ALTOONA, Iowa – Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, featuring top older horses from all over the Eastern half of the country, is taking shape as an excellent renewal of the track’s signature race. Carve, victorious in this 1 1/8-mile test last June, returns in good form after chasing home Majestic City when second as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap on May 25. Based at Churchill Downs with trainer Brad Cox, Carve, an earner of $942,915 during a 22-race career, shined at Oaklawn Park in 2015. The 5-year-old First Samurai gelding drubbed eight foes Jan. 16 in the Fifth Season while registering a lifetime-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure. Tapiture, Carve’s familiar foe who has finished a place behind him in his last two starts, won the Grade 2 West Virginia Derby last August and ran a huge race when second to Goldencents in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita last Oct. 31. Tapiture, a Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred conditioned by Steve Asmussen, has yet to regain that sparkle as a 4-year-old and looks to bounce back in his fourth start of 2015. :: Bet the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker with DRF Bets. Get up to a $500 cash bonus! Find out more today. Golden Lad, who makes the trek from his Saratoga base for trainer Todd Pletcher, is 7 for 14 lifetime. Although fourth and placed behind both Carve and Tapiture in stablemate Race Day’s victory in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 11, Golden Lad dusted his foes by five lengths in Penn National’s $200,000 Mountainview Handicap on May 30. Call Me George, who won the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap on March 28, and Page McKenney, a hard-knocking stakes regular from Maryland, are both capable of making an impact in the 11-horse field. Trained by Grant Forster at Churchill, Call Me George unexpectedly found himself on the lead in Belmont’s Grade 2 Brooklyn on June 6 before tiring to fourth, seven lengths behind the winner, Coach Inge. Described by Forster as a “tough and reliable horse who keeps grinding away in his races,” Call Me George can rebound to his best. Page McKenney, trainer Mary Eppler’s stable star, continues to get better despite his excellent record of 11 wins from 35 starts and earnings of $709,078. In the May 15 Pimlico Special, the 5-year-old Eavesdropper gelding, who won his maiden with a $16,000 price tag attached in a Colonial Downs turf race, ran second and valiantly chased home the Pletcher-trained star Commissioner. The Cornhusker Handicap, the featured event of the two-day Iowa Festival of Racing, is scheduled for 9:25 p.m. Central. KEY CONTENDERS Carve (Last 3 Beyers: 96-104-92) ◗ He finished strongly alongside stablemate and Iowa Derby contender Allied Air Raid in a 59.80-second breeze at Churchill on Sunday. According to Churchill clocker John Nichols, the pair went in fractions of 13.20 and 37 seconds, and “both looked good.” Call Me George (Last 3 Beyers: 93-82-94) ◗ This Grade 2 winner will be ridden by Ramon Vazquez in his first mount for the Forster stable. Golden Lad (Last 3 Beyers: 99-97-102) ◗ He possesses valuable tactical speed, and jockey Javier Castellano has been winning at a 32 percent clip for Pletcher in 2014-15. Tapiture (Last 3 Beyers: 93-97-88) ◗ Trouble at the start might have cost him in the Lone Star Park Handicap. ◗ He is the field’s leading earner by a large margin with $1,475,560. Jessica’s Star (Last 3 Beyers: 86-57-86) ◗ He is 3 for 3 over this surface, including a one-length win in the Cornhusker’s local prep, the May 25 Jim Rasmussen Memorial. ◗ The track’s leading rider, Alex Canchari, who is 45 for 208 at this meet, retains the mount. Page McKenney (Last 3 Beyers: 98-98-96) ◗ He has an excellent record at the 1 1/8-mile distance (5-2-2-1), with two Laurel stakes wins in 2015.