Wayne Catallano, a top trainer at Arlington Park and all of the Midwest, showed immense confidence in Solitary Ranger by entering the talented 2-year-old son of U S Ranger as a maiden in Chicago’s prestigious $150,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity VIDEO Sept. 7.
It turns out he knew exactly the kind of colt he had.
Solitary Ranger – who was also making his first start in over four months since a pair of solid runner-up finishes at Keeneland – broke his maiden in a big way in Saturday’s Futurity, stalking the early pace before kicking well clear of his rivals en route to a powerful 5 ½-length score in the one-mile event. The final time was 1:38.17 over the local Polytrack.
The win was impressive enough for Catallano to confirm the colt would be pointed to either the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) or Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) in November at Santa Anita. That path could take Solitary Ranger through Lexington to prep in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) next month.
Bred by Richard Forbush and the U S Ranger Syndicate, Solitary Ranger moved his earnings to $109,000 with his maiden-breaking triumph, giving him a record of 1-2-0 from three starts for owner Susan Moulton. The dark bay colt hails from the Lil E. Tee mare Galileo’s Star, and he is from the first crop of his sire U S Ranger.