Iowa’s moment in the sun
With a Saturday card that included a pair of Grade 1 turf invitationals (the Belmont Oaks and Belmont Derby), as well as the 131st running of the Suburban Handicap, Belmont Park was the main focus of thoroughbred action over the weekend. However, five other tracks also hosted graded stakes between Thursday and Saturday night, including Arlington Park, Delaware Park, Parx and Los Alamitos Race Course, which is midway through an eight-day thoroughbred meet billed as the Summer Thoroughbred Festival.
The sixth track to offer graded races was Prairie Meadows, the
Altoona, Iowa, multi-purpose facility — it also offers gaming and quarter-horse racing — now officially known as Prairie Meadows Casino Racetrack & Hotel. The annual highlight of the thoroughbred meet, which runs from late April into mid-August, is the three Grade 3 races included in last week’s Festival of Racing: the Iowa Oaks, Iowa Derby and Cornhusker Handicap.
The Iowa Oaks and Iowa Derby have had trouble attracting top 3-yearolds. The best-known winner of the Oaks was Unbridled Elaine, who went on to win the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. This year’s winner was Shane’s Girlfriend, who posted her second graded victory (she won the Delta Downs Princess as a 2-yearold) with a 2 ¼-length offthe-pace score.
The most-accomplished Iowa Derby winner was probably Captain Steve in 2000. Nine months later, the son of Fly So Free won the Dubai World Cup. This year’s Iowa Derby winner was Hence, a Street Boss colt who won the Sunland Derby in March, but finished up the track in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Hence was the only graded winner in this year’s Iowa Derby field.
Prairie Meadows’ signature race, however, is the 52-year-old Cornhusker Handicap, which was staged at the late, lamented Ak-Sar-Ben Race Track in Omaha until it closed in 1995. Past winners of the Cornhusker include Gate Dancer, Black Tie Affair and the iron-horse geldings Beboppin Baby and Sir Bear; Beboppin Baby, a son of Hatchet Man, still holds the stakes and track record for 1 1/8 miles. More recently, the race featured the one-two finishes of top handicap runners Roses in May and Perfect Drift in
2004, and then Fort Larned and Successful Dan in 2012.
The field for this year’s Cornhusker Handicap, while short on runners with national reputations, was loaded with hard-knocking regional stakes horses. Texas Chrome, Shotgun Kowboy, Code West, Iron Fist and Hawaakon had combined to win 19 stakes (four of them graded) and earn almost $3.8 million, while competing mostly at tracks in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. The odds-on favorite was eastern invader Dolphus at 3-5. The son of Lookin At Lucky, though winless in previous stakes outings, was coming off a strong second to Shaman Ghost in the Pimlico Special.
Saturday night, however, belonged to Iron Fist. Putting away pacesetting American Dubai at the top of the stretch, the 5-yearold Tapit horse drew off late to prevail in a sharp 1:47.36. Texas Chrome finished two lengths back in second, with Dolphus fading to fifth in the field of eight. The Cornhusker was the first graded win for Iron Fist, who had placed in 6-of-8 earlier tries at the graded level.
The future of thoroughbred racing at Prairie Meadows, which opened in 1989, is by no means assured. After declaring bankruptcy in 1991, the track was revived with the addition of slots and other gaming options in 1995. Overall handle has been in decline, though, and fewer horses are shipping in from out of state. As an added draw, Prairie Meadows has taken to tinkering with some of its thoroughbred programs. On next Sunday’s card, for example, patrons can also watch (but not wager on) races featuring camels, zebras and ostriches — in separate heats, of course.
Jeff Scott writes about horse racing Tuesday in The Saratogian. He may be reached at utahpine1@ aol.com.