Four $250,000 stakes – the Prairie Bayou, Holiday Inaugural, My Charmer, and Holiday Cheer – should all go with sizable fields and have drawn big names after being rescheduled for Sunday at Turfway Park. The Synthetic Championships were inaugurated last year, moving four existing stakes from the winter stand to one card and giving them robust purse hikes in order to create an attractive program with advantageous timing. This year’s renewal was originally scheduled for Dec. 13, but Turfway was forced to cancel due to several inches of snow and temperatures in the single digits in Florence, Ky. The 10-race card was shifted in its entirety to this Sunday, with a first post of 3 p.m. Although the races were not redrawn, there will be some changes in the fields, with some cross-entered horses electing to race elsewhere. Graded stakes winners still expected to start include the Turfway-loving Encino, who has competed in some of the track’s biggest events; Grade 1 winner Howard Wolowitz, a defending winner on this program; multiple graded stakes winner Arrest Me Red; and Canadian classic winner Caitlinhergrtness. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The Synthetic Championships were positioned to give Kentucky-based runners an additional major prize to target before heading south to their winter bases. The opportunity to run one more time in the Bluegrass State is particularly lucrative for Kentucky-breds, as the stakes purses include $50,000 from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. The timing also provides incentive for those considering retiring fillies and mares to broodmare duty in 2026. The two distaff stakes, the My Charmer and Holiday Inaugural, are sponsored by Claiborne Farm as part of its “Make Your Mare” series at Turfway. The top three finishers will receive credits to use toward the stud fees of the farm’s stallions in either the 2026 or 2027 breeding seasons. “For the mares, it gives them one more shot at black type before the breeding shed,” said trainer Kelsey Danner, who has multiple Turfway stakes winner Nice as Pie entered in the Holiday Inaugural in what should be her final career start. Encino returns to Turfway, perhaps his favorite track, for the one-mile Prairie Bayou. Although the colt is a Grade 3 winner on dirt and a stakes winner on turf, he has been a cut above on Tapeta. His performances at Turfway, where he has never been worse than second, include a win in the 2024 John Battaglia Memorial and a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Classic in March behind Mercante. Encino earned a career-high 99 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort. Two starts back, Encino won the Presque Isle Mile on Tapeta, a race in which he had a tardy start and was taken out of his usual front-running game. He subsequently finished ninth in the Grade 3 River City on the Churchill Downs turf. Encino worked a brisk half-mile in 48 seconds flat on Dec. 6 at Turfway. With the Prairie Bayou postponed, Encino put in an additional work, a maintenance move of 49.40 seconds on Dec. 13. “He’s obviously run well at Turfway in the past, and we’re really looking forward to getting him back over the surface,” said Trace Messina, local assistant to trainer Brad Cox. Changes in the field could benefit Encino. The colt originally drew the outside post in the main body of the field of 12, with one also-eligible. That would have given him a very short run into the first turn. The front-runner needs to break alertly and clear if he does not want to give up ground, although he has shown that he is good enough to adjust if dealt a less-than-ideal hand. However, at least one horse, and as many as three, will withdraw from the Prairie Bayou, not only moving Encino closer to the rail but perhaps giving him control of the pace. The forwardly placed Theismann was to scratch for Saturday’s Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds. Quatrocento, also a pacesetting type, was cross-entered in the Grade 3 Fort Lauderdale on Saturday at Gulfstream. Henro was cross-entered in an allowance on Sunday at Fair Grounds. Dresden Row seems to have the tactical abilities to lay close if Encino gets away with a tepid pace. Dresden Row also could sit farther back and come with a run if more competition develops. The Woodbine-based colt has never finished outside of the top three and is coming off a victory in the Grade 3 Autumn Stakes. In his only prior trip to Turfway, he was second by a head in last year’s Prairie Bayou. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Holiday Cheer Grade 1 winner Howard Wolowitz, who may be rounding into form as he cuts back to a preferred distance and comes back to Turfway, is the headliner in the Holiday Cheer, which will be strongly affected by withdrawals. Nobals, the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner, and stakes winners Coming in Hot and Run Carson all opted to contest a very competitive allowance on Thursday night at Turfway. Meanwhile, Roll On Big Joe won the Ring the Bell on Dec. 13 at Oaklawn Park. Those four scratches will allow also-eligibles Incinerator and Wound Up to draw in, leaving as many as 10 runners. Howard Wolowitz, winner of the Grade 1 Franklin-Simpson in 2024 at Kentucky Downs, went on to win last year’s Holiday Cheer. This year, Howard Wolowitz raced in Saudi Arabia, then returned from a six-month layoff to be a fine second by a half-length in the Grade 2 Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs. He stretched out for the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland and raced in contention before fading to seventh late, and he has fired consecutive bullet works in preparation for his Turfway return. One of the most accomplished horses in the field is millionaire Arrest Me Red, a Grade 2 winner on turf. In three appearances at Turfway, he has two wins and a second. My Charmer The My Charmer drew Caitlinhergrtness, who won the King’s Plate on synthetic and was Grade 1-placed on turf last year. This year, she is a two-time graded stakes winner on Woodbine’s synthetic surface and is coming off a close second in the Grade 3 Bessarabian. Given a choice between the one-mile My Charmer and six-furlong Holiday Inaugural, Pondering, who defeated Caitlinhergrtness in the seven-furlong Bessarabian, has chosen to cut back for the Holiday Inaugural. She’s Lookin Lucky, Grade 3-placed on turf, comes into the My Charmer off a runner-up effort in an allowance to Proctor Street, who subsequently won the Grade 3 Cardinal. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.