Synchrony a strong fit in Prairie Mile

Marcus Hersh

Trainer Donnie Von Hemel’s top 3-year-old, Suddenbreakingnews, has a decent chance to win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday in New York, but on Friday night in Altoona, Iowa, another Von Hemel-trained 3-year-old, Synchrony, has an excellent chance to win the $65,000 Prairie Mile.

The Prairie Mile, a prep for the Iowa Derby, drew an overflow field of 11, with Pinnacle Peak, who would be a top contender were he to get into the race, on the also-eligible list. Owing perhaps to the large field, Synchrony was made the mild 3-1 favorite on the track’s morning line, but the more one digs into the Prairie Mile, the more this looks like Synchrony’s race to lose.

Synchrony, by Tapit and out of the excellent racemare Brownie Points, won his maiden as a 2-year-old in his second start and a first-level Churchill Downs allowance in his third start. He began his 3-year-old season promisingly enough with a somewhat-troubled third in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn.

Synchrony took a step back in the Southwest Stakes, however, finishing a soundly beaten sixth, and his failure to clearly progress at 3 is why he has ended up in Iowa this spring rather than Kentucky, Maryland, or New York.

But Synchrony did show signs of life in the Lexington Stakes, finishing third behind Collective, and while a performance at that level is not going to get him up to Grade 1 speed, he fits plenty well in this lesser spot Friday. Synchrony breaks from the rail under regular rider Shaun Bridgmohan, and Von Hemel is racing him in blinkers for the first time, which could really help since Synchrony has seemed to run in spots at times. He sports a strong work pattern for the Prairie Mile and probably will go to post closer to 7-5 than 3-1.

Luna de Loco finished three-quarters of a length behind Synchrony in the Smarty Jones and, after shooting a blank in the Southwest, won an Oaklawn allowance race. If he can get back to that form, Luna de Loco, in for Steve Asmussen, could contend, but he was eased out of the Arkansas Derby when last seen in a race.

Pinnacle Peak, the also-eligible (2016 earnings are the criterion for making the body of the field), beat Louisiana Derby runner-up Tom’s Ready in a Fair Grounds allowance race before fading to sixth in the Lecomte Stakes in his most recent start. Both he and another one of the more advanced entrants, Torrontes, are front-running types (in routes, at least) who, thanks to the presence of several stretch-out sprinters, could get swept into a strong pace.

The Prairie Mile is carded as race 8 at 8:42 p.m. Central. The forecast calls for hot, dry conditions.