Prairie Meadows: Moquett wins two stakes on festival's opening night

ALTOONA, Iowa – Trainer Ron Moquett enjoyed a big Friday night as two of his horses, Gentlemen’s Bet and Livi Makenzie, won stakes races on opening night of Prairie Meadows’ two-card Iowa Festival of Racing.

Gentlemen’s Bet fended off a persistent challenge from North America’s top rated sprinted Delaunay to take the $125,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap by 1 3/4 lengths. Now 5 for 6 lifetime, the 4-year-old Half Ours colt, according to Moquett, “looked great this morning” and will return to Louisville.

Delaunay, the heavy favorite, broke last in the Iowa Sprint. He battled with Gentlemen’s Bet through the stretch but was outfinished late and had his six-race winning streak snapped.

“He came out of the race great,” said his owner, Maggi Moss. “The winner is a great horse but we truly feel the break cost us the race. We plan on moving ahead and will decide on our next spot in the coming weeks.”

Livi Makenzie, a Moquett-trained 4-year-old Macho Uno filly, dug in determinedly to take the $100,000 Saylorville, a six-furlong stakes for fillies and mares, by a length from Devious Intent. Like Gentlemen’s Bet, Moquett reported Livi Makenzie came back in good order and is heading to Churchill Downs.

“I don’t have a specific plan for either of them,” Moquett said. “But, we’ll be looking for races about five weeks from now.”

In between Moquett’s two wins, Flashy American drew off readily for a 5 1/2-length win in the 1 1/16-mile $100,000 Iowa Distaff. Flashy American “came back in good order and we’ll look forward to getting her back to Churchill Downs,” said trainer Ken McPeek.

McPeek said he has “nothing specific in mind” for the 4-year-old Flashy Bull filly.