Alsvid wins Prairie Express Stakes as heavy favorite

ALTOONA, Iowa – Heavily favored Alsvid ($3.00) and his regular rider, Ken Tohill, slipped through a tight spot in mid-stretch and found plenty under pressure to garner a half-length victory in Saturday's featured $75,000 Prairie Express Stakes.

Alsvid, waiting while full of run behind a contested pace set by Right Now Richie, Flat Black, and City Sage, showed his usual affinity for the surface here while running his local record to 4 of 5, including three stakes wins. His regular rival, Apprehender, despite sluggishness that left him 12 lengths behind fractions set in 21.60 seconds and 44.16, motored home down the center of the track to run second, 3 1/4 lengths ahead of Bobcat Jim, who had bobbled at the break.

Alsvid, a 4-year-old Officer gelding, won for the 10th time in an excellent career that has seen him earn $678,215 under the tutelage of trainer Chris Hartman. His owner, the Black Hawk Stable of James Rogers, collected $45,000 for last night's score. He covered six furlongs in 1:09.55.

Fellow track specialist American Sugar ($8.00), angled off the rail by Alex Birzer to take dead aim at the three-sixteenths pole, produced a five-wide rally to claim top honors in the $50,000 Prairie Rose Stakes.

Biding her time behind Canopy Lane, who had shaken loose on the lead through splits of 21.64 and 44.41, the Lynn Chleborad-trained American Sugar put her best forward for a three-quarter-length tally. Canopy Lane, dismissed at odds of $13.50 to 1 in the seven-horse field of fillies and mares, grittily held second, a nose in front of Cruzette. The favorite Dance Inthe Forest was hung wide throughout and only managed a fourth-place finish.

Collecting $30,000 for owner-breeder Poindexter Thoroughbreds LLC, American Sugar won her third stakes race locally. The 4-year-old Harlan's Holiday filly went six furlongs in 1:10.21.