Hillbilly Royalty finds a suitable spot in Iowa Derby

ALTOONA, Iowa – The Grade 3, $250,000 Iowa Derby, with its able cast of 10 3-year-olds, provides an opportunity for an improving colt or gelding to stamp himself as a viable graded stakes competitor.

Hillbilly Royalty, the probable favorite and most accomplished runner of the group, has yet to break through at the graded stakes level, but the Iowa Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race, presents a great opportunity for the Donnie K. Von Hemel-trained gelding.

Owned and bred by Toby Keith’s Dream Walkin Farms, Hillbilly Royalty shipped up from Churchill Downs for an impressive 1 1/2-length score in the $75,000 Prairie Mile here May 30. Defeating Iowa Derby foes Paid Admission and Allied Air Raid in the process, jockey Luis Quinonez used Hillbilly Royalty’s tactical speed to good effect in the Mile.

Hillbilly Royalty stayed put and joined Von Hemel’s string of about a dozen horses here, and the Langfuhr gelding has shown his liking for the environs with three good breezes here in June. On Tuesday, clocker Casey Schleis described his four-furlong breeze in 48.40 seconds as “an easy maintenance move.”

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Among his nine rivals, Private Prospect, trained by Michael Campbell at Arlington Park, proved a revelation at this track as a juvenile by winning its two stakes races, the Prairie Gold Juvenile and the Prairie Meadows Juvenile Mile. Although he has not won since, his third-place effort in Churchill’s Grade 3 Matt Winn on June 13 puts him in the Iowa Derby mix.

Paid Admission and Allied Air Raid enter in good form. Allied Air Raid, with just four starts under his belt for trainer Brad Cox, is a late bloomer on the rise, and Paid Admission, trained at Churchill by local force Chris Richard, is steadily improving.

KEY CONTENDERS

Private Prospect (Last 3 Beyers: 80-71-57)

◗ Jockey Alex Birzer, who is 3 for 12 for the Campbell stable in 2014-15, won two stakes races here on this colt last year.

Hillbilly Royalty (Last 3 Beyers: 93-78-93)

◗ He has flattened out in two previous tries at the Grade 3 level.

◗ He is nicely drawn in post 3, and regular pilot Quinonez might be able to control the pace.

Allied Air Raid (Last 3 Beyers: 85-88-78)

◗ Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, who rides him for the first time, has won 16 of 64 starts for the Cox stable in 2014-15.

◗ A sharp five-furlong workout in 59.80 seconds at Churchill last Sunday signals his readiness.

Phenomenal Phoenix (Last 3 Beyers: 50-88-83)

◗ Dismiss his subpar effort when bothered in the June 13 Matt Winn.

◗ His previous effort when third in the Grade 3 Illinois Derby on April 18 proves that he fits with these.

Bent On Bourbon (Last 3 Beyers: 81-80-75)

◗ Jockey Javier Castellano, who maintains a substantial lead as the nation’s top rider, climbs aboard for the second time.

◗ He rides a two-race win streak into his initial stakes try and his first race around two turns.

Paid Admission (Last 3 Beyers: 90-90-83)

◗ This willing closer breaks from post 9 and gets jockey Ramon Vazquez, 43 for 177 at this meet, back in the saddle.