Iowa bred three year olds are featured tonight at Prairie Meadows in a pair of $60,000 six furlong stakes.
In the sixth, the fillies step up in the Bob Bryant Stakes.
The morning line favorite is even money M B Prize. She broke her maiden first out as a 2-year old and then had some trouble when stepping up into stakes company. This is an issue she has overcome at three. Additionally, both in her two 3-year old starts she has a win and a second versus her elders. Her win was a state bred allowance taking a field gate to wire while the second was in the Mamie Eisenhower behind Sumting Wong. She was able to contend up until late stretch when she finally weakened, though clearly 2nd best. Her Beyer figures this season tower over the field and if jockey Ken Tohill can control the pace, she will be very difficult to beat.
Both Beautiful Bird and Kera Kera have also shown speed and taken fields gate to wire, though neither appears to be as fast as the favorite over the course of a race.
Should the other speed soften up M B Prize, look for Colerful Bride to try and pick up the pieces. Second behind the favorite in her last when no one pressured the winner, she was still able to close over the muddy strip, though still beaten by 3 ¾ lengths. If M B Prize wilts under constant pressure, Colerful Pride will be the one there are the wire.
Two races later in the 8th, the boys step up with a more wide open field in the Grays Lake that possesses a lot of speed, especially toward the outside of the starting gate.
In post five, Colonel Ted waited until three to start his career and has made both starts count with gate to wire victories in a maiden and first level state bred allowance. He was installed as the mild 3-1 morning line favorite.
To his outside is Greenback Dollar. After breaking his maiden in his seasonal debut, the surged to the lead at the top of the lane in a statebred allowance before being overtaken late by Kid Brock, one of the closers in this field.
One spot further out in post seven is Approximator. The Jon Arnett trainee put it all together in his second out as he romped to his maiden victory by six lengths – breaking on top increasing his lead at every call. Alex Canchari replaces Tohill in the irons as Tohill rides his stablemate to the inside, Greenback Dollar.
Caribbean Cowboy, breaking from the rail, needs to be watched. Undefeated in state bred company as a 2-year old, trainer Kelly Von Hemel has chosen a tougher road to this race than the others. While finishing off the board in his two 3-year old starts, they came in an Oaklawn $50,000 optional claimer and $85,000 Golden Circle Stakes, and unrestricted 3-year old stake. Sliding back into state bred company should provide some relief and Glen Corbett certainly knows the horse well enough to get the most out him.
Given the amount of speed on the outside in the race, keep an eye on the inside two: Caribbean Cowboy and Kid Brock who could provide all the value.
The weather in Altoona this evening calls for occasional thunder storms, some possibly severe, so keep that in mind when you’re handicapping. Many of the contenders in each race have raced on off tracks and could give you an indication of what they could do in here.
OFF TRACK THOUGHTS
Some thoughts if the track comes up less than fast:
- In the Grays Lake, Kid Brock failed miserably as the favorite on a good track at Oaklawn, but it also could have been the level of competition.
- While Greenback Dollar broke his maiden over a sloppy track, Dubai Kowboy finished 16 lengths behind before scoring on a fast track next time out.
- Caribbean Cowboy and Colonel Ted have both won over off track. Colonel Ted has faced off track in both his career starts (both wins).
- In the Bob Bryant, favored M B Prize broke her maiden over a muddy strip.
- Kera Kera is two for two this season on a pair of sloppy tracks.
- Colerful Bride and Beautiful Bird have both run well over off tracks with Colerful Bride closing nicely on M B Prize.
