Las Vegas, NV - The 16th running of the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap comes our way from Prairie Meadows this Saturday June 30th. Horses three years old and upward will be chasing the richest purse of the year at Prairie Meadows - $300,000. The entries will go 1 1/8 miles on Prairie Meadows main dirt track.
A strong group of six fillies have been confirmed for the Cornhusker. It is race 9 on the Saturday schedule with a post time of 10:11 PM. Here is a brief look at all the entries and what brought them to this lucrative Grade 3 event.
Successful Dan - has been, well... successful as of late. He has won four of his last five races including the Grade 2 Greenbrier Fayette Stakes in October and the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes last time out at Churchill Downs. In 10 career starts, Successful Dan has seven wins, one second and one third place finish - impressive!
Awesome Gem - is a multiple graded stakes winner that seems to be peaking with two wins in his last three starts - an Allowance on April 12th and the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap last time out on May 28th. Sandwiched between however was a disappointing seventh on this track in the Grade 2 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap in May. He won the Longacres Mile Handicap last August to go along with a second in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita in October. Awesome Gem appears to be in fine form although some consistency would be nice!
Headache - will be making his first start of 2012. It was nearly one year ago that Headache won the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap but he followed it up with a 12th in the Breeders' Cup Classic and a sixth in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in November before shutting it down.
Cornhusker Handicap betting at Prairie Meadows with OffTrackBetting.com
Fort Larned - looked very good at the start of 2012 with wins in the Challenger Stakes and the Grade 3 Skip Away Stakes at Gulfstream. Since then Fort Larned has a decent second in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes and a disappointing eighth most recently at the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs two weeks ago.
Taptowne - had a pair of wins at Hawthorne earlier this year - an Allowance Optional Claiming and the Cryptoclearance Stakes but has since recorded a pair of fifths - the Grade 3 Hanshin Cup and the Sea O Erin Stakes last time out - both at Arlington Park.
Shadowbdancing - has looked good recently for trainer Terrel Gore. He most recently won the Jim Rasmussen Memorial Stakes here on May 26th to follow up a third in another minor stakes - the Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes in April. Shadowbdancing was second in his first start of the year at the Cryptoclearance Stakes to Taptowne.
Race 9 on Prairie Meadows's Saturday card with a Post Time of 10:11 PM.