Invaders look sharpest in Prairie Mile

Often the local prep for a relatively major race at a relatively minor track leans heavily toward “local” over “prep” – that is, the race is filled with local horses that won’t be good enough for the richer, more important race.

But that’s not the case Friday night in the $65,000 Prairie Mile, the local prep for the $250,000 Iowa Derby on July 6. The seven-horse field for the Prairie Mile (race 8, post time 9:07 Central) includes at least two horses, Lionite and Zanesville, whose connections might have legitimate designs on the rich upcoming stakes.

Lionite debuted with a second and a third in Saratoga maiden races last summer and concluded his 2017 campaign with a fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, a race in which Free Drop Billy and Bravazo – both entered in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes – finished first and second. This year, Lionite has a first and a second in Oaklawn maiden races, and a seventh in a Derby Day allowance at Churchill Downs. Lionite is trained by Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Horton Racing, and has David Cabrera named to ride.

Zanesville had his own brush with Triple Crown fame, finishing sixth last out in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, a race won by fifth-place Kentucky Derby finisher My Boy Jack. In his previous race, the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway, he was a close fourth behind winner Blended Citizen, who won the Grade 2 Peter Pan and also is slated to start in the Belmont.

Trained by Tom Amoss for owner-breeder Rosemont Farm, Zanesville came steadily forward over the winter and spring and has been posting steady Kentucky works for his first start since the April 14 Lexington.

But Lionite might race a slight edge. His victory came in a key race that earned an 85 Beyer Speed Figure, and his poor performance on Derby Day might merely have been a flop in the slop.

The two others with lesser chances are Land Battle, who was second last out at Prairie Meadows to The Tabulator, who is entered in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens at Belmont this weekend, and Analyze This Jet, whose very best Lone Star one-mile allowance form might scrape the margin of competitiveness. More likely both are locals rather than Iowa Derby preppers.