Prevue cast lacks a star

The names fairly jump off page 76 of the Turfway Park record book. The Turfway Prevue, the $50,000 race that will be run Saturday, has been surprisingly productive in recent history, with Perfect Drift, Champali, Personal First, and Kimberlite Pipe having used it as a springboard toward graded stakes success.

Nonetheless, if early form means anything, the 11 3-year-olds who will clash Saturday in the 20th running of the Turfway Prevue have a long, long way to go to approach such national prominence. None has shown anything close to the potential of those highly accomplished predecessors, and an eye-popping performance on Saturday surely would mark a lifetime best, by far, for the one who happens to get it done.

Happily for horseplayers, this apparent lack of budding star power doesn't make the Turfway Prevue a bad betting race. Not at all. There doesn't appear to be a standout in the bunch, so the tote board figures to be an inviting one. Eyeforglory, unbeaten in two starts, and Truly Native, an allowance winner at Churchill Downs, have done enough so far to rank among the deserving favorites in the 6 1/2-furlong race, but their credentials are marginal, giving realistic hope to the others.

Eyeforglory is trained by John Burke at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, Ky., where the colt already has made the short intrastate van ride to Florence to win twice this winter at Turfway. The first victory came in a $30,000 maiden-claiming race on Dec. 3, and the second was in a first-level allowance on Dec. 16.

By Honour and Glory out of a Southern Halo mare, Eyeforglory arguably has the best pedigree in the field, and his gate-to-wire style in both triumphs most likely will make him the one to catch Saturday. Perry Ouzts has the mount.

Truly Native, trained by Bernie Flint, has not raced since upsetting a solid field on Nov. 19 in a one-mile allowance at Churchill. Already a confirmed closer, Truly Native, with Chad Murphy to ride, will be shortening back in distance when returning after seven weeks away.

Other logical contenders include Call the Lord, third to Eyeforglory last out, and Night Wing, a recent maiden winner for trainer Pete Salmen Jr.

The Turfway Prevue is carded as the 10th of 12 races on a program that begins at 1:10 p.m. Eastern. The other 11 races carry claiming conditions. Post time for the feature is 5:19.