Prairie Meadows stakes winners fan out

Smack Smack, who won the Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap on July 2, came out of his 16-1 upset win in good shape and will be pointed to the $175,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap on Aug. 6, trainer Don Von Hemel said.

The race at Albuquerque is attractive, Von Hemel said, because it’s contested at 1 1/8 miles, the distance of the Cornhusker and a trip at which Smack Smack is 3 for 4.

“His best lick is a mile and an eighth, but there’s really not much around for him right now,” said Von Hemel, who trains Smack Smack, a homebred, for Toby Keith’s Dream Walkin’ Farms. “He didn’t really surprise me the way he ran because he had trained very well, and I knew going in that was his best distance.”

Family Tree, the winner of the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Oaks, might run back on relatively short rest in the Grade 2, $200,000 Indiana Derby next Saturday.

“It’s back a little quick, 16 days, but she came out of it great,” said Wayne Catalano, who trains Family Tree for Gary and Mary West.

Candip, the winner of the $100,000 Iowa Sprint on the Cornhusker card, probably is headed to the $100,000 Sen. Robert Byrd Memorial on Aug. 6 at Mountaineer. Claimed for $32,000 in May 2015 by K Town Partners and trainer Mike Tomlinson, Candip has since won 4 of 9 starts, capturing his first stakes at Prairie Meadows.

“He came out of that race exceptionally well,” said Tomlinson. “He’s turned out to be a very nice, very consistent little horse for us.”