No clear choice among 10 milers in $100K Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. - Horsemen's Park closes out its four-day festival of racing on Sunday with the $100,000 Omaha Stakes slated as the final race of the meeting. A group of 10 well-matched older horses will compete at one mile.

Picking the favorite in the race, let alone the winner, may prove no easy task as horses from throughout the Midwest converge. Texas invader Stockholder, trained by Scott Blasi, and Go Now, in from Churchill Downs for trainer Ron Moquet, are the likely candidates to vie for the favorite's role.

Stockholder comes into the race off a handy 6 3/4-length win over money allowance company at Lone Star Park in his last start and has the versatility to be a part of the pace or lay off and make a late run. He was a narrowly beaten second in the Grade 3 Texas Mile in April, then bounced back from a disappointing effort in the Lone Star Park Handicap to score his latest victory in June. Brian Peck will be in to ride from post 2.

Go Now was meeting some of the better handicap horses in the country last year but has yet to win this season. He enters off a third to Greater Good in a $100,000 optional claimer at Churchill on July 3 and will have Calvin Borel, a two-time winner of this race, aboard from post 10.

Sampson's Son could play the role of spoiler for trainer Steve Hobby and may the value play of the race. He was a non-threatening sixth in a five-furlong overnight stakes at Arlington last out, but shows some good turf efforts going long. While he was seventh in the Fair Ground BC Handicap back in January, he was only beaten 2 3/4 lengths and he may be a strong threat to take this field gate to wire. Tim Doocy will be aboard from post 3.

* Thursday's first race at Horsemen's Park was declared a no-contest after the starting gate could not be removed from the racetrack, forcing the 10-horse field to go around the starting gate in upper stretch of the six-furlong race. All wagers were refunded.

* Also on the card, State Fair Derby winner Justabit Shawklit will seek his fourth win of the year when he again takes on My Halo in the $27,500 Skunktail Stakes for 3-year-old Nebraska-breds.

* Scat's Princess, the even-money favorite with Yuri Yaranga aboard for trainer David Anderson, was a 3 3/4-length winner of Thursday's Fantango Lady for statebred 3-year-old fillies.