Presque Isle Masters Stakes And Churchill Downs Saturday Betting Guide

Churchill Downs Inc runs two cards worth betting on this weekend, back to back. Presque Isle Downs in Erie hosts a five stakes Masters Stakes Race Day on Friday, and Churchill Downs answers on Saturday with a three race stakes tripleheader under the lights. Eight stakes races in total across the two cards, same ownership group, same weekend, and enough graded and black type action to build a full ticket around.

Churchill Downs is in the middle of its 14 day September meet, which runs from Thursday, September 10 through Sunday, September 27, with Saturday feature cards on the 12th, 19th and 26th. The meet carries 11 stakes worth $3.6 million in total, and there is no turf racing on the card this year, so every one of Saturday’s three features goes over the main dirt track. Presque Isle Downs races exclusively on Tapeta, the synthetic all weather surface the track adopted to keep racing consistent through Erie’s unpredictable early fall weather, so the two cards could not look more different on paper even though the same ownership group signs off on both condition books.

Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes Headlines Friday Night

Friday, September 18 is Masters Stakes Race Day at Presque Isle Downs, and it carries five stakes rather than one. The card opens with the $100,000 Fitz Dixon Jr Memorial Juvenile in race 7, moves into the $150,000 Presque Isle Mile for three year olds and up in race 8, and builds to the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes itself in race 9 of 10, a $300,000 fillies and mares test over six and a half furlongs on the Tapeta surface with an 8:36pm ET post and FanDuel TV carrying the broadcast. The $100,000 Presque Isle Downs Debutante for two year old fillies rounds out the stakes program.

Reagan’s Flame is the 8-5 favorite in the Masters for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr and jockey Edgard Zayas, a mare who has won three of four starts on Tapeta this year, including the Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes and the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes, both at Woodbine. Her only blemish on the surface was a third in the Hendrie Stakes after an awkward start and traffic trouble. Paradise City is the 9-2 fourth choice for the same trainer and jockey Micah Husbands, making her Tapeta debut after showing versatility on dirt and turf. Les Reys is trained by Miguel Clement, who won this race last year with Gal in a Rush, a genuine angle to have him doing it again. Sea Runner (William Morey, Antonio Gallardo), Paris Carver (Jorge Delgado, Paco Lopez), Pondering (Brendan Walsh, Pietro Moran), Mitole Magic (Randall Russell, Gaddiel Martinez), Lovely Emma (Peter Eurton, Israel Rodriguez) and Jill Jitterbug (Ryan Walsh, Taylor Kingsley) round out the nine horse field.

The $75,000 Power by Far Stakes runs at 5pm for Pennsylvania breds three years old and up over six and a half furlongs, and John Dutton is the 9-5 morning line choice. This year’s renewal drew 22 nominations. The race is named for Power by Far, a Pennsylvania bred who was placed in multiple graded stakes rather than a graded winner himself, and who at 31 years old is remarkably still going in retirement at Castle Rock Farm near West Chester.

Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes Headlines Friday Night

Friday, September 18 is Masters Stakes Race Day at Presque Isle Downs, and the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes is the reason to tune in. It carries a $300,000 purse over six and a half furlongs on the Tapeta surface, post time 8:36pm ET, with FanDuel TV carrying the broadcast. Nine go to post, led by Paradise City for Saffie Joseph Jr and Micah Husbands, who also saddles Reagan’s Flame with Edgard Zayas named to ride. Jorge Delgado sends out Paris Carver under Paco Lopez, while Sea Runner (William Morey, Antonio Gallardo), Les Reys (Miguel Clement, Axel Concepcion), Pondering (Brendan Walsh, Pietro Moran), Mitole Magic (Randall Russell, Gaddiel Martinez), Lovely Emma (Peter Eurton, Israel Rodriguez) and Jill Jitterbug (Ryan Walsh, Taylor Kingsley) round out the field. Morning line odds had not been posted at the time of writing, but with no standout among the nine on paper this looks like the most wide open race of the weekend across both tracks.

Earlier on the same card, the $75,000 Power by Far Stakes runs at 5pm for Pennsylvania breds three years old and up over six and a half furlongs. This year’s renewal drew 22 nominations, though final acceptances were not yet confirmed. The race is named for the multiple stakes winning Pennsylvania bred Power by Far, now retired to Castle Rock Farm near West Chester, and it has become the reliable undercard feature that gets Masters Stakes Race Day started before the marquee race goes off after dark.

Churchill Downs’ Saturday Night Stakes Tripleheader

Churchill Downs answers Saturday, September 19 with a Downs After Dark stakes tripleheader spread across three separate races on the card. The Grade 3 Dogwood Stakes, presented by Resolute Racing, for three year old fillies is the headline act, going 7 furlongs for $300,000 at a 9:39pm post. Bob Baffert sends out morning line favorite Explora at 3-5 with Juan Hernandez to ride from post 1, fresh off a five length romp in last month’s Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga. This is her final prep before the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, a Grade 1 run October 31 at Keeneland. My Steel Magnolia (Caio Caramori, Cristian Torres), Where Luck Lives (Brian Lynch, Tyler Gaffalione), Conceit (Brad Cox, Mario Gutierrez), Movie Night (Will Walden, Axel Concepcion) and A Fine Chardonnay (Ian Wilkes, Brian Hernandez Jr.) fill out the six horse field.

The Pace Picture In The Dogwood

Explora is a Blame filly out of Collections Choice, bred by Mesingw Farm and campaigned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, the same ownership group behind Real Quiet. Bought for $350,000 as a two year old, she has now won six of ten career starts, including a runner up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and a win in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes before breaking through at the top level in the Test. That Test win on August 8 came in 1:22.42 for the seven furlongs. Movie Night set the pace through honest fractions that day before fading to sixth, well beaten and out of the placings, while Explora sat off that speed and drew away in the stretch to beat Percy’s Bar by five lengths, with Goodall third. There is no rivalry to settle between Explora and Movie Night on that evidence, just a pace presser who may again find herself pressured or uncontested on the lead in the Dogwood, with Explora waiting to pounce either way.

Two of Explora’s rivals arrive with their own recent black type. Conceit, owned by Juddmonte and trained by Brad Cox, won the Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park in August, beating A Fine Chardonnay by three quarters of a length. A Fine Chardonnay herself, campaigned by Double 22 Stables, is a Grade 2 winner of the Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland, so this is a deeper field than a standard Baffert versus the rest matchup.

Harrods Creek

The $300,000 Harrods Creek goes 7 furlongs for three year olds at 8:30pm, and American Man looks the one to beat for trainer Dallas Stewart and jockey Cristian Torres. The Maclean’s Music colt has finished off the board only once in five career starts, that a fourth in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga in late July, and arrives off a runner up finish in the Grade 3 Maxfield Stakes at Churchill. He faces Gilded Bandit (Bill Mott, Luan Machado), Stop the Car (Brendan Walsh, Brian Hernandez Jr.), who ran third in the Ellis Park Derby, Tagermeen (Steve Asmussen, Jaime Torres), a recent Saratoga allowance winner, Creole Chrome (Joe Sharp, Axel Concepcion) and Doublecents (Brett Creighton, Francisco Arrieta). This is an open three year old race rather than a fillies only affair, so Tagermeen is a filly taking on five colts, and her fresh allowance win at Saratoga suggests she arrives in career best shape even without the black type resume of the favorite.

Listed Seneca Overnight

The Listed Seneca Overnight Stakes closes the trio at 10:40pm, a $200,000 test for three year old fillies at one and one sixteenth miles, the purse up from $175,000 last year. Joe Sharp saddles Woodstock for Ben Curtis, Bill Mott runs Answered Prayers under Jaime Torres, and Bob Baffert is doubled up on the card with Consequent for Juan Hernandez. Knickleandime (Randy Morse, Rafael Bejarano), A.P.’s Girl (Peter Eurton, Brian Hernandez Jr.) and In Total Awe (Al Stall Jr., Axel Concepcion) complete the six horse field. Morning line odds for the Harrods Creek and Seneca fields had not been posted at the time of writing, and with Baffert saddling runners in two of the three features, his barn’s intentions in the betting will be worth checking as post time nears.

Betting The CDI Weekend

Eight stakes races run across the two tracks this weekend, and two of them already carry a clear favorite. Reagan’s Flame is the 8-5 choice in the Masters off two Grade 3 wins on Tapeta this year, and backing her on top of an exacta or trifecta with Les Reys underneath, given trainer Miguel Clement won this exact race last year, covers the strongest form angle on that card. Explora at 3-5 is the shortest price of the weekend in the Dogwood, and using her on top of an exacta with either Conceit or A Fine Chardonnay underneath reflects the graded form both those fillies actually carry, rather than staking anything on Movie Night repeating as pace pressure. The Harrods Creek is the more genuinely open race of the three Churchill features, and an exacta or trifecta built around American Man with Tagermeen as the value price underneath covers the two form lines that stand out on paper.

All wagering at Churchill Downs Inc tracks including Presque Isle Downs and Churchill Downs itself is restricted to Connecticut residents for online betting, unlike the rest of MyWinners’ racing coverage, so check eligibility before placing a bet on either card.

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