Wolfie's Dynaghost holds off Cellist in Prairie Bayou Stakes

Wolfie's Dynaghost returned to Turfway Park in fine style, controlling the tempo and holding on for a head victory in the $125,000 Prairie Bayou Stakes on Saturday night in a victory that could set him up for bigger things at the track later in its season.

This was the third stakes victory this year for Wolfie's Dynaghost ($3.98), Woodslane Farm's homebred 5-year-old Ghostzapper gelding. He won Turfway's signature race for older horses, the Kentucky Cup Classic, in March, and came back to the track off a win in the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes in November at Woodbine.

With the Prairie Bayou score, he has won five of eight starts in 2023, and has bankrolled more than a half-million on the season.

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"He's kind of the quintessential racehorse," trainer Jonathan Thomas told the Horse Racing Radio Network on Saturday. "He just shows up. He's a real pleasure to train."

On Saturday, Wolfie's Dynaghost was ridden for the first time by Tyler Conner, one of the leading riders at Penn National who moved his tack to Kentucky last month, and who has begun partnering regularly with Thomas. Wolfie's Dynaghost was confidently handled to control the tempo from the outset, setting honest fractions - 47.27 seconds for the half, and 1:10.87 for the six furlongs - but not feeling pressure, as he came to the stretch with a two-length lead, and continuing to widen.

Cellist, who had been squeezed at the start and was still in midpack at the five-sixteenths pole, got clear sailing late for a strong run, and ate into the margin of Wolfie's Dynaghost, who dug in gamely. The two were separated by a head at the wire, and it was another 4 1/4 lengths back to Hush of a Storm in third. Completing the order of finish were Like the King, Kitodan, Tiz the Bomb, Leave It to Kitten, and Ocean Atlantique.

The time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.51.

Speaking on the radio, Thomas indicated that Wolfie's Dynaghost will likely now be given a brief freshening, with the goal of being prepared for a repeat bid in the $300,000 Kentucky Cup Classic, part of Turfway's marquee March 3 program. The American Graded Stakes Committee announced on Saturday that the Kentucky Cup Classic will be upgraded to Grade 3 status for 2024.

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