Prairie Meadows: Hawkeyes handicap should help identify division leaders

ALTOONA, Iowa – With two-time Hawkeyes winner L D Shes Special and defending champ Go Milan Go both retired to the breeding shed, the Iowa-bred filly and mare division has opened up for a new champion to step forward. The picture should be clearer after Friday night’s $75,000 Hawkeyes Handicap, which drew eight distaffers going 1 1/16 miles.

Ginger Added, the starlet of trainer Dick Clark’s abundant collection of Iowa-breds, seeks her first win of 2012 after finishing second or third in her three starts at the meet. The Hawkeyes highweight at 122 pounds, Ginger Added chased runaway winner Sterling Madame when third last out in the open $61,500 Wild Rose here at Friday’s distance. Ginger Added’s return to Iowa-bred competition makes her a soid threat.

Afleet Lover, Bella Road, and Cream of Soup all enter off of solid allowance wins, with Cream of Soup’s coming in open company. Cream of Soup relished the slop in that May 25 race and dug deep to fend off another Hawkeyes opponent, Rico’s Posse.

Trained by Chris Richard who is 28 for 89 this meet, Cream of Soup may be best at the 1 1/16-mile distance but she will need to establish good position from her outside post.

Someplace Else, conditioned by Kelly Von Hemel, will try to regain the sparkle that enabled her to win the Iowa Breeders Oaks last August by 5 1/4 lengths. Bullet workouts on May 26 and June 2 indicate that Someplace Else is rounding back into form for her first two-turn race of the year.

Deep closers Jamaican Me Crazy and Jeffell will aim to emulate the late swooping rallies of L D Shes Special and would be aided by a contested pace.

The scheduled post time for The Hawkeyes Handicap is 9:37 p.m. Central.