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Golden Lad the one to beat in Cornhusker

Golden Lad has recorded stakes wins in two of his last three outings (Oaklawn Park/Coady Photography) A five-length winner of Penn National's $200,000 Mountainview on May 15, Golden Lad (Medaglia d'Oro) will seek his second consecutive lucrative stakes race victory when he lines up for Saturday night's $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. (G3). Javier Castellano will be in to ride the Todd Pletcher trainee. The five-year-old has raced sparingly since recording his first graded win in the 2014 Razorback (G3) at Oaklawn Park, making only one more appearance last season, and Golden Lad registered his second career stakes tally in the February 14 Essex at Oaklawn three starts back. The dark bay received a career-best 107 BRIS Speed rating for his convincing score last time. Carve (First Samurai) will make a title defense in the 1 1/8-mile event, prevailing by a neck over a sloppy track last year, and the Steve Asmussen charge exits a pair of runner-up finishes in the Lone Star Park H. (G3) and Oaklawn H. (G2). Shaun Bridgmohan picks up the mount. Other contenders in the 11-horse field include Pimlico Special (G3) runner-up Page McKenney (Eavesdropper); New Orleans H. (G2) upsetter Call Me George (Point Given), fourth most recently in the Brooklyn (G2); and multiple Grade 2 scorer Tapiture (Tapit), who will be seeking to snap a five-race losing skein for Asmussen.

The evening program also includes the $250,000 Iowa Derby (G3) and $200,000 Iowa Oaks (G3).

Hillbilly Royalty (Langfuhr) enters the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Derby off a nice performance over the track, earning a career-best 99 BRIS Speed rating for his 1 1/2-length win in the May 30 Prairie Mile, and the Donnie Von Hemel-trained gelding is the likely favorite with Luis Quinonez. Paid Admission (Candy Ride) and Allied Air Raid (Midshipman), the respective second- and third-placers from the Prairie Mile, are also part of the 10-horse field and the well-regarded Bent on Bourbon (Arch), a winner of two straight for Eddie Kenneally, will make his stakes bow with Castellano.

Sarah Sis (Sharp Humor) rebounded from a Kentucky Oaks (G1) performance where she was pulled up and vanned off with a convincing front-running score in the May 30 Panthers at Prairie Meadows and the Grade 3-winning filly will take some beating in the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Oaks. Julio Felix has the call for Ingrid Mason. Sweetgrass (Street Sense) is eligible to show more for Ian Wilkes following a seventh in her stakes debut, the May 15 Black-Eyed Susan (G2), and Grade 3 runner-up Sweet Success (Candy Ride), a last-out allowance winner at Churchill Downs, is also among the eight fillies entered.

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