Be it through the claim box, the sales ring, or with homebreds, the owner William Stiritz and his private trainer Scott Becker win races. Stiritz, who owns Fairmount Park, and Becker, who is based in southern Illinois but has his major string in Chicago most of the year, topped out with 158 winners in 2015. They won 115 last year, have 109 through Nov. 15 in 2017, and with three entrants in the $100,000 Sun Power Stakes for Illinois-bred juveniles, the pair has a good chance to add to that total Saturday at Hawthorne. All three of these horses were built from the bottom up by Stiritz and Becker. Ghaaleb’s Winner, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, as well as Gita’s Lad and Caleb’s Heir not only are Stiritz homebreds, they’re among the first crop of runners sired by Stiritz’s stallion Ghaaleb, who stands at Wildwood Farm. Ghaaleb, a son of Unbridled’s Song, cost Shadwell Stables $650,000 at a yearling auction and won 2 of 4 starts before becoming unfit to race. Stiritz and Becker paid $42,000 for him as a stallion prospect at the Keeneland November sale in 2013. “We went and looked four or five stallions in the sale that year, and we picked him out,” Becker said. “We’ve cut back on the broodmares and used this stallion for basically all the mares now.” :: Get yourself a 20-card PPs pack today and save 60¢ per card! Ghaaleb’s Winner won easily making his debut at Fairmount and rallied up the fence to finish a fine third in the $75,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity. He came back to capture a first-level Hawthorne allowance at the Sun Power’s six-furlong distance, and his stalking style could play well in a race that looks loaded with speed. “I had a couple others that had little setbacks I thought were better than him, but he’s the most accomplished of these three, and further along,” said Becker. “He had a little trouble breaking in the Futurity, but he broke real well last time.” There’s a 90 percent chance of rain Saturday and the Sun Power figures to wind up on a wet track. What that means for Ghaaleb’s Winner, Becker isn’t sure. “You just never know how they’re going to handle it,” he said. Gita’s Lad came from well behind the speed last out to finish second to Sun Power starter Sir Anthony. Caleb’s Heir debuted with a front-running win at Fairmount and could get hooked into a pace battle with Sir Anthony and either or both Larry Rivelli-trained entrants, Demand Ransom and Pass the Gravy. The Sun Power is carded as race 7, with post time of 5:58 Central.