Prairie Mile tops closing night card

Prairie Meadows concludes its Thoroughbred meeting Saturday evening with the $60,000 Prairie Juvenile Mile. A full field of 10 2-year-olds has been entered, all with connections wondering how their precocious runners will handle two turns on a dirt surface.

Heading the field is Let’s Get Crackin, a Don Roberson trainee who ran second to Jake Mo on July 16 in the $75,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile. From his inside post under regular rider Jake Barton, Let’s Get Crackin, an Eddington gelding, should stay one mile.

Twelve Hundred, named after his modest purchase price last October at Fasig-Tipton, looks to confirm the promise of his July 14 Arlington debut in which he cruised by 5 3/4 lengths and earned an eye-catching 92 Beyer. Trained by Jim DiVito, the Illinois-bred Cape Town gelding shows two solid five-furlong breezes over Polytrack in August.

Soonerette, a filly from the lone crop of Master Command, is the only member of the field with experience around two turns. The Donnie Von Hemel trainee captured a one mile maiden race July 17 by two lengths on Arlington’s turf course.

Of the other locally based entrants, Keg and Squid were impressive in winning their debuts here. Keg, a large Kitalpha gelding trained by Kenny Smith, looks the part for a one-mile race at this stage in his career. Squid put forth a brazen display of speed when winning by eight lengths over 4 1/2 furlongs on July 5. Squid is cross-entered in the $50,000 Barenscheer Juvenile at Canterbury Park on Sunday, and his trainer, Ray Tracy, said, "We may opt for that spot."