Hazel Park: Six Michigan Sire Stakes on Saturday

The marquee card of Hazel Park’s 2017 meet takes place Saturday night, headlined by six divisions of the Michigan Sire Stakes. All six divisions will feature $40,000 purses, one each for Michigan-sired juveniles, 3-year-olds, and older horses of each sex.

Leading off the card will be the sophomore fillies division, where a field of six will race a mile and 70 yards.

The division’s unquestioned leader is Poof Its Magic, a Zulu Magic filly who enters on a three-race winning streak, all at Hazel Park. The first win came in allowance company against older foes, followed by victories against fellow Michigan-bred sophomores in the Regret Stakes on June 30 and the Ann Arbor Stakes on Aug. 12.

Ricardo Barrios will be aboard Poof Its Magic for owner Jenny Barbeau and trainer Tommy Gross.

Seven horses are entered in the 1 1/8-mile older fillies and mares division, led by High Legend, a juvenile Sire Stakes winner in 2015 who has regained her form this year after a less-steady campaign in 2016.

The 4-year-old Elusive Hour mare won her first four starts of the year at Hazel Park and enters off a runner-up effort in the Moonbeam Stakes on Aug. 12. Laura Jackson trains the filly for owner Elkhorn Oaks, and Melissa Zajac will have the mount.

Artavia spent his last two stakes races at Hazel Park playing second fiddle to standout Shadow Tracer, but the Perfect Circle gelding has the spotlight to himself in the 3-year-old males division, going a mile and 70 yards in a field of eight.

Artavia ran second behind Shadow Tracer in both the Lansing Stakes and his most recent effort in the Mackinac Stakes on Aug. 12. In between those starts, he compiled a pair of allowance wins against older foes.

Shane Spiess trains Artavia for owner Tracey Wisner, and Barrios will be aboard.

The 1 1/8-mile older males division will feature a rematch of the top three finishers from the Dowling Stakes on Aug. 12, among the full field of 10.

Boo Dutton will aim to repeat as the older males Sire Stakes winner at age 10, after getting caught by a late-closing Fortylinesofdeputy in the Dowling. A gelded son of Equality, Boo Dutton won the Michigan Breeders Governor’s Cup Stakes in July and has finished no worse than second in four starts this season.

Gilberto Santiago will be in the irons aboard the gelding for owner Kala Crampton and trainer Jason Uelmen.

Rounding out the stakes is a pair of races for juveniles, each at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Five of the nine entries in the juvenile colts-and-geldings division are unraced, while all four of the runners with a start under their belts debuted in the Patrick Wood Stakes on Aug. 11.

The unraced Elliot Road has been training toward his debut at Belterra Park, where he most recently breezed five furlongs in 1:02.60 seconds. Zajac will ride the Elusive Hour colt for owner Red Riding Hood Stables and trainer Kevin Fletcher.

On the fillies side, A Magical Vow debuted with a hard-fought score in the Sickle’s Image Stakes on Aug. 11 to give her the most back class in the field of eight. Wayne Barnett will ride the Zulu Magic filly for owner Barbeau and trainer Gross.