Arapahoe Park: Deal Breaker trying dirt for first time at age 6

Deal Breaker, a 6-year-old whose 11 career wins have come on either synthetic surfaces or turf, will make his first start on dirt Monday in the $40,000 Front Range at Arapahoe Park.

The seven-furlong race is for 3-year-olds and up and it drew a field of eight runners.

Deal Breaker, a stakes winner on turf who has earned more than $300,000, will be cutting back to one turn off a series of route efforts at Golden Gate. His most recent start came June 2, when he pushed the pace over good turf and finished third in a $32,000 claimer at 1 1/16 miles. For the effort, Deal Breaker earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 81. It’s the same number he earned one start earlier, when he wired the field in a $25,000 claimer at a mile, over the Tapeta main track at Golden Gate.

James E. Jones trains Deal Breaker, who will be ridden by Kelsi Purcell. The horse is one of two notable invaders for the Front Range. The other is Stephengothisstar, the probable favorite for his third-place finish in the $58,000 Prairie Express at Prairie Meadows in his last start May 30.

The field Monday also includes two recent sprint stakes winners at the meet, E F Five, who captured the $40,000 Aspen on June 18, and Trip the General, who took the $40,000 Arapahoe Park Sprint on June 5.