Buckeye Bullet streaking into Rowland Memorial

Less than a week before last Christmas, as he was about to close out his 3-year-old campaign, Buckeye Bullet was still seeking his second lifetime victory. Now, he’s riding a four-race winning streak and is in a good position to secure his first stakes victory.

Buckeye Bullet, favored at less than even-money throughout his string of wins at Mahoning Valley Race Course, returns to Thistledown for the first time since last July as the clear favorite in Saturday’s $75,000 Michael Rowland Memorial Handicap.

The six-furlong Rowland is restricted to Ohio-accredited horses, meaning all entrants must be Ohio-breds and sired by a stallion standing in the Buckeye State.

Although all five of his victories have come at Mahoning Valley, Buckeye Bullet ran well in his two starts at Thistledown, finishing second in an entry-level allowance and crossing the finish line first but being disqualified and placed fourth in another allowance sprint.

His nine opponents Saturday include Eightthehardway, a two-time stakes winner in routes last season; My Pardner Cal, a runner-up in his seasonal debut to a horse who came back to win again; and the 3-year-old Mobil Sky, a winner of two sprint stakes last year.

Rowland Memorial, Race 7

KEY CONTENDERS

Buckeye Bullet, by Dark Kestrel
Last 3 Beyers: 74-64-67

◗ Shows only an extremely slow half-mile workout (52.20 seconds) since his last race March 20, but trainer Sharon Ruberto is 10 for 29 (34 percent) with sprinters returning from a break of 31 to 60 days.

Eightthehardway, by Parents’ Reward
Last 3 Beyers: 69-62-70

◗ His best races last season came at 1 1/8 and 1 1/16 miles. He hasn’t won a sprint since January 2016, and trainer Richard Vickers is 1 for 16 with sprinters coming back from an absence of 61 to 180 days.

Mobil Sky, by Mobil
Last 3 Beyers: 56-22-22

◗ Makes his first start since winning the Joshua Radosevich Memorial in December. His trainer, Jeff Radosevich, is 8 for 20 (40 percent) with 3-year-olds facing older horses after layoffs of 61 to 180 days.

My Pardner Cal, by Big Atlantic
Last 3 Beyers: 59-48-58

◗ A two-time stakes winner at 2, he was a good second in his 4-year-old debut behind City Slammer, who came back last Sunday to win for the fifth time in six starts this season.