Goal: Avoid bummer of '06 in summer of '08

Arlington hoping momentum from 2007 carries over

The song remains the same at Arlington Park -- and the song is ''Wishin' and Hopin'.''

Track management continues to wish the state of Illinois would grant it the right to operate ultra-profitable slot machines. And it continues to hope it will have no reoccurrence of its nightmarish 2006 season, when an extended run of catastrophic horse breakdowns publicly waylaid the image of the emerald oval.

All hopes, wishes and waylaying move into the 2008 starting gate Friday, when Arlington begins its 96-matinee summer season. First post for opening day is 2:30 p.m., with a cavalcade of 92 horses entered in the inaugural 10-race program. The meet ends Sept. 21.

''To me, this is the best racetrack in America,'' said Frank Calabrese, the retired Chicago printing magnate who captured his seventh consecutive Arlington owners championship last year with a record 74 victories. ''I get calls all the time to come to Delaware or Monmouth, where the purses are higher. But I stay here because of the experience and beauty that [Arlington chairman emeritus] Dick Duchossois constantly works to maintain. It's wonderful.''

Some kind of wonderful crept back toward the bottom line at Arlington last summer after its staggeringly bleak 2006. With racing on a new synthetic Polytrack surface, management reported a daily all-source average handle of $4,447,909 -- an increase of more than 13 percent from the diminished 2006 figure. On-track handle bumped to $580,861, up almost 20 percent from 2006.

Wayne Catalano, the primary trainer for Team Calabrese, won his fourth consecutive title with 74 wins. He will once again handle the bulk of Calabrese's stock, with Rick Slomkowski -- Catalano's brother-in-law -- overseeing much of the remainder.

''I like the kid,'' Calabrese said. ''He won a bunch of races for me in Florida. As for Wayne, I've made him a millionaire. Trainers make all the money in this game nowadays.''

Top jockeys get a nice cut, too. Perennial leader Rene Douglas will be back. After annexing four straight riding crowns at Arlington (2001-04), Douglas tried greener starting gates with mixed results. He returned to the local oval last season in time to win 129 races and his fifth championship.

But first, Douglas and local favorite E.T. Baird will ride in the 134th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Douglas has the call aboard Z Humor (30-1) for Bill Mott, while Baird will pilot Louis Roussel's Recapturetheglory (20-1). Baird has yet to decide whether he'll ride at Arlington, Churchill or Monmouth after his first Run for the Roses.

Arlington is expected to open with none of the wage uprising by jockeys that pockmarked the closing days of Hawthorne's spring meeting last weekend. Riders seeking a raise in their base rate for losing mounts from $45 to $75 delayed the start of Hawthorne's matinee last Friday with a two-hour work stoppage. They finally returned to the saddle for the meet's final four cards, eventually seeking a guarantee of the raise on a mount-by-mount basis from trainers and owners.

Asked if there will be any problem at Arlington, third-year track president Roy Arnold responded: ''Arlington Park is appreciative of both the jockeys and trainers working with the Illinois Racing Board to find a solution, while ensuring that racing will get off to a strong start at Arlington and allow us to continue the positive momentum of the 2007 meet.''

Arlington reportedly benefits from a no-strike clause in its agreement with the Jockeys Guild. Representatives of the Jockeys Guild met with representatives of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association this week with no new collective agreement over a base-rate riding raise reported.

Jeff Johnson, a lead negotiator for the Jockeys Guild, was unavailable for comment Wednesday. Said Randy Meier, a veteran leader among Chicago-based reinsmen: ''We're anticipating no problem at Arlington.''