Big Drink of Water back in town for Fitz Dixon
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
The Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes, one of two $100,000 stakes races on Thursday’s closing-night card at Presque Isle Downs, matches the quirky locally based filly Amy Farah Fowler with returning shipper Big Drink of Water.
Big Drink of Water won a maiden special weight at Presque Isle in May, his second career start, before taking the Victoria Stakes at Woodbine. He then won the Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes on Sept. 8 by 1 1/4 lengths.
“He came out [of the Futurity] really good,” trainer Larry Rivelli said. “I took him to the track a couple of days after the race, and he looked as good as he did going in. We’ll run at Presque Isle and then go from there. We’ll maybe try him on the turf at Keeneland or Churchill after that.”
Rivelli didn’t rule out considering Big Drink of Water, who has scored all three wins on synthetic surfaces, for the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Jose Valdivia Jr. retains the mount on the gelding Thursday.
After two prior stakes placings, Amy Farah Fowler picked up her first stakes victory in September with a relatively professional one-length score in the Henry D. Paxson Memorial Stakes for Pennsylvania-bred 2-year-old fillies at Presque Isle. The talented but temperamental filly, owned and trained by Ron Potts, had become known for her antics over the summer as she ran off in post parades, broke free from her handlers in the paddock, protested at the starting gate, and shied and became distracted in the stretch of races.
Huber Villa-Gomez, who has been aboard Amy Farah Fowler for all her local outings, is up again Thursday night.
The 6 1/2-furlong Fitz Dixon Memorial drew an overflow field of 12, plus two also-eligibles – as did Thursday’s co-feature, the HBPA Stakes for fillies and mares. The main body of the field for the mile and 70-yard race includes Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner Tulsa Queen, graded stakes-placed My Arch Enemy, stakes winners Advert, Giada Vegas, Lift Up, My Sistersledge, and Rose Tree, and stakes-placed runners Not Taken and Renaissance Rosie.
