Local Flavor Reigns Supreme in Million

Facing some higher-profile North American-based runners and a five-strong European contingent, local hope The Pizza Man (English Channel) rewarded his connections’ confidence to become the first-ever Illinois-bred to win the GI Arlington Million while stamping his ticket to the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf later in the year. Cross-entered in the GIII American St. Leger earlier on the card, the last-out GIII Stars and Stripes S. winner was backed down to 5-1 from a 10-1 morning line and split the field in the early going as Shining Copper (Aragorn {Ire}), a rabbit for co-favored Big Blue Kitten (Kitten’s Joy), did his job up front. Guided out into the clear along the home turn, the fan favorite was met with an audible roar from the crowd when track announcer John Dooley said his name. He seemed to find another gear at that point, and started to chip away at the pacesetter’s advantage. Up With the Birds (Stormy Atlantic) snuck up the rail inside of that rival, and Big Blue Kitten came flying outside of The Pizza Man, but The Pizza Man gobbled up ground under left-handed encouragement from Florent Geroux to deliver the popular victory by a neck over Big Blue Kitten. Shining Copper managed to hold third over Up With the Birds.

“I always have confidence when I ride him,” said Florent Geroux, who also pilots last year’s champion sprinter Work All Week (City Zip) for Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds and trainer Roger Brueggemann. “He knows where the wire is and he knows how to win. But I had no horse the whole way. It looked like he was struggling a little bit over the very soft track, but when I took him outside, he’s all heart… he grabbed the bit again and I was like, ‘Oh boy, he’s going for a big one here.'” Of his popularity, Geroux added, “He’s a local horse. Even going to the track, we had a lot of people cheering for us… He’s just a very special horse who loves to win. There aren’t many like this, but we have two in the stable with this guy and Work All Week. I’d like to give credit to trainer Roger Bruegemman, because these are two very different horses. We have The Pizza Man who’s going very long on the turf, and we have the fastest sprinter in the country too.”

Saturday, Arlington Park
ARLINGTON MILLION XXXIII S.-GI, $1,000,000, AP, 8-15, 3yo/up, 1 1/4mT, 2:02.20, yl.
1–&THE PIZZA MAN, 126, g, 6, by English Channel
1st Dam: I Can Fan Fan (MSP, $182,993), by Lear Fan
2nd Dam: Flower Circle, by Lieutenant’s Lark
3rd Dam: Social Circle, by Circle
O/B-Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc (IL); T-Roger A.
Brueggemann; J-Florent Geroux. $558,000. Lifetime
Record: 23-15-1-2, $1,458,537. Werk Nick Rating:
C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Big Blue Kitten, 126, r, 7, Kitten’s Joy–Spent Gold,
by Unaccounted For. O/B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K.
Ramsey (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $186,000.

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3–Shining Copper, 126, g, 5, Aragorn (Ire)–La Minuta
(Chi), by Winged Victory. O-Kenneth L. & Sarah K.
Ramsey; B-International Equities Holding, Inc. (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown. $93,000.

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Margins: NK, 3/4, 1HF. Odds: 5.90, 3.00, 27.10.
Also Ran: Up With the Birds, Elleval (Ire), Wake Forest (Ger), Belgian Bill (GB), Slumber (GB), Bookrunner, Quiet Force, Triple Threat (Fr), Legendary (GB), Maverick Wave.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

The Pizza Man sported a 12-9-1-1 record over the Arlington Park turf course, and reeled off three-straight wins here to kick off his 5-year-old campaign, including scores in last year’s running of the Stars and Stripes and in the then-ungraded American St. Leger 12 months ago. He was fifth and sixth, respectively, when trying deeper waters in Woodbines’s GI Northern Dancer S. in September and GI Canadian International in October, but was a close third behind 2015 GISW Finnegans Wake (Powerscourt {GB}) in the GII Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar Nov. 27. He resurfaced to take Churchill’s Opening Verse S., and successfuly defended his Stars and Stripes title July 11 by a neck over St. Leger fourth Roman Approval (Roman Ruler).

“It’s very emotional,” admitted the soft-spoken Roger Brueggemann. “He deserved to be here.”

Of whether or not he might be seen at Keeneland for the BC Turf Oct. 31, Richard Papiese quipped, “It’s possible. First we have to read the paper and see if we belong there.”

Richard Papiese owns and operates Midwest Store Fixtures, a major provider of custom-made retail merchandising displays. Midwest Thoroughbreds has led all owners by wins in every year since 2010, and currently stands atop the leaderboard for this year. Papiese claimed The Pizza Man’s dam for $18,000 at Arlington in 2005. Winless in two more starts for him, The Pizza Man was her third and final foal to race.