Killin Me Smalls, the 2015 local Horse of the Year, and Blue Dancer, the champion 3-year-old colt in Alberta last year, will meet for the first time in the $50,000 Spangled Jimmy Handicap at Northlands Park on Saturday. The one-mile Spangled Jimmy drew five horses and headlines an eight-race card that includes three other one-mile, $50,000 stakes. The Spangled Jimmy goes as the fourth race. Starting in race 6, the $50,000 John Patrick for fillies and mares kicks off an all-stakes pick three. It is followed by the R.K. Red Smith Handicap for 3-year-old fillies and the Ky Alta Handicap for 3-year-olds. :: Bet Northlands Park with DRF Bets. Get a $200 cash bonus, including $50 free just for making a deposit! Find out more today Blue Dancer’s trainer, Greg Tracy, had the best day of his career when he won all four stakes at Northlands on May 28. He could do it again Saturday, but it will be a much more difficult task. “Things fell into place perfectly last time, but the fields are larger and also tougher Saturday,” said Tracy. Tracy likes the way Blue Dancer is coming into the Spangled Jimmy, but he has a lot of respect for Killin Me Smalls. In his only start this year and his first with older horses, Blue Dancer was impressive in winning the six-furlong Journal Handicap. He has won going as far as 1 1/16 miles. “He’s training very well, and he shouldn’t have any trouble with the distance,” said Tracy. “Killin Me Smalls always runs tough though. I always hear there’s something wrong with him, and then he comes out and just wins.” Trained by Ernie Keller, Killin Me Smalls won four races, including three stakes, at Northlands before closing out his 2015 campaign with a win in the Grade 3 Premiers at Hastings. In his first start this year, he finished second to Capitalism in an optional $35,000 claiming race last Saturday. Keller is looking for him to move forward with a race behind him. “He ran okay, but every time he wanted to make a move, he got stuck behind a horse,” he said. “I didn’t want him to have to go a mile coming off that long of a layoff, so we ran him last week to tighten him up.” Keller wanted to run Killin Me Smalls in the Journal, but the horse hurt himself in his stall. “He’s okay now, and he should run a good race,” said Keller. Last year, Killin Me Smalls won the Journal and then romped by 9 1/4 lengths in the Spangled Jimmy. Ruben Lara had been his usual rider since he won the Westerner in August 2014. With Lara riding at Hastings this year, Rico Walcott has picked up the mount. ◗ Hero’s Amor should have an honest pace to work with in the John Patrick, which drew eight fillies and mares. She will be looking for her first win since she beat Ambleside Park for trainer Tim Rycroft in the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks on Sept. 13. In her only start this year, she rallied late to finish second by a head to Eustacia in the $51,000 Wild Rose Handicap at Northlands. Eustacia, trained by Tracy, is going for the hat trick. She won an optional $35,000 claiming race on May 6 before her desperate win in the Wild Rose. She drew the outside post. “With all the other speed in the field, it might be a good time to see if she can rate,” said Tracy. ◗ The Tracy-trained C U At Eau Claire will be a short price to win the Red Smith for 3-year-old fillies. She was the champion 2-year-old filly at Hastings in 2015, and in her only start this year, she was an easy winner of the $55,000 Chariot Chaser at Northlands on May 28. The main threat could come from Leena, the only horse in the field with a win at a middle distance. Trained by Robert MacDonald, Leena rallied to win the one-mile Freedom of the City in her final start as a juvenile, and she made a decent late move in the Chariot Chaser in her first start this year. ◗ Ready Intaglio should appreciate what figures to be a fast and contested pace in the Ky Alta, which drew 10 3-year-old colts and geldings. Trained by Amber Meyaard, Ready Intaglio has won twice and finished second in three starts at a mile on dirt, and he just missed going a mile on turf in the Tempe Handicap at Turf Paradise on March 16. In his latest start, Ready Intaglio finished third to Reason for Being while going six furlongs in the Western Canada at Northlands on May 28. Reason for Being returns in the Ky Alta, and Tracy is hoping he will be able to carry his substantial speed in his first try at a middle distance. After winning a first-level allowance in his first start this year, Reason for Being was well in hand when he won the Western Canada.