Prairie Meadows: Maude S wins Wild Rose Stakes

ALTOONA, Iowa – Aboard even-money favorite Maude S, jockey Israel Ocampo bided his time behind dawdling fractions set by Lava Girl in Saturday's featured $60,000 Wild Rose, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for fillies and mares. On the far turn, a surge along the rail carried the James DiVito-trained mare from last to first for a 2 3/4-length win.

Dropping in class following a sixth-place finish in Hawthorne's Grade 3 Sixty Sails Handicap on April 20, Maude S, who shipped in from Arlington, collected $36,000 for owner James M. Miller in winning her first stakes race. DiVito, who has enjoyed plenty of success here with his classy sprinter Coach Jimi Lee and others, will consider the $100,000 Iowa Distaff on June 28 for his 5-year-old mare.

Lava Girl, a Canterbury shipper who was the second choice in the field of five, held second by 2 3/4 lengths after setting fractions of 25.26 seconds and 50.53. The Will Rogers Downs-based Miss Hockaday won a battle for third by a head over Itsabeautifulthing.

Racing over a muddy surface and in swirling winds, Maude S finished strongly in 1:44.93.