Valley Loot targets repeat

Valley Loot, the 2008 Pinnacle and Michigan horse of the year, headlines a field of nine Michigan-bred fillies and mares in the $50,000 Larkspur Stakes at Pinnacle Race Course. The six-furlong race is the seventh of eight races on the card.

Valley Loot, owned by Pinnacle CEO Felicia Campbell, is fresh from a win in the one-mile $75,000 Golden Sylvia Handicap at Mountaineer Park on June 16. Under Freddie Mata, she led to the stretch, was headed, but then came back to win by three-quarters of a length. She will be asked to carry 124 pounds in the Larkspur, spotting from five to 13 pounds to the others.

At Pinnacle's inaugural meet last year, Valley Loot won 3 of 4 starts, including the Larkspur and her second consecutive Michigan Sire Stakes. She is trained by Ronnie Allen, who also has entered Wave Pool, the top 3-year-old filly in the state last year.

The homebred Wave Pool also is owned by Campbell, though she and Valley Loot will race uncoupled in the wagering. Wave Pool was second in her 2009 debut, a six-furlong allowance race here June 12, and gets in the Larkspur at 118 pounds.

Candy Cane, second highweight at 119 pounds, was second in the $53,000 Nicole's Dream Stakes at Arlington Park on June 6 in her last start. She was third to Valley Loot in last year's Larkspur.