ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (July 5, 2008) – Frank Calabrese’s Dreaming of Liz wore blinkers for the first time and led every step of the way en route to a neck victory in the $53,300 Sweetest Chant Stakes at Arlington Park on Saturday. With Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires in the irons, the Wayne Catalano-trained daughter of Silver Maiden covered the mile and a sixteenth over Polytrack in 1:46.45.

“I got on her the other day and she acted like the blinkers would really help her,” said Catalano, the meet’s leading trainer. “In the turf race (the American 1000 Guineas in May), she grabbed herself, stumbled pretty good and took a shoe off, so we don’t really have a line on her on the grass yet.”

The 3-year-old filly, who captured the Grade III Arlington-Washington Lassie as a 2-year-old last September, posted fractions of 24.73 seconds, 49.43 seconds, 1:14.06 and 1:38.98 while gamely holding off a strong late bid from runner-up Temper Temper in the final sixteenth.

The Sweetest Chant was her second stakes victory of the current meet as she took the opening day $56,100 Double Delta Stakes. Overall, she is four for 10 with all four of her tallies coming over Arlington’s synthetic surface. She picked up a winner’s share of $31,980 to boost her bankroll to $173,950 for her owner-breeder.

It was another 4 ½ lengths back to 2-1 favorite Choragus, who was third in the eight-horse field, followed by A to the Croft, Elle Tish Slew, Tiz to Dream, Yankee Doodle Girl and Distorted Passion.

Sent off as the 7-2 second choice, Dreaming of Liz returned $9, $5 and $3.80. Temper Temper paid $17.40 and $7.20. Choragus paid $3.

Arlington Park – the Chicago area’s premier Thoroughbred racetrack located in Arlington Heights, Ill. – will run a 96-day meet in 2008 from Friday, May 2 through Sunday, Sept. 21. Arlington Park, whose parent company is Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq: CHDN), also operates 11 off-track, simulcast-wagering facilities – Trackside Arlington Park (Arlington Heights), Trackside Chicago, Trackside Quad City Downs (East Moline), Trackside Rockford, Trackside Waukegan, Fat Sam’s Bar & Grill featuring Trackside OTB in Lockport, Lucky’s featuring Trackside OTB in South Elgin, Nicolino’s featuring Trackside OTB in McHenry, Tad’s Sports Bar & Grill featuring Trackside OTB in South Beloit, Rookies featuring Trackside OTB in Homewood and Salerno-Pincente Ristorante featuring Trackside OTB in Hodgkins. Information on Arlington Park can be found online at http://www.arlingtonpark.com.