Apprehender, 9, breaks through to win Ed Skinner Memorial

Apprehender has been around the block but still knows his way to the finish line.

The 9-year-old gelding made his 44th career start Saturday in the $65,000 Ed Skinner Memorial Stakes at Prairie Meadows, and after second-place finishes in 2016 and 2017 won the race.

“He’s a pretty cool horse,” said trainer Gene Jacquot. “He’s all about business when he’s on the racetrack and he’s a nice horse in the barn. He can go on and have a nice career after racing. He’s a big, sensible horse. But he came back out of this race bouncing, so I’d say he’s not quite ready to retire.”

Apprehender’s debut in January 2012 at Oaklawn was noteworthy: He won a maiden special weight sprint by more than seven lengths and earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. Apprehender held his own with the best sprinters in the Midwest through early 2015 when a suspensory-ligament injury in a hind leg forced him to the sidelines for more than a year, after which Jacquot took over his training.

“That leg is holding up well,” he said. “It’s pretty incredible he’s still running at the level he is.”

Apprehender, as a mere 8-year-old, came within a half-length of winning the $100,000 Iowa Sprint last July, and that is the race to which Jacquot is pointing him again now.

Msbrooklynbrawler in right spot

Seven Iowa-bred 3-year-old fillies were entered for the $63,000 Bob Bryant Stakes, a six-furlong dash featured on the Friday evening program at Prairie Meadows. Post time for the Bob Bryant, race 7, is 8:42 Central.

Sequence of Events, Tracy Racy, and One Last Empress could all have an impact, but Msbrooklynbrawler is the most likely winner. Msbrooklynbrawler has been drubbed in her two starts this year at age 3, but in her first start of the season she dueled and faded in the $150,000 Purple Martin Stakes at Oaklawn, and last out, in the $50,000 Goldfinch at Prairie Meadows, Msbrooklynbrawler once again faded off a hot pace in a race dominated by closers.

But a return to Iowa-bred competition in the Bob Bryant might be all Msbrooklynbrawler needs. Last summer, in her only previous start in statebred-restricted competition, she won the Iowa Sorority Stakes by more than 12 lengths.