The Tabulator validates his purchase price in Prairie Gold Juvenile

Markets, many believe, possess an internal logic, but the betting market for the $65,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile on Friday night at Prairie Meadows went haywire.

Mr. Jagermeister, a blinkered speedster by the $2,000 sire Atta Boy Roy, was the 1-5 favorite on the strength of a blowout Minnesota-bred maiden win. The Tabulator, a $460,000 purchase as a 2-year-old in training in March, a son of the hot young sire Dialed In, and a blowout open-company maiden winner at Arlington in his debut, went off at 5-2.

It was no contest. Mr. Jagermeister had the speed, but The Tabulator had the substance, blowing past Mr. Jagermeister with a half-furlong to run and going on to a 2 1/4-length victory in the six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds.

“We’ve been high on this horse,” said jockey Jose Valdivia Jr., who rode The Tabulator for trainer Larry Rivelli and owner Carolyn Wilson. “Synthetic to dirt, you never know.”

The Tabulator debuted July 2 over Arlington’s Polytrack, showed speed in a 4 1/2-furlong dash, and drew away to win by nine lengths. On Friday, he had a much more demanding trip but was up to the task.

Mr. Jagermeister, as he had in his 11 1/2-length debut win over Minnesota-breds on July 4 at Canterbury, broke a beat slowly but quickly recovered to contest the early pace. Three wide through a quarter-mile in 21.80 seconds, Mr. Jagermeister and jockey Andrew Ramgeet sped to the lead on the far turn and opened up a couple lengths.

But Mr. Jagermeister is no imposing, overdeveloped young gorilla. He’s a smallish horse with a rapid stride turnover, and by the time he got to the quarter pole, Mr. Jagermeister looked like he was in trouble. The Tabulator, outrun a bit early, had emerged from the chasing pack to mount a challenge, and he appeared to be traveling with more power and purpose than the front-running favorite.

The Tabulator closed steadily until Mr. Jagermeister caved at the sixteenth pole and won going away. Off a demanding half-mile split of 44.66, he went six furlongs in 1:10.09, paying $7.40 as the second choice. It was a long way back to third-place Land Battle, who finished almost eight lengths behind Mr. Jagermeister.

“I expect a lot of big things of him,” Valdivia said of the winner. “He was looking around. There’s a lot left in the tank.”

The Tabulator is out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Fly to the Stars. Purchased for just $15,000 as a weanling in 2015, he is a horse without a lot of success in his immediate family who nevertheless was a hit at the OBS March breeze-up sale.