Five-year-old Dac will try to repeat in the $50,000 Prairie Bayou Stakes at Turfway Park Saturday, breaking from the rail in the 1 1/16-mile black type race for horses three years old and up.
Rodney Prescott was aboard the Distorted Humor gelding for the win last year and has the mount again on Saturday for owners Amanda and Jose Sarinana and trainer Scott Brumley. Prescott has more Turfway stakes wins than any jockey currently riding at the Northern Kentucky track.
While Dac has only two wins from 10 starts this year, one of those came over Turfway’s Polytrack last spring. He most recently was fifth in the River City Handicap (G3), run Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs, where he was hung wide and still beaten only 2 1/4 lengths over 1 1/8 miles.
Wayward Kitten is one of three horses in the Prairie Bayou owned and bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, all sons of their prolific stallion Kitten’s Joy. Trained by Wesley Ward, the 4-year-old Wayward Kitten will be making just his fifth start this year. He hasn’t been worse than third in his last five starts, all coming against allowance company at Keeneland, Churchill or Gulfstream.
Alonso Quinonez rides for trainer Wesley Ward.
Ward also trains another of the Ramsey trio, Luck of the Kitten. Mike Maker trains the third, Chief Kitten. All three train at Turfway. Maker also trains the oft-claimed Cerro, who is 2-2-3 in nine starts this year.
The Prairie Bayou field from the rail out: Dac (Prescott, 120 lbs.); Crewman (Didiel A. Osorio, 120); Chief Kitten (Channing Hill, 120); Luck of the Kitten (Julio Garcia, 120); Dynamic Strike (John McKee, 124); Wayward Kitten (Quinonez, 120); Richie the Bull (Joe Johnson, 119); Derby Express (meet-leading Abel Lezcano, 123); Big Squeeze (Tyler Pizarro, 119); Enterprising (Orlando Mojica, 124); Croninthebarbarian (Sonny Leon, 120); and Cerro (Jack Gilligan, 120). Allidoisdreamofyou and Designed for War are also eligible.
The 22nd running of the Prairie Bayou is the sixth of nine races Saturday, with an 8:40 p.m. ET post. First post is 6:15 p.m. ET.
The race is named for the 1993 winner of the Spiral Stakes who went on to win the Blue Grass and Preakness stakes before suffering a fatal injury in the Belmont Stakes. He was named the year’s champion 3-year-old colt.
Turfway Park