Extravagant Kid brings big figs to Karl Boyes Memorial

The $100,000 Karl Boyes Memorial Stakes, an open-company sprint for 3-year-olds and up Monday night at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania, has drawn a full field of 12 plus two also-eligibles, with entrants bred in four different states. Seven of the entrants made their last start outside of Pennsylvania.

One of those invaders is Florida-bred Extravagant Kid, who is looking to build on a successful first foray outside of his home state.

Extravagant Kid won the Tamiami Handicap in September and the Green Parrot Handicap in October sprinting on the Gulfstream Park turf. In his most recent outing, he shipped outside of Florida for the first time and finished second in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on April 21 at Woodbine, beaten just three-quarters of a length by reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Pink Lloyd. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 104 for that effort, his first on a synthetic surface. Presque Isle also utilizes a synthetic track.

Trained by Brendan Walsh, Extravagant Kid is the only member of this field to have broken the triple-digit Beyer mark in the last year, a feat he has accomplished twice.

Several entrants in the Boyes Memorial exit solid allowance efforts at Presque Isle. Downtown Cowboy comes off a win in an optional-claiming race May 21, his first race in more than six months. He again meets Triple Cross, who ran third in that May 21 race.

On May 17, graded stakes-placed First Growth defeated Colonel Sharp by a neck in another Presque Isle optional claimer, with Jaguar Poz third. All three return Monday night.

Balandeen comes off a victory in the Highland Ice Stakes in April at Will Rogers. He won last year’s Tom Ridge Stakes at Presque Isle before finishing sixth in the Boyes Memorial.