Navajo Warrior wires Prairie Meadows Cornhusker

Speed reigned supreme in Saturday night’s stakes at Prairie Meadows, where Navajo Warrior put an exclamation point on the Festival of Racing with a 3 1/2-length victory in the $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. (G3).

J J Grey withstood an early pace duel to draw away in the $250,000 Iowa Derby, Booth wired the $100,000 Iowa Sprint, and Waggley ran the boys off their feet in the Prairie Gold Juvenile.

Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. (G3)

Navajo Warrior was dispatched as the 8-5 favorite off his front-running coup in the May 15 Pimlico Special (G3) at Laurel, and the Saffie Joseph Jr. charge had an even easier time here. Blasting to a substantial lead through an opening quarter in :23.52, Navajo Warrior was all alone as he posted fractions of :46.82 and 1:11.04.

Bullard, his nearest pursuer, himself raced clear of the rest of the field. Although Bullard managed to shave a little off the winner’s margin, he was not making much of a dent down the lane.

Navajo Warrior remained unassailable while completing 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.07 with Micah Husbands. The dark bay gelding was giving Joseph and Husbands their second winner of the weekend festival, following Paradise City in Friday night’s Saylorville S.

Bullard crossed the wire 4 1/2 lengths ahead of the rallying Gigante. Next came Heroic Move, Render Judgment, San Siro, defending champion Cornishman, and Spenard. Spellmaker was scratched.

Navajo Warrior has partial ownership in common with Paradise City – BAG Racing Stables, Paul Braverman, and Timothy Pinch – but his consortium includes Miller Racing, Dr. Derek K. Paul, and Mathis Stable. The late-blooming five-year-old has now won three straight, beginning with his upset of Gosger in a March 21 allowance at Gulfstream Park. His resume reads 18-10-2-2, $632,009.

Bred by Hinkle Farms in Kentucky, Navajo Warrior is bred on the potent cross of Candy Ride over a Storm Cat mare. The June 2 foal is the third graded stakes winner produced by Crosswinds, who is also responsible for Grade 1 vixen Weep No More and Grade 3 scorer Current. Crosswinds is a half-sister to Grade 2 turfiste Filimbi, both daughters of Juddmonte’s 2001 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Alabama (G1) star Flute. 

Iowa Derby

Bob Baffert’s Desert Gate ranked as the 1.30-1 favorite to complete the second half of the Oaks/Derby double kicked off by stablemate Mizumi, but a tepid start undermined his best chance. Outbroken by J J Grey and Bricklin, Desert Gate never appeared comfortable trying to work out a trip from just off the pace in traffic. 

J J Grey, a dominant winner of the June 13 Prairie Mile, continued his upward curve for Ken McPeek. Sent off as the 3-2 second choice, he was hounded by Bricklin through splits of :23.84, :47.95, and 1:12.09. But J J Grey spurted away from Bricklin entering the stretch and held sway by 1 3/4 lengths with Emmanuel Esquivel.

The Hell We Did closed well for second, three-quarters of a length up on Maximum Effort, who rallied from last. Desert Gate persevered in fourth, followed by Bricklin, Chad Allan, Crupper, Canned Heat, and Outmatch. 

J J Grey negotiated 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.17 and returned $5. Campaigned by Shamrock Stables, MJM Racing, and Magdalena Racing, the gray colt has bankrolled $346,988 from his 10-5-0-0 line. The son of Street Boss was unplaced in his prior stakes attempts on turf and Tapeta, but he’s put it all together since reverting to dirt in a May 2 allowance at Oaklawn Park. 

Bred by Dermot Carty in Kentucky, J J Grey was purchased for $24,000 as a weanling at Keeneland November. His dam, the multiple stakes-placed Fairbanks mare Norquay, hails from the family of Grade 1-placed stakes winner and sire Great Notion.

Prairie Gold Juvenile

Rerouted from the July 4 Sanford (G3) at Saratoga, Waggley easily extended her record to a perfect 3-for-3 in a cakewalk. The only surprise was that the Wesley Ward filly did not go off as the favorite. Instead, late money came for Lone Star Park debut winner Airship, who was bet down from a 6-1 morning line to 1.70-1 favoritism.

Waggley made her 1.90-1 post-time odds look generous. Already a stakes winner over males in the April 29 Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill Downs, the Ten Broeck Farm runner broke like a shot from post 9 and never gave her backers an anxious moment. 

Jockey Yedsit Hazlewood was virtually a passenger as Waggley sped through fractions of :22.64 and :45.94, widened her margin to 4 3/4 lengths, and finished 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.57.

Dear Admiral overtook the chasing Dial It Down for runner-up honors. A. P. Score was the only deep closer to factor in fourth, relegating Airship to fifth in the 10-horse field.

A budding star for freshman sire Life Is Good, Waggley is expected to make Del Mar her next port of call. The bay, who wired her Keeneland debut, has now earned $267,205.

Waggley was bred in Kentucky by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding and sold for $200,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. Out of the Malibu Moon mare Lunar Empress, she is a half-sister to multiple Grade 3-placed stakes winner Henry Q.

Iowa Sprint

After Ward scratched Nakatomi, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, Booth took over the mantle as the 2.30-1 choice. Yet given how the track was playing, Booth’s superior early speed may have made him too tough for Nakatomi to run down.

Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by fellow Hall of Famer Mike Smith, the son of champion sprinter Mitole had company through an opening quarter in :22.34. But Booth began to get away once dishing out a half-mile in :44.74, and he had 2 1/4 lengths to spare at the wire.

Itsmybirthday, last year’s Iowa Derby runner-up (behind Magnitude), was second-best by three lengths. Camp Hale headed Hola Joey for third. Souper Tuscan, who had upset Booth in the May 25 Speightstown Sprint at Lone Star, was a distant fifth of eight here. Speed King, who figured to be part of the early pace, was scratched.

Booth covered six furlongs in 1:08.69 to snap a seven-race losing streak, and in the process, became a millionaire with $1,054,436 from a record of 19-8-3-1. Racing for Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt (who also had sire Mitole) as well as Jackpot Farm and Whispering Oaks Farm, Booth had gone on a tear in early 2025. The chestnut won four straight stakes – the Commodore Overnight S., Whitmore (G3), Count Fleet Sprint (G3), and Maryland Sprint (G3) – before going off the boil. 

Bred by Clearsky Farms in Kentucky, Booth is a half-brother to Bright Future, winner of the 2023 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), and Grade 2 victress Musical Mischief. They were all produced by the Grade 3-placed stakes scorer Sophia’s Song, a Bellamy Road mare from the immediate family of Hall of Famer Housebuster.