The Tabulator marquee horse in tough field for Golden Circle

It’s five horses in a $50,000 race on a Thursday night at Prairie Meadows, but you know what? The Golden Circle Stakes isn’t bad.

The race marks the 3-year-old debut of the graded stakes-winning 2-year-old The Tabulator, whose most recent start produced a fifth of 12 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall at Del Mar. The Breeders’ Cup-to-Prairie path isn’t one often trod, but don’t assume The Tabulator is a cinch in the six-furlong Golden Circle.

Land Battle won the Sugar Bowl Stakes over the winter at Fair Grounds, while the Iowa-bred Tin Badge ran into the brilliant 3-year-old sprinter Mitole last out in the $150,000 Bachelor Stakes at Oaklawn.

The Tabulator is based in Chicago with trainer Larry Rivelli but is making his second trip to Prairie, where he beat the standout Minnesota-bred Mr. Jagermeister in the Prairie Gold Juvenile Stakes last July 28. The Tabulator went on to win the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill before his run in the BC Juvenile, where he was still in strong contention at the five-sixteenths pole before fading in the homestretch.

The Tabulator subsequently underwent surgery to remove a bone chip from an ankle, but Rivelli, during the second week of April, said The Tabulator was training better than ever in preparation for his 2018 debut. Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. is in to ride and will try to work out a trip from post 1.

Tin Badge, far better than the average Iowa-bred, went 3 for 3 last summer at Prairie while keeping to statebred-restricted competition. He returned from a seven-month absence to finish sixth in a first-level allowance at Oaklawn and improved in his second start of the year, the Bachelor, chasing Mitole through blazing splits before tiring late to finish fourth, beaten 12 lengths. There’s no Mitole in the Golden Circle, and free-running Tin Badge is well drawn outside the other main speed, Shane Doan and Spanish Avenue.

Land Battle led all the way in his Sugar Bowl win but made the front there only because no other horse wanted the lead. He could settle into a stalking position Thursday night (race 8, post time 9:13 p.m. Central), and at least is a possible exacta partner with The Tabulator – if not simply a winner.