Deeper field for Goldfinch Stakes after scheduling change

ALTOONA, Iowa – Saturday evening’s Goldfinch Stakes, with its purse raised to an attractive $75,000, begins the new-look stakes calendar at Prairie Meadows, and the benefits of change are quickly apparent.

The Goldfinch, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies and the track’s former opening-weekend feature, has suffered in recent years from small fields due to its proximity to Oaklawn’s Racing Festival of the South in early April. Pushed back to the Thoroughbred meet’s second Saturday, the Goldfinch drew nine fillies trying to bolster their stakes credentials.

In what should be a wide-open betting heat, Maria Maria and Silk Purse are at the short end of the morning-line odds at 3-1 and 7-2. Maria Maria, last seen March 8 when finishing third on Tampa’s turf behind Grade 3-winning colts Bobby’s Kitten and Global View, has tallied both of her career wins closing ground in sprints. Silk Purse, who won both of her sprint starts this past meet at Oaklawn, impressed when rallying well for a 2 3/4-length allowance score there April 10.

Fellow Oaklawn shipper Dream Spinner, who has come to hand as a route horse in recent months with a pair of resounding wins, turns back to six panels, and her consistency should make her competitive. Midnight Eclipse, also an Oaklawn allowance route winner, ventures in from Chicago, and her connections hope she brings her potent late kick.

The battle for the lead should be contested by the quick Silver Valley, a daughter of the excellent locally raced mare Panorama Valley, and the recent $25,000 Ray Tracy Fair Grounds claim Divergent View, who ran second, beaten a half-length, in last year’s Prairie Gold Lassie Stakes.

However, the bulk of the talent in this year’s Goldfinch appears to lie with its deep closers, and with an unbiased track surface through the first several days here, a wild finish may be in store.