Prairie Meadows: Alsvid dominates Golden Circle

Alsvid, after racing under stout restraint for three furlongs, surged up powerfully on the turn and swept past his rivals to take the $60,000 Golden Circle Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, by seven lengths Saturday night at Prairie Meadows.

Stopping the clock in 1:10.09, Alsvid, an Officer colt owned by James Rogers's Black Hawk Stable, needed only steady hand urging from jockey Terry Thompson, who was recording his fourth win on the first Saturday card of the season.

Trained by Chris Hartman, who also won the 2011 Prairie Meadows Sprint Handicap with the recently retired veteran Ducky Drake, Alsvid was sent off the 3-5 favorite in a field of five. Hartman, whose current stable star also won Remington Park's $75,000 Kip Deville Stakes at 2, said "Alsvid trained well at Sunland for his first race in almost five months and we're going to keep him in sprints." His next target is undecided.

Wildcat Country, a Randy Morse trainee who was claimed for just $15,000 at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 12, proved no match for the talented winner but gamely held second at 4-1. Twelve Hundred, who won the $60,000 Prairie Juvenile Mile, last August, was another 2 1/4 lengths back in third.