Presque Isle meet winds down with stakes triple
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
The 100-card Presque Isle Downs meet that began in May comes to a close Thursday night with a stakes triple-header.
The stakes are carded as races 4-6 on a program that begins at 5:25 p.m. Eastern. The stakes, in chronological order, are the $100,000 Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile for 2-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs; the $100,000 HBPA Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile and 70 yards; and the $75,000-added Mrs. Henry Paxson Memorial for Pennsylvania-bred 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs. All will be run over the Tapeta synthetic surface.
With three cards remaining at the Erie, Pa., track as of Tuesday afternoon, Antonio Gallardo led the rider standings 92-86 over Pablo Morales. Three trainers were tied at 29 wins: Dale Capuano, Joseph Martin, and Randall Russell.
Capuano, in particular, has had a strong season, winning at a 34 percent clip. He also leads all trainers by money earned with more than $679,000.
The best of the stakes is the HBPA, which will go as race 5. Fourteen are entered, 12 of whom will be allowed to start.
Awesome Flower is 4 for 5 over synthetic surfaces, all for owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trainer Mike Maker, and is 2 for 2 at Presque Isle. She won the $100,000 Windward here in June and will be seeking a repeat score in the HBPA.
The Ramseys and Maker claimed Awesome Flower for $30,000 out of her final start in 2012. She has since won seven races, including four stakes, and more than $376,000.
A 5-year-old daughter of Flower Alley, Awesome Flower will be making her first start since winning the Lady Canterbury for the second year in a row more than 10 weeks ago. She comes into this off four works, including two five-furlong bullets, at the Churchill Downs Training Center.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Maker, over the last five years, has won 64 of 342 starts (19 percent) with horses returning from layoffs of between 60 and 100 days and has a return on investment of $1.32. He won with two horses coming off layoffs of that duration during the Saratoga meet.
Sheer Drama and Miss Mischief are also top contenders in the HBPA. They have each made two starts since being transferred to their current trainer, and both ran lifetime best Beyer Speed Figures last time out. Those figures are better than anyone else in the field has ever run.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Miss Mischief. Trainer Dale Capuano is 2 for 20 with a $0.43 ROI over the past five years in synthetic routes following a win. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Sheer Drama finished second to Penwith in a second-level optional-claiming race at Saratoga two starts back, which was her debut for trainer David Fawkes. Penwith is a promising 3-year-old filly owned by Darley and trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.
In her most recent start, Sheer Drama turned in a strong performance to win the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes at Laurel by three lengths, earning a 94 Beyer. This will be her synthetic debut, but she looks very much like the horse to beat.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Sheer Drama. Trainer David Fawkes is 3 for 28 with a $0.44 ROI over the past two years in routes following a win and within 30 days of the previous race. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Miss Mischief is 2 for 2 for Capuano. She won a third-level optional-claiming race by 5 1/2 lengths here in early August and a no-conditions allowance race by 6 3/4 lengths here Sept. 4. She earned a 95 Beyer in the latter race.
Dixon Memorial
The Dixon Memorial has drawn 13 entrants, and will be limited to 12 starters.
Among the more interesting entrants are Bourbon Cowboy, who finished fourth, beaten two lengths in the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity, and Less Than Perfect, who has been facing stakes company at Woodbine.
Paxson Memorial
The seven-horse Paxson Memorial is topped by Happy to Go, the third-place finisher in the Arlington-Washington Lassie last time out. The winner of that race, Quality Rocks, has since been privately purchased and is now in training with Bill Mott.