It's about 330 miles from Altoona, Iowa, to the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan, but at the finish of Saturday night's Cornhusker Handicap, Prairie Meadows might as well have been in Chicago. There was Arlington-based Shadowbdancing holding clear Arlington-based, Illinois-bred Racing Bran to win the Grade 2, $300,000 Cornhusker by one length. Aboard the winner was longtime Chicago rider Eddie Razo, summering this year at Prairie Meadows, while Chris Emigh, in from Chicago for the races, piloted Racing Bran. Razo, in fact, might have made all the difference. Shadowbdancing finished second in the 2009 Cornhusker after setting a swift pace. The local Cornhusker prep on May 29 followed a similar script. But where Shadowbancing led through a half-mile in 46.68 seconds that evening, Razo held him off the lead through a half-mile in 47.79 Saturday night. On a lightning-fast dirt strip, that represented a very modest pace, and when Shadowbancing surged three-wide to the lead partway around the far turn, there was no catching him. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=5330113
Yea the track was extra fast last night. Not surprising considering all the stakes they had. Things didn't pan out like they hoped last year, as I'm sure the Breeders Cup was their goal. I'm not expecting much from this horse, but we'll see what happens.
