in the Arlington Matron (gr. III) May 26. The 6-year-old mare was bumped at the break before making a three-wide bid to pick up the show money. Trained by Andrew McKeever, she should relish the turn back in distance as she is three-for-six at seven panels, including a score in the $100,000 Avowal Stakes at Woodbine last October.
Ariana D also made a game account for herself April 12 with a third in the Vinery Madison Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland, her first start in grade I company. Willie Martinez will ride the highweight, who spots her rivals from four to seven pounds.
Second in the weights at 117 pounds is James Miller's Honey Chile. The daughter of Invisible Ink, trained by Wayne Catalano, looks to rebound off a seventh-place finish after contesting the pace in the June 12 Winning Colors (gr. III) going six furlongs at Churchill Downs. Prior to that, she led late in the May 12 Unbridled Sidney Stakes on the Churchill lawn before giving way to finish third. Quincy Hamilton has been named to ride the 4-year-old filly in her upcoming test.
William Clifton Jr.'s East Coast invader Kitty in a Tizzy has shipped from New York for the Arlington headliner. The well-traveled Tiznow mare has started at four different tracks all sporting synthetic surfaces over the last two years. She comes off a fourth-place finish in the April 22 Whimsical Stakes (gr. III) at Woodbine. Trained by H. James Bond, the 5-year-old mare has been assigned 116 pounds for the Chicago Handicap and will be ridden by Arlington's leading jockey Francisco Torres.
Others entered in the Chicago Handicap include Lunar Mist, winner of the 2011 Firecracker Stakes at Mountaineer, recent allowance winners Maude S and Brilliant Future (the former owned by Jerry Jamgotchian, the latter owned by John Jain, Lawrence Opas & Frank R. K. Sinatra), and Olympia Star's Hemera, fourth in the Arlington Matron last time out.
$150,000 Chicago Handicap (gr. III, Race 8, Post Time 4:45 p.m. ET), fillies & mares 3yo & up, 7 furlongs
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1.Kitty in a Tizzy (KY), F.C. Torres, 116, H J Bond
2. Ariana D (PA), W. Martinez, 121, A McKeever
3. Dontbeshy I'll Buy (KY), R. B. Homeister Jr., 117, E R Reed
4. Honey Chile (FL), Q. Hamilton, 117, W M Catalano
5. Lady Chesterfield (KY), J. Graham, 114, M Stidham
6. Brilliant Future (KY), E.T. Baird, 115, J Scott
7. Maude S (KY), J. Sanchez, 115, J P DiVito
8. Hemera (KY), F. Giles, 114, G Dorochenko
9. Lunar Mist (VA), J. E. Felix, 115, E R Reed
