The Pizza Man, a 6YO gelding by English Channel, was his sire’s second G1 winner, scoring a victory in the Grade 1 Arlington Million over Big Blue Kitten.

Below article via BloodHorse.com:

“Headline writers have enjoyed the easy puns with Illinois-bred The Pizza Man throughout his career, penning “The Pizza Man Delivers” and “The Pizza Man Gets the Dough” as he galloped to victory in minor races.

But the 6-year-old English Channel gelding gave them the biggest opportunity of all to write his name when he turned back multiple grade I winner Big Blue Kitten in the $1 million Arlington Million (gr. IT) Aug. 15 at Arlington International Racecourse, becoming the first from the Prairie State to win his home track’s marquee race.

A homebred running for Midwest Thoroughbreds, The Pizza Man was sent off at 5-1 in a field of 13 runners, his odds no doubt shortened by local spirit rather than based upon his July 11 victory over the course in the Stars and Stripes Stakes (gr. IIIT).

Midpack early on behind pacesetter Shining Copper, he gave jockey Florent Geroux a few anxious moments on the turf course that earlier in the day had been softened by rain.

“I’m always confident when I ride him, he loves to win and knows where the wire is,” Geroux said. “But I had no horse the whole way. It looked like he was struggling over the very soft track.

“But when I put him outside he started to hold up and grabbed the bit again and I was thinking ‘Oh boy, he’s going for a big one here!’ He is a local horse and even going to the track there was a lot of people cheering for us, and I’d like to thank them.”

The Pizza Man made a strong closing move and took over to get 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.20 on yielding turf for trainer Roger Brueggemann. Big Blue Kitten rallied five wide willingly but missed by a neck, while Shining Copper held three-quarters of a length back in third.”
Read the full article on BloodHorse.com.

photo by Four Footed Fotos