A busy week of stakes kicks off on Monday at Presque Isle Downs, with the $100,000 Tom Ridge Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, on the Erie, Pa., track’s Tapeta.
Presque Isle this week also has the $100,000 Karl Boyes Memorial for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs on July 4, and the $75,000 Malvern Rose Stakes for Pennsylvania-bred 3-year-old fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs on July 7. These are the first of the 13 stakes scheduled for the meet, which opened May 19 and runs through Oct. 23. The centerpiece of the schedule is the Grade 2, $300,000 Presque Isle Downs Masters, for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs, on Sept. 19.
The Tom Ridge has a competitive lineup with plenty of speed. The event has attracted stakes winner Mensa, graded stakes-placed Golden Afternoon, and stakes-placed Ballad of Warrior, Big Vince, and Faster Gator.
Mensa, who was highly thought of early in his career, returns from a layoff looking to recapture his form on perhaps his best surface. The colt was an impressive debut winner, leading to his $740,000 Fasig-Tipton digital purchase by Resolute Racing, and subsequently finished sixth in the Kentucky Juvenile.
Mensa resurfaced on Woodbine’s synthetic track, and won the Victoria Stakes by 7 1/4 lengths, but was then off the board in a pair of turf-sprint stakes at the track. He makes his first start since October, and his first for trainer Riley Mott.
Big Vince also made his most recent start at Woodbine after previously winning on Turfway’s Tapeta and finishing third in the Animal Kingdom Stakes there. He crossed the line a clear second in the Woodstock Stakes at Woodbine, but was disqualified to fourth for interference.
Faster Gator, second by a head in the Bay Shore Stakes to subsequent Grade 3 Ohio Derby winner Mo Plex, makes his first start on a synthetic surface. Most recently, he was seventh in the Chick Lang Stakes on Pimlico’s main track.
Makeit to Cheyenne, a winner sprinting on both turf and synthetic, moves back to Tapeta after finishing seventh in the William Walker Stakes on the Churchill Downs turf.
Golden Afternoon, second in the Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on the Keeneland turf last fall, drops in class after making three of his last four starts in graded stakes company. He is cutting back to a sprint for the first time since winning his debut going 6 1/2 furlongs last September at Kentucky Downs.
Of the stakes-seasoned entrants in this race, Golden Afternoon looks the most likely to be able to sit just off what should be a hot early pace. Big Vince, Faster Gator, Makeit to Cheyenne, and Mensa have all done their work on the lead or closely pressing the pace. The consistent Ballad of Warrior, who has been first or second in each of his starts this year, is also a pace-attending type.
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