Wolfie’s Dynaghost brings strong recent form to Prairie Bayou

Among the 12 runners in the main body of the field for Saturday night’s $125,000 Prairie Bayou Stakes at Turfway Park, six of them are stakes winners at the Florence, Ky., track – including reigning Kentucky Cup Classic winner Wolfie’s Dynaghost and two winners of the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby.

The clash of this sextet, plus some other accomplished runners, makes for an intriguing lineup in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up on the Tapeta.

Wolfie’s Dynaghost not only has that Turfway form, he has recent solid stakes form, which sets him apart from some of the other previous stakes winners. Woodslane Farm’s homebred 7-year-old gelding is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for trainer Jonathan Thomas and jockey Tyler Conner. Those two have begun teaming up regularly since Conner, among the leading riders at Penn National, moved his tack to Kentucky last month. They are a winning pair and narrowly missed a stakes victory last weekend.

Last March, in the Kentucky Cup Classic, Turfway’s top race for older horses, Wolfie’s Dynaghost dueled early before kicking clear to a 2 1/4-length victory over a salty field. He has been rolling along well this fall, winning an allowance race on the Kentucky Downs turf – over familiar foe Ocean Atlantique – before finishing third, beaten less than a length, in the Grade 3 Durham Cup on Woodbine’s synthetic. He rolled to a 4 1/2-length win in the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes on Nov. 5 at Woodbine.

Wolfie’s Dynaghost earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 99 in the Autumn, the top last-out number in this field. However, illustrating the competitive nature of this group, three other horses have earned last-out figures above 90.

Ocean Atlantique, winner of the 2023 Dust Commander at Turfway, is the second choice on the morning line for the Prairie Bayou. He earned a 91 Beyer for an allowance/optional-claiming win on the Churchill Downs turf. Hush of a Storm, winner of the 2021 John Battaglia Memorial locally, posted a 92 Beyer in a close runner-up effort in a Turfway allowance, while Runaway Storm earned a 92 winning the Bryan Station on the Keeneland turf.

Runaway Storm, drawn in post 6 under Colby Hernandez, could be one of several keeping Wolfie’s Dynaghost, who will break from post 7, company on the front end. Runaway Storm has won three of his last four outings, all on turf. After finishing third in the Grade 3 Virginia Derby in a key race, he won the Bryan Station, overcoming a slow start to press and get up by a head.

Like the King showed an affinity for Turfway by winning the 2021 Jeff Ruby. This year, he has one win from eight starts, with most of those races coming at the allowance level at Woodbine.

Tiz the Bomb captured the 2022 Battaglia Memorial and Ruby. Although he has climbed his way to millionaire status, he is unplaced since the Ruby.

If a hot pace develops, Kitodan would be among the candidates to benefit at a price. He is unplaced this year, but is a graded stakes winner on turf and is making his first trip to Turfway since winning the 2022 Rushaway.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.