Altoona, IA - April 22, 2011 - After seeing nearly 18,000 horse races in 21 seasons at Prairie Meadows, Ed Holland of Norwalk had a tough question to answer.
Which race was the Altoona
track’s most memorable?
Was it “the snow race,” when
Holmish won the first race held
at Prairie Meadows amid flurries
on March 1, 1989?
Was it a visit by Who Doctor
Who, the first nationally known
horse to run at Prairie Meadows
when he won the Relays Sprint on
April 15, 1989?
How about the battles between
Continental Prince, Bay Cruiser
and Send Me Screaming in the
mid-1990s? After some searching,
Holland came up with his
standout.
“I’d have to say Coach Jimi Lee,
for winning the (Iowa Sprint)
three years in a row,” Holland
said. “The way he kept coming
back and winning showed a lot.
He was a small horse, but he
loved to run. He fired every
time.”
Kathy Hughes of Des Moines,
another regular since Prairie
Meadows opened in 1989, had a
more recent memory —
Shadowbdancing’s 10-1 upset in
last year’s Prairie Meadows
Cornhusker.
“Everybody I talked to said,
'No,’” Hughes said. “And he
wired them. The other favorite
is Wayzata Bay (the 2008
Cornhusker winner). He was
locally based and Judi (trainer
Hicklin) did a great job with
him.”
Prairie Meadows will be looking
for more memorable performances
when its 22nd season of racing —
there was no racing in 1992 —
opens at 6:30 p.m. Friday with
the start of its thoroughbred
meet.
For fodder, here is one person’s
opinion of Prairie Meadows’ five
most memorable thoroughbred
races.
1. 2004 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker
This turned out to be the $10
million showdown between two of
the biggest stars ever to race
at Prairie Meadows: Roses in
May, who earned nearly $5.5
million in his 13-race career,
took on Perfect Drift, who
earned $4.7 million in 50 races.
They are both among the top 40
money-winners in racing history.
Perfect Drift had been third in
the 2002 Kentucky Derby while
Roses in May was an up-and-comer
in his first stakes race.
