Tango Run to dance with the boys in Noonan

After a disappointing end to her juvenile season, Tango Run got right back in step with a solid stakes victory in her 2018 debut. The filly looks to keep the beat going as she faces the boys in the $75,000 Howard B. Noonan Stakes for Ohio-bred 3-year-olds on Saturday at Mahoning Valley.

Tango Run, who is trained by William Cowans, won her first three starts, including a pair of stakes, by a combined 11 1/4 lengths. That made her the favorite for the $150,000 John W. Galbreath Memorial Stakes on the Best of Ohio showcase program last October at Belterra Park, but she finished third, beaten six lengths.

Tango Run took her 3-year-old bow in the Southern Park Stakes on March 24, going this six-furlong distance at Mahoning Valley, and bested her fellow fillies by two lengths. Jockey Rex Stokes III, who has been aboard for all of Tango Run’s starts, keeps the mount on Saturday.

Tango Run has found the most stakes success of any horse in the Noonan field. Buster’s Boy has won both his starts, both at Mahoning Valley, by a combined 10 1/2 lengths. Charlee’s Magic is coming off an allowance win at the track last November.

The Noonan is preceded on the card by the $75,000 Austintown Filly Sprint, an open event for 3-year-old fillies. The field includes the Pennsylvania-bred Stardoza, who won the Mrs. Henry Paxson Memorial last September at Presque Isle Downs in her most recent start. She has since switched barns from Tim Girten to Candace Huffman.

Waki Patriot was a maiden winner at the 2017 Keeneland spring meet before finishing third in both the Astoria Stakes at Belmont and the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs. Red Dread, fourth in the Debutante, comes off a victory in an optional claiming event at Gulfstream Park.

Oxford Comma is coming off three consecutive victories at Delta Downs for Tom Amoss, most recently taking an allowance race by 1 3/4 lengths.