Calder season ends with La Prevoyante, Tropical Turf

A shakeup in south Florida's racing dates for the upcoming winter season has

the Tropical meeting at Calder ending Friday, a month earlier than in years

past. Though the curtain falls on a weekday, it will feel more like a typical

December Saturday at Calder as the closing program features both the Grade 3,

$100,000 La Prevoyante Handicap and the Grade 3, $100,000

Tropical Turf

Handicap.

The La Prevoyante, for fillies and mares at 1 1/2 miles on the turf, has

endured a lot of shaking up of its own in recent years. Traditionally contested

in December through 2008, the race was moved to April in 2009 and was not run at

all in calendar year 2010. The La Prevoyante's most renewal was on January 2

this year after it was postponed from its original December 11, 2010 date.

The potential favorite in the La Prevoyante, the Jonathan Sheppard-trained

Emerald Beech, was a rising star among older female turf marathoners over the

summer when taking the Waya Stakes and Grade 3 Glens Falls Stakes in consecutive

starts at Saratoga. Fourth over boggy ground in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl

Invitational two back, the five-year-old looked flat when checking in fifth as

the choice in the Grade 3 Long Island Handicap at Aqueduct last time. A return

to her best form under regular rider Alex Solis would make her difficult to

beat.

Attfield saddles two -- Mobilizer and former Canadian champion Hollinger --

in the Tropical Turf, a nine-furlong grass test for older horses. Though both

have a shot to upset, the bulk of the wagering will likely center on Mr. Ryder

and Stormy Lord.

The Christophe Clement-trained Mr. Ryder won three straight over the summer,

including the Sussex Stakes at Delaware, and most recently finished a close

third in the Grade 3 Knickerbocker Stakes to Boisterous, who went on to captured

the Grade 2 Red Smith Handicap. Stormy Lord, meanwhile, has blown hot and cold

this season. However, he's made the most of it when in the zone by winning four

stakes, including the Grade 2 Connaught Cup at Woodbine. The gelding enters on a

two-race win streak having taken the PTHA President's Cup at Parx Racing 

on September 17 and the Labeeb Stakes at Woodbine on October 30.

Silver Medallion, one of two three-year-olds in the field, won the Grade 3 El

Camino Real Derby in February but failed to make it to the classics after

running fourth in his final two preps. A stakes winner on turf as a juvenile,

Silver Medallion switched from trainer Steve Asmussen to Todd Pletcher over the

summer, was a close second to Hollinger in his allowance comeback on October 7,

and last time was third in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf Stakes at Churchill

Downs.