Welder white hot coming into Skinner Memorial

Oklahoma-bred Welder quietly has forged a spectacular racing career and even at age 6 his competitive fire appears to be burning hotter than ever.

Welder, a gelding owned by Ra-Max Farms and trained by Teresa Luneack, has amassed a career record of 17-4-3 from 26 starts, and if Welder is going out to race, he is, without fail, going to give his connections and backers a run for their money. That’s very likely to be the case again Saturday afternoon at Prairie Meadows, where Welder will start – probably as an odds-on favorite – in the $65,000 Ed Skinner Memorial Stakes.

Welder drew the rail and faces just four foes, though the quality is high for the class level in this six-furlong dash. Second to the wonderful racehorse Apprehender in this race a year ago, Welder enters in even better form this spring. After winning six of eight starts during 2018, he finished third in his 2019 debut behind the excellent Whitmore in the Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Welder subsequently scored easy wins in a pair of Will Rogers Downs Stakes, and the 100 and 98 Beyers he’s earned this campaign are the two highest of his career.

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Jockey David Cabrera will have to work out a trip from the fence since Welder, without being hard-asked, probably isn’t quick enough to lead Saturday, but in a short field, and riding a horse with plenty of speed and gears, Cabrera and his win-happy mount should find their way home.

The main competition, at least in terms of the morning line, is Chief Cicatriz, listed as the 8-5 second choice. One of two horses (Creative Art is the other) trained by Shawn Davis, Chief Cicatriz ran one of the fastest races of 2018 last June 2 when he won the Aristides Stakes at Churchill by more than six lengths, earning a 110 Beyer Speed Figure. But it took roughly 300 days for Chief Cicatriz to start again, and while decent in two start this year, he looked nothing like the Aristides horse – nor, even, like much competition for the likes of Welder.