K 5 sends two in 5-horse futurity

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Three $40,000 stakes - the Winnipeg Futurity, Jack Hardy, and Wheat City - highlight the Manitoba Derby undercard.

The combination of the K 5 Stables Inc. and trainer Wendy Kruger will send out two of the five 2-year-olds entered in the six-furlong Winnipeg Futurity.

Kruger will saddle the filly Cat Rush, who won the Debutante Stakes at first asking by 4 1/2 lengths over Hey Hey Renee on July 17, and the colt Gone Wild, who was well-beaten in his only start on July 15.

Hey Hey Renee was an impressive 7 1/4-length winner in her first start on July 17, before finishing second behind Cat Rush in the Debutante.

Thunderacchi won his second career start on July 15 by 6 1/4 lengths.

First-time starter Tuscana Jack rounds out the field.

Jack Hardy: Tuff Justice goes first Lasix

Tuff Justice, whose last win came in the 2004 Winnipeg Futurity, will race on Lasix for the first time in the Jack Hardy, a mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

On Wild Ground, a winner of 4 of 7 local starts, brings a two-race win streak into the Jack Hardy.

Watega Light finished second in the six-furlong Chantilly Stakes here June 5, before defeating On Wild Ground by a neck in a first-level allowance race on June 18. In her most recent start, on July 15, Watega Light ran seventh in the Northlands Park Oaks.

Aly's Flyer, a winner of her first two start here this year, should be the dominant speed in the Jack Hardy as she tries to stretch out over a route of ground for the first time.

Wheat City: Alberta shippers look best

Alberta shippers Kat Kool and Eternal Secrecy appear to be the ones to beat in the Wheat City, a mile race for 3-year-olds and upward.

Winless this year, Kat Kool finished fifth in the Spangled Jimmy Stakes and sixth in the Journal Handicap in his two most recent starts at Northlands Park.

Eternal Secrecy defeated $22,000 and $30,000 claimers in his last two races, both at one mile, and is 3 for 7 at the Wheat City distance.

Lord Shogun, who in his last start won for the first time since the 2002 Manitoba Derby, leads a dilapidated local contingent. Northern Affair, whose last win came in the 2004 Wheat City, is also entered.