Howard Wolowitz blasts off down the lane to take Holiday Cheer

Howard Wolowitz got back in the win column Saturday night at Turfway Park, wearing down Run Carson for a 1 1/2-length victory in the $250,000 Holiday Cheer Stakes. The race was one of two sprint stakes on the inaugural Turfway Park Synthetic Championships card.

Run Carson emerged from the early scramble to take the lead from post 3, with Howard Wolowitz ($6.36) keeping his position from the inside post under Emisael Jaramillo and longshot Let's Go Mark putting on pressure from the outside through a sharp opening quarter of 21.47 seconds. Run Carson started to shake loose from his pursuers around the far turn, but Howard Wolowitz tipped off the rail to come outside this foe and moved alongside to challenge through the half in 43.60. In a long stretch drive, Howard Wolowitz wore Run Carson down to the wire for the win. One Timer was another 3 1/4 lengths back in third.

The final time for the six furlongs was 1:08.10, just seven-hundreths off the track mark of 1:08.03 set by Fatal Bullet in 2008.

The lightly-raced Howard Wolowitz won the Grade 1 Franklin-Simpson Stakes for 3-year-olds at Kentucky Downs two starts back. However, he was then ninth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint – although beaten just three lengths total. He got back on track with a win on Saturday over another promising sophomore. Run Carson has only missed the board once in eight starts, and won the Carle Place at Aqueduct in the fall.

Earlier on the card, Awesome Treat ($76.56) sprung a big upset in the sister race, the $250,000 Holiday Inaugural for fillies and mares sprinting the same six furlongs.

Awesome Treat came under a vigorous ride from jockey Sophie Doyle around the far turn, and seized command straightening away. Despite running on the wrong lead down the stretch, she had enough in reserve to stay well clear by 2 3/4 lengths, finishing the six furlongs in 1:08.76

Fellow longshot Bling finished second by a neck, just holding off favored Nice as Pie. The latter, who had won all four of her previous outings at Turfway, tipped clear into the stretch for a big run but could not make up serious ground.

Awesome Treat won the Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Sprint in August at Ellis Park for trainer Justin Wojczynski. However, she was unplaced in her three starts following that effort – including a fifth in the Dream Supreme last month at Churchill Downs, behind some of her foes for Saturday's race – rendering her a longshot at Turfway.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.