Wildatlanticstorm, Mi Saturday get top billing in rescheduled Highland Ice
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It’s the Highland Ice, Take 2.
The $50,000 stakes at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., on Monday is back after the card that it topped last week was canceled. A field of seven is set to start with much of the attention focused on two of the original entrants, Wildatlanticstorm and Mi Saturday.
Wildatlanticstorm is seeking to win his third straight race in a streak that began Aug. 3, when he won an allowance at this distance at Prairie Meadows. He covered the six furlongs in a smoking 1:08.80 and then proceeded to win the track’s Dan Johnson Sprint in his most recent out Sept. 27.
“He ran really good over there,” said trainer Ray Ashford Jr.
Wildatlanticstorm gives up recency to Mi Saturday, but he is a horse who tends to run well fresh, said Ashford. However, the trainer added, the difference coming up to this race compared to some of his other starts off a layoff is that winter weather has forced Wildatlanticstorm to miss some training time. He is based at Oaklawn Park and because of freezing temperatures, the Arkansas track was closed for training for a week, through Saturday.
“I’m not 100 percent sure if we’re going or not going, but we’re in,” Ashford said last week.
He has been pleased with Wildatlanticstorm’s training before the blast of Winter Storm Fern.
“He’s been working right along,” he said.
Wildatlanticstorm will start from post 2 under Elvin Gonzalez.
“I think he’ll be forwardly placed,” said Ashford.
Wildatlanticstorm is a multiple stakes winner who races for his breeder, James Jorgensen.
Mi Saturday enters off an allowance win Dec. 11 at Remington Park. He also is looking for a third straight win in a streak that has been built against Oklahoma-breds. Mi Saturday has won his last two starts by a combined 10 1/2 lengths.
Mi Saturday is moving from five furlongs to six and with the distance switch could set the pace Monday. He also is drawn outside of Wildatlanticstorm and might have the option of tracking that one after breaking from post 7.
Walter De La Cruz has the mount for Bryan Hawk and trainer Joe Offolter.
Rexford could also show speed in the Highland Ice, especially after drawing the rail this time around. He used his speed to win a five-furlong allowance on the front end in November at Zia Park and after that ran third in the Zia Park Sprint won by Usually Wrong. After the start, Usually Wrong went on to win the Duncan F. Kenner at Fair Grounds.
Spankster and Coalcowboy could take advantage if the pace gets too hot, as could Stage Left, who is a half-brother to $13.9 million earner Midnight Bisou.
The field also includes Missin Hollywood, who ran second in the Silver Goblin Stakes in November at Remington Park. The winner of the race, C W Prize, is a multiple stakes winner who did not enter back in the Highland Ice.
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