Moment in Dixie looms as threat in Wintergreen Stakes

The first stakes of the winter-spring meet at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky looks like a good one, as a full field of fillies and mares seems assured Saturday night for the $60,000 Wintergreen Stakes.

Trainers familiar to Kentucky racing fans, including Mike Maker, Ken McPeek, Wesley Ward, and Wayne Catalano, are among those represented in the Wintergreen, a one-mile Polytrack race carded as the sixth of nine Saturday races. In all, 14 are entered, although only as many as 12 can start.

First post is 6:15 p.m. Eastern, with the Wintergreen set for 8:40.

The Wintergreen, named for the Ohio-bred who won the Kentucky Derby in 1909, is the first of seven stakes at a winter-spring meet that began Thursday and continues through March 29. The next is the $60,000 Forego on Jan. 17, and the highlight is the Grade 3 Spiral on March 21.

Key contenders

Moment in Dixie (Last 3 Beyers: 92-80-76)

* Assuming she actually starts (she also was entered Thursday at Aqueduct), this mare from Darby Dan is a real threat given her latest Polytrack effort, when she finished ahead of Emollient as the runner-up in the Doubledogdare at Keeneland last spring.

Rosee Is Cozee (Last 3 Beyers: 79-77-82)

* She might be overlaid on the tote because of her blue-collar roots, but that five-length triumph three weeks ago was nicely done and makes her viable against this brand.

Awesome Flower (Last 3 Beyers: 92-84-90)

* Her 4-for-6 career mark on Polytrack marks her as a synthetics specialist and perhaps the one to beat in here for Ken and Sarah Ramsey and Maker; the latter also has Frosty Bay in this race and is the perennial leading trainer at Turfway despite having his best horses in Florida for the winter.

Maid On a Mission (Last 3 Beyers: 85-86-77)

* Can’t be completely dismissed after ending the Churchill Downs fall meet on a high note, capturing a second-level turf allowance for a trainer (Tommy Ray Mills) who is 15 for 57 (26 percent) over the last two years.

Hitechnoweenie (Last 3 Beyers: 84-83-71)

* Just-miss come-from-behind effort in the shorter Holiday Inaugural on opening weekend of the holiday meet speaks to her desire for more ground, which is just what McPeek is granting her.

Antonia Autumn (Last 3 Beyers: 87-81-81)

* Outran her 55-1 odds in a big way when most recently third in the Grade 3 Cardinal at Churchill for Ben Colebrook, the former Christophe Clement assistant whose main band of horses will be at Sam Houston this winter.

High Wire Kitten (Last 3 Beyers: 83-79-76)

* Work pattern since a turf-allowance victory for Ward looks a little bizarre (one each at Keeneland, Turfway, and Fair Grounds), but her credentials say she should contend regardless.