ALTOONA, IA – Prairie Meadows will present the marquee event of its live racing season, the 2026 Iowa Festival of Racing, on Friday July 10 and Saturday July 11. The two-day festival includes a total of eight stakes races, four on July 10 and four on July 11, highlighted by the Grade III $300,000-guaranteed Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap on Saturday July 11.
Tonight’s ten-race card kicks off the Festival with four stakes races with the $225,000 Iowa Oaks (Listed) for three-year-old fillies at one mile and one-sixteenth, the Iowa Distaff (Black Type) for fillies and mares three-year-olds and up at one mile and one-sixteenth, the Prairie Gold Lassie (Black Type) for two-year-old fillies at five and one-half furlongs and The Saylorville (Black Type) for fillies and mares three-year-olds and up at six furlongs.
The 2025 Grade I Kentucky Oaks winner and million-dollar earner takes center stage in the Iowa Distaff which kicks off Friday’s Festival stakes as Good Cheer (10 7-1-0 $1,888,230) makes her 2026 debut for trainer Brad Cox and renowned ownership Godolphin LLC.
Bob Baffert will be sending horses to Iowa for the first time in ten years since a victory in the 2016 Iowa Derby with American Freedom and ships the lightly raced undefeated three-year-old filly Mizumi (2 2-0-0 $99,000) for the Iowa Oaks coming off a Grade III Summer Oaks at Santa Anita win on June 13. Baffert also sends the four-year-old filly Silent Law (9 3-2-1 $219,510) making her second start off a layoff from multiple graded stakes in California including a Grade III win in the Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita last Fall to take on seven contenders in the Saylorville.
The Prairie Gold Lassie will feature two-year-old fillies with Valkyrie (2 1-0-0-0 $63,084) having stakes experience finishing fourth in the $225,000 Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 28.
The 29th running of the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker for three-year-olds and up at one and one-eighth miles drew nine runners, including last year’s winner Cornishman(25 7-7-3 $503,878), the 2026 Grade III Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park winner Heroic Move (30 9-5-4 $1,267,081), the 2026 Grade III Pimlico Special at Laurel winner Navajo Warrior (17 9-2-2 $452,609) and the Steve Asmussen trained Gigante (36 12-3-4 $1,486,289).
Saturday’s ten-race Festival card also features the $100,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile (Black Type) for two-year-olds at five and one-half furlongs, the $250,000 Iowa Derby (Listed) for three-year-olds at one and one-sixteenth miles, and the $100,000 Iowa Sprint (Black Type) for three-year-olds and up at six furlongs.
Nine three-year-olds will contest the Iowa Derby, headed by Desert Gate, (8 4-2-0 $574,300) the Bob Baffert trainee, who comes in off a fourth-place finish in the Grade III Ohio Derby on June 20 as the favorite, but with previous wins in the Texas Derby at Lone Star Park and Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park in 2026.
The Iowa Sprint will feature Nakatomi (26 7-4-7 $2,050,926) for trainer Wesley Ward coming off multiple Grade I and II stakes including a win last Fall at Keeneland in the Grade II Phoenix.
Other contenders in the Sprint include Booth (18 7-3-1 $895,036) for trainer Steve Asmussen, Souper Tuscan(11 5-1-2 $223,029) for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Speed King (9 3-1-0 $830,190) for trainer Ron Moquett and runner up in last years’ Iowa Derby, Itsmybirthday (9 5-2-0 $212,710) for trainer Robertino Diodoro.
Post times on both Friday and Saturday will be 6:00 PM CT.
