Mended the heavyweight of Iowa Distaff field

When one claims a horse, a realistic goal is to acquire an animal worth what you paid for it. The folks who claimed Mended for $12,500 on Jan. 6, 2017, at Golden Gate got more than that.

Mended won nine races in a row after being claimed by owners Troy and Maritza Onorato and trainer John Martin. She won a couple allowance races, the $110,000 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper at Gulfstream, and didn’t lose until she hit graded-stakes competition. Even there Mended held her own, finishing second by a head in the Grade 2 La Canada, second in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita, and third last out in the Grade 3 Adoration on May 6 at Santa Anita.

That form easily makes her the horse to beat Thursday night at Prairie Meadows in the $100,000 Iowa Distaff, and though Mended needs no further advantage, she gets one anyway. Under the Iowa Distaff conditions, Mended carries just 114 pounds, as much as nine fewer than top-weighted Jenda’s Agenda.

“The jockey weighs 102 pounds, so that’s no problem,” said Martin, referring to jockey Ricardo Gonzalez.

Trying to account for Mended’s massive improvement, Martin said: “She just got better – looked better and trained better. When I first claimed her, she had a few foot issues, and then she got good. The foot issues have been problematic off and on. The horse hasn’t run since May 6, but she’s run good like that before. There aren’t many races to choose from in California. That’s why we’re traveling.”

Mended has post 7 and nine rivals in the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Distaff, and if she’s not on the early lead, she’ll be close to it.

Jenda’s Agenda also has speed and has been out of action even longer than Mended. After an Oaklawn allowance win in her second start of the year, she pressed the pace and faded to 11th on April 20 in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland.

“That race was quite a puzzle,” trainer Larry Jones said. “She never worked great over the track there and she started working better when we moved her over to Churchill.”

Dreamcall won the Jack Bishop Stakes, the local prep for Thursday’s race, rallying into a strong pace, and it’s not out of the question the same thing could happen again Thursday.

Saylorville full of speed

Trainer Brad Cox has been reading Daily Racing Form since he was a kid in Louisville, Ky. What he sees in the $100,000 Saylorville Stakes is seven female sprinters with similar front-running habits, including his entrant, 8-5 morning-line favorite Golden Mischief.

“It seems like all of them have similar running styles,” Cox said. “Hopefully, we don’t get the trip we had last time.”

Last time was the Grade 3 Winning Colors on May 26 at Churchill, where Golden Mischief dueled on a dizzying pace and faded to fifth.

“She doesn’t really want to be that close,” Cox said.

Florent Geroux and Golden Mischief, in that case, are well drawn on the outside for a stalk-and-pounce trip. Golden Mischief got a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for winning an Oaklawn allowance race in her previous start, and running that fast would win the Saylorville.

Honey Bunny, riding a four-race winning streak, drew poorly, landing post 1.