Plenty of question marks in Karl Boyes Memorial

Trainers Reade Baker and Tom Amoss will try to turn back the clock a couple of years with the horses they entered in Monday’s $100,000 Karl Boyes Memorial Stakes at Presque Isle Downs.

Go Blue Or Go Home, who won the 6 1/2-furlong Boyes in 2013 but is mired in a 10-race losing streak, and Rise Up, a fast 4-year-old on dirt who hasn’t run on a synthetic track since winning his maiden at Presque Isle two years ago, will attempt to regain their good synthetic form in Sunday’s seventh race.

The Woodbine-based Baker captured the 2013 running of the Boyes with Go Blue Or Go Home at 5-1 odds and then took last year’s running with Sharp Sensation. Overall, Baker does quite well shipping to Presque Isle, posting a 4-for-11 record the past five years. Three of those wins came in stakes and he had two other horses finish second by a neck.

The Amoss-trained Rise Up, beaten a length in the Grade 3 Texas Mile last time out, will be switching surfaces and cutting back in distance. He ran well in his first two starts, which came at Presque Isle as a 2-year-old.

Amoss also will send out Expecting Cash, who is 3 for 3 on synthetic surfaces, albeit all against far weaker competition than what he faces Monday.

The field also includes Summation Time, who makes his synthetic debut after winning three straight turf sprints for trainer Christophe Clement.

Karl Boyes Memorial, Race 7

KEY CONTENDERS

Go Blue Or Go Home (Last 3 Beyers: 79-85-83)

◗ Has lost 10 straight since taking this race and the Grade 3 Highlander at Woodbine during the summer of 2013. On the plus side, he has recorded three straight bullet workouts at Woodbine since May 25.

Expecting Cash (Last 3 Beyers: 82-80-59)

◗ He’s 0 for 4 this season, and his last synthetic surface win came against optional $14,000 claimers at Arlington.

Rise Up (Last 3 Beyers: 92-97-90)

◗ He’s fast and classy, but hasn’t raced on a synthetic surface since winning his maiden going 4 1/2 furlongs in June 2013.

Summation Time (Last 3 Beyers: 87-77-85)

◗ This 4-year-old has been solid since focusing on turf sprints, but is a question mark on Tapeta.

◗ He has not raced since April 1, and Clement is just 1 for 9 with horses switching from turf to synthetic sprints following a break of more than 45 days.

Sandbar (Last 3 Beyers: 97-89-89)

◗ Exits a win in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap, but earned a 35 Beyer Speed Figure in his only previous try on a synthetic surface and is trained by Joe Sharp, who shows no success with limited starters on synthetic surfaces.

Catalactic (Last 3 Beyers: 83-83-34)

◗ Has won two in a row on turf and synthetic since he was claimed by Jamie Ness, who has won with four of his first 11 starters at the meet.