$400,000 Presque Isle Masters, 3 other stakes races set for Monday at Presque Isle Downs
A longstanding Presque Isle Downs & Casino tradition returns Monday with the running of the Presque Isle Masters Stakes.
The $400,000 guaranteed Grade II stakes, for fillies and mares 3 and up, is the eighth race on a nine-race card that features three other stakes. The Presque Isle Masters has not been run since 2019. The past two times the Masters was run, in 2018 and 2019, Hotshot Anna came won with jockey Antonio Gallardo and trainer Hugh Robertson.
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Caravel, the lone Pennsylvania-bred in the field, was the early favorite at 5/2 with jockey Luis Saez and trainer Brad Cox. Caravel has three wins in five starts, all coming in stakes.
Caravel this year has recorded stakes wins at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, and famed New York tracks Saratoga and Belmont. The race at Belmont was the Grade III Intercontinental Stakes.
The 6½-furlong Masters will also include the daughters of a pair of Belmont Stakes winners. Allworthy was sired by 2014 Belmont winner Tonalist and Cafe Society is the daughter of 2003 Belmont champ Empire Maker.
The Presque Isle Mile, which has not been run since 2015, will stretch out to 1¹⁄₁₆ miles for the first time. The purse is $200,000 guaranteed for horses 3-and-up. The race is the sixth heat on the card.
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Kentucky-bred Carpenters Call is the early favorite in the Mile at 9/5 with jockey Samy Camacho and trainer Gerald Bennett. He has started twice at PI Downs, winning both times including the Peach Street Stakes on Aug. 22. Camacho and Bennett were the connections that day.
Churchill Downs-owned PI Downs will introduce two new stakes races to the meet, both with $75,000 guaranteed purses.
The Gem City Stakes, for fillies and mares 3 and up, is the second race on Monday's card. The early favorite for the 1¹⁄₁₆-mile heat is Tactical Pajamas at 5/2. Huber Villa-Gomez is the jockey and Ron Potts is the trainer. That pairing guided Tactical Pajamas to victory in the Princess of Sylmar Stakes at PI Downs on July 25.
The Dobbins Landing Stakes, a 6½-furlong sprint, is the fourth race. Nice Ace, which has had success in PI Downs stakes, is the early favorite at 5/2. Ridden by Pablo Morales and trained by Tim Girten, Nice Ace broke through for his first stakes victory in the Hard Spun Stakes on July 26. Nice Ace has a second-place finish in the 2020 Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes and third-place run in this year's Peach Street Stakes.
Special post time is 4:10 p.m. Post time will return to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Monday-through-Thursday racing schedule ends Oct. 27 including daily $100,000 stakes Oct. 3-4 and Oct. 24-26.
Contact Josh Reilly at jreilly@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNreilly.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Presque Isle Downs Master Stakes returns after two-year layoff
