Romans Seeks Second Win in AP Million

Dale Romans captured the GI Arlington Million in 2012 with Little Mike (Spanish Steps) and hopes to repeat on Saturday with Jerry Crawford homebred Finnegan’s Wake (Powerscourt {GB}). 
    This is not the hard-knocking bay’s first trip to Arlington’s biggest weekend of racing. He was second in the 2012 GI Secretariat S. and fourth in last year’s Arlington Million. Though he has hit the board in several other graded stakes, he achieved his first graded success last time in the GIII Arlington H. July 12. 
    “He runs hard almost every time and he is a horse that is the victim of how the race runs a lot of times,” Romans commented during an NTRA teleconference yesterday. “I was glad for him to get that win at Arlington last time. The Classic is a good one to have on your resume. He has only won a couple times in his life, but he has made over $600,000 by grinding it out with some of the best horses in the country.” 
    With his Arlington Classic pilot Victor Espinoza choosing to remain in California this weekend, Finnegan’s Wake gets a new rider in European standout Ryan Moore. When asked about the rider change, Romans simply stated, “Espinoza wasn’t coming. We were sitting around the table when it was time for pre-entries and when one of the top five jockeys in the world is available, you use them.” 
    The Arlington Classic was Finnegan’s Wake’s first win since a Churchill allowance in 2012, but Romans is confident his charge will be up to the task Saturday. 
    “If things go his way, this horse is going to run really big on Saturday,” the affable trainer said. “He had as good a work as he’s ever had on Sunday [breezing five furlongs in 1:00.40 on the Chuchill Downs main track]. The Arlington Classic, I hope, was the breakthrough we were looking for with him. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with at a price.” 
    Romans added, “To me [the Arlington Million] is the greatest turf race in America. I have always been a big fan since John Henry and The Bart hit the wire together and I still say The Bart should have won. It was a race I always wanted to win and Little Mike got me there. Now I want to win it twice and I want to do it with ‘Finnegan’ and Jerry Crawford.”