Maker has sharp pair for Diliberto Memorial

Like so many turf stakes last season at Fair Grounds, the Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes on Saturday came up with a field stronger than its purse.

The Diliberto, one of six stakes on the Saturday card, is worth $75,000. The main contenders in the race – and there are several – could reasonably be running for twice that purse.

Race 6 of 12, the Diliberto is carded for about 1 1/16 miles on turf, and if there is a turf-route stakes being run anywhere in the center of the country, there’s a great chance trainer Mike Maker has a horse in it.

In fact, he has two entered in the Diliberto, Tizarunner and Sir Dudley Digges, and while Sir Dudley Digges is listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite, Tizarunner might hold more appeal. Maker has trained Tizarunner only during his four 2017 starts, and after a quiet run on soft turf to start his season, Tizarunner reeled off consecutive allowance wins at Laurel Park before a close fifth last out in the $150,000 Artie Schiller at Aqueduct.

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One cause for pause: While DRF Formulator shows Maker the last three years in turf stakes at one mile or longer with a fine 23 percent strike rate and a $2.13 return on investment from a large sample, he has found less success during the same period at Fair Grounds, where he has won with only two of 16 such starters for a 75-cent ROI.

Thatcher Street, part of trainer Ian Wilkes’s new Fair Grounds string, is approaching a half-million in career earnings and long has fit turf races at this class level and distance. Saham, who has spent more time on the shelf than at the races since 2015, finished second last month in a Fair Grounds turf allowance race he might well have needed to gain full fitness. Steve Asmussen claimed Turbo Street for owner Clark Brewster for just $25,000 on Sept. 2, and 22 days later won the $100,000 Remington Green. Applicator’s form is all over the place, but he has enough speed to make the front and control the pace if things shake his way.

‘Prado’ finds sweet spot

Prado’s Sweet Ride’s form from last season at Fair Grounds would be plenty good to capture the $75,000 Blushing K.D. Stakes, a turf route for fillies and mares.

Prado’s Sweet Ride was a 31-1 shot finishing third in the 2016 Blushing K.D., but she proved far more capable than that price. Prado’s Sweet Ride missed by a nose in the Marie Krantz last season, barely beaten by Kitten’s Roar and 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Cambodia. Both horses went on to score eye-catching turf stakes wins in California this fall.

Prado’s Sweet Ride failed to win any of her four turf starts after leaving Fair Grounds, but in one race she was undone by wet turf, in another by a loose leader, and in the Grade 1 Beverly D. at Arlington she was simply overmatched. Her second to Dona Bruja in the Grade 3 Modesty at Arlington was excellent, and Prado’s Sweet Ride, who winters in New Orleans with trainer Neil Pessin, showed her spark remains with an off-turf romp last out at Hawthorne.

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Prado’s Sweet Ride has positional pace, but Vagabond Princess could make the early lead, and gifted a soft front-end trip Nov. 25 in a Fair Grounds allowance, she sprinted home for a good win. Just a 4-year-old, Vagabond Princess looks like an improving filly who hasn’t yet hit her ceiling, and she could be dangerous if left alone in front.

Likely to race in the second tier along with Prado’s Sweet Ride is Princess Erindelle, and that alone is somewhat strange. Princess Erindelle a year ago was a one-run closer, fairly effective at times, but her running style changed over the summer, and, racing in blinkers for the first time, Princess Erindelle was up pressing a slow pace when last seen Sept. 9 in the Avers Wexler Stakes at Arlington.

Valadorna was among the nine horses entered, but entries for the Saturday card were taken before Valadorna won a Fair Grounds allowance race on a sloppy track. Valadorna only was entered in the Blushing K.D. as a back-up plan, and trainer Mark Casse said the filly would be scratched.