Desert Gate favored in Iowa Derby; Navajo Warrior tops Cornhusker

A two-time stakes winner this year, Desert Gate has been pegged as the 9-5 morning line favorite over eight rivals in Saturday’s $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows. The Bob Baffert-trained colt has been cross-entered to Saturday’s Indiana Derby (G3) at Horseshoe Indianapolis, but the Iowa Derby appears more likely according to early reports.

Desert Gate looks to rebound from a fourth as the favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby (G3) on June 26. A juvenile Grade 3 winner and two-time Grade 1 runner-up, the chestnut Omaha Beach colt will cut back to 1 1/16 miles, the same distance Desert Gate recorded a 6 1/4-length victory in the Texas Derby two starts back, and Flavien Prat will be in to ride.

Lexington (G3) runner-up The Hell We Did, seventh most recently in the Preakness (G1), comes next on the morning line at 9-2. Ramon Vasquez will be up for Todd Fincher. J J Grey, the early 4-1 third choice, exits a nice performance over the track, winning the June 13 Prairie Mile by 3 3/4 lengths. Stakes-placed Bricklin is another possible contender, but he is cross-entered in the Indiana Derby.

Post time for the Iowa Derby is scheduled for 9:53 p.m. (ET).

Nine older horses will square off over 1 1/8 miles in the $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. (G3), one of four stakes on the 10-race program, and Navajo Warrior is the one to beat.

Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Navajo Warrior scratched out of the recent Stephen Foster (G1) in favor of the Cornhusker and enters with a two-race win streak, recording a convincing tally last out in his stakes debut, the Pimlico Special (G3). The reformed claimer is presently discovering his best form, registering Brisnet Speed ratings of 104 and 107 in his last two outings, and the five-year-old gelded son of Candy Ride owns the tractability to be placed anywhere in the early stages. Micah Husbands picks up the assignment, and Navajo Warrior is listed as the 5-2 favorite.

Cornishman, a rallying upset winner of last year's Cornhusker, will make a title defense. Trained by Dan MacFarlane, the five-year-old gelding improved to 2-for-3 at Prairie when capturing the Jim and Sandra Rasmussen S. on June 13. Multiple graded-placed San Siro, third in the Pimlico Special, is also part of the mix. Other runners of interest include Heroic Move and Gigante, who finished first and third, respectively, in the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) in late May.

In the other stakes, unbeaten Kentucky Juvenile S. winner Waggley heads 11 two-year-olds in the $100,000 Prairie Gold at 5 1/2 furlongs, and Grade 1-winning millionaire Nakatomi leads 10 runners in the $100,000 Iowa Sprint at six furlongs.