Dance To The Star Takes Mount Elbert

It was supposed to be a tight battle between past winners on Saturday at Arapahoe Park, when Wally Van and Dance To The Star hooked up in the $40,000 Mount Elbert Stakes, a 1 1/16 miles test for Colorado-breds. Dance To The Star had won the race in 2010 and again last year, while Wally Van had come out on top in 2011, with Dance To The Star second. There was no reason to believe they wouldn’t battle it out again, and went off as 6/5 co-favorites.

Leads from the start, wins going away

In the end, however, Dance To The Star made it clear he wasn’t giving up the title this year, cruising to a 5 ¾-length win over Magical Twist, with Wally Van another half-length back in third. It was Dance To The Star’s second win at the meet, and fifth stakes victory of his career. In 28 lifetime starts, the Ken Gleason-trained gelding has eight firsts, three seconds and three thirds. For Wally Van, it was another disappointing effort, as he has been unable to score a stakes win in seven tries, since winning the 2012 Aspen.

Arapahoe Park Classic now $100,000 race

In other big news coming out of Arapahoe, the track has announced it is doubling the purse for the Arapahoe Park Classic, for three-year-olds to be run on August 11, 2013. By increasing the value of the race from $50,000 to $100,000, Arapahoe will now present two $100,000 races this summer, with the six-furlong Gold Rush Futurity for two-year-olds on August 18, 2013 the other. It’s the first time that Arapahoe will offer two six-figure purses at one meet, and will make the 2013 Classic the richest in race history.