Party Pooper the one to beat in Birdcatcher

The Hastings-based Party Pooper looks like the one to beat Saturday in the $50,000 Birdcatcher Stakes at Northlands Park. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-old colts and geldings attracted six horses and goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that begins at 1 p.m. Mountain.

Purchased by Glen Todd for $100,000 out of the Barretts 2-year-olds-in-training sale last March, Party Pooper is well on his way to earning Todd and subsequent partner Mark Dedomenico a nice return on their investment.

He broke a couple of steps slowly and was steadied early when he finished second in his debut in a 3 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race July 26 at Hastings. The Kentucky-bred son of Desert Party made no mistakes when he came back to win the $50,000 New Westminster Handicap going 6 1/2 furlongs Aug. 15. In both races, he was ridden by Alex Bisono, who will make the trip from Vancouver to ride the likely favorite.

Key contenders

Party Pooper (Last 2 Beyers: 65-47)

* The 65 Beyer Speed Figure he earned for his win in the New Westminster easily is the best in the field.

* He appeared to be well in hand when he came back to work a sharp five furlongs in 59.60 seconds with exercise rider Anrella Villeseche aboard last Sunday.

DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past five years, Taylor has a 24 percent strike rate with 2-year-olds running in non-graded stakes.

Capitalism (Last 2 Beyers: 46-39)

* Similar to Party Pooper, he finished second going 3 1/2 furlongs in his debut, then romped in the $49,000 Sales Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs in his second start.

* Trained by Greg Tracy, he will be ridden by Rico Walcott. According to DRF’s Formulator, over the past five years, Walcott has won with 50 percent of his mounts for Tracy in 2-year-old stakes races at Northlands.

Dr Hook McCracken (Last 2 Beyers: 54-21)

* Also trained by Tracy, he rallied to win his second start, and the 54 Beyer Speed Figure he received is the best among locally based horses. There also should be speed coming back to him.

Artie in the Park (Last 3 Beyers: 32-32-24)

* He has finished second in three of his four starts for trainer Tim Rycroft. The only time he wasn’t part of the exacta, he was lucky not to go over the rail after being forced to steady sharply when he was making a strong move midstretch in the $51,000 Edmonton Juvenile.