The best seems yet to come for Just a Touch, a May foal who on Saturday night seeks to nail down his first stakes win in the $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows after a spring season in which he accomplished enough to lock up a spot in the Kentucky Derby. The Iowa Derby, at 1 1/16 miles, continues the $1.2 million Iowa Festival of Racing. There are eight Thoroughbred stakes making up the series that started Friday night and concludes Saturday night with four stakes worth a total of $875,000. Just a Touch is part of an interesting cast that includes Next Level, who was third last out in the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs; Dimatic, who is coming off a runner-up finish in the Texas Derby; and Henro, who is a candidate to wire the field. Kitty Hawk, another entrant in the field of 11, is to be scratched, according to reporting by Daily Racing Form’s Marcus Hersh. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Just a Touch gained a following this spring when he ran second in both the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct and the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland. The efforts gave him the points to advance to the Kentucky Derby and in his fourth career start he finished a troubled 20th. Since the race in which he found himself much farther back than usual, he’s been working at his base of Churchill Downs. “He’s a talented horse – we think a lot of him,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He didn’t get away well in the Derby. He got bumped around going into the first turn, kind of squeezed a little bit. It just wasn’t an ideal trip, so we’re just drawing a line through that one. Hopefully, he can break and get good early position.” Just a Touch will start from post 9 under regular rider Florent Geroux. He has natural speed and could settle in just off Henro, who breaks from post 3, and perhaps Save the Trees, an unbeaten runner making the move to two turns for the first time from post 10. Others who could show speed include Northern Flame and Okie Clipper. Just a Touch is a son of Justify owned by Qatar Racing and Resolute Racing. He owns the best Beyer Speed Figure in the Iowa Derby, a 96 for his Blue Grass effort against winner Sierra Leone, who went on to run second in the Kentucky Derby. “He’s a very athletic horse, good mover, good mind, does everything right,” Cox said of Just a Touch. “At this point, we want to get back on track. This is a good race. We felt like it would give us an opportunity to try to get him back to the winner’s circle.” Dimatic closed for second in the Texas Derby won by E J Won the Cup, who is scheduled to run back a few hours earlier Saturday in the Indiana Derby. The race at Horseshoe Indianapolis also drew the third-place finisher from the Texas Derby, Real Men Violin. Dimatic is a two-time winner by Gun Runner, and both of his victories have come at 1 1/16 miles. Cristian Torres has the mount from post 8 for trainer Steve Asmussen. Mugatu, who exits an eighth-place finish in the Preakness, will remove blinkers Saturday. The Preakness was the first time he raced over a wet track. He previously had run fifth in the Blue Grass. Iowa Oaks Shimmering Allure will attempt to pull a Prairie Meadows stakes double when she starts as the probable favorite in the $225,000 Iowa Oaks. She won the local prep, the Panthers, last month, giving her trainer, Kenny McPeek, his sixth win in that race. McPeek in 2022 saddled Panthers winner Butterbean to a victory in the Iowa Oaks. This year’s renewal at 1 1/16 miles drew a field of six, but Impel will instead run in the Indiana Oaks, Cox said Tuesday. Shimmering Allure established herself as a promising filly last November, when she won the Tempted at Aqueduct. She went on to run second in the Demoiselle and third in the Busanda in New York. In more recent times, McPeek shipped Shimmering Allure to Prairie Meadows, and she shuttled to a 1 3/4-length win in the Panthers as a short-priced favorite on June 8. “We wanted to get her confidence level up because she just had a real poor run her race before that,” McPeek said. “We wanted to get a little forward motion with her. She has been really good 2-year-old and is a stakes winner now at 3. That race set her up good for the Iowa Oaks.” Shimmering Allure will break from the rail under Julien Leparoux. “She’ll stalk off of them,” McPeek said. “She’s real professional and she’s got the two turns thing down pat.” Shimmering Allure is a daughter of Enticed who races for Walking L Thoroughbreds. ◗ White Sands invades for the $100,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile off a more than nine-length debut win for trainer Wesley Ward. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.