The return of the champion mare Spit Curl Diva will highlight the opening weekend of Prairie Meadows' Quarter Horse meet

August 18,2011 - The 26-day meet begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday and runs through Oct. 1. There will be two stakes races Friday and two more on Saturday, with Spit Curl Diva trying to win the Keokuk Stakes for the second straight year. She set a track record of 19.45 seconds for 400 yards while winning the 2010 Keokuk.

That was one of four track records Spit Curl Diva set as a 4-year-old, when she won 8-of-10 races and was named the nation's champion aged mare and aged horse. She is owned by Iowa City realtor Tom Lepic and Sara Morgan of Oklahoma.

"You'd have a hard time ever imagining having a year like that," Lepic said. "What was really exciting was the distances of her track records 250, 300, 350 and 400 yards. It's pretty unusual to have a horse who can run so well short and long."
This year, she is still rounding into form after being bred in the spring. She has won one race and been second twice in three starts.

Opening night Friday features the Iowa Double Gold Futurity, with a total purse estimated at $100,000, and the $37,500 IQHRA Sale Futurity, both for 2-year-olds.

Lepic, a former Iowa wrestler, has gotten Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands to be on hand to sign autographs on Friday and mens basketball coach Fran McCaffery will do so on Aug. 26.

Saturday's stakes are the $45,000 Keokuk, which annually brings together the top older runners at Prairie Meadows, and the $70,000 Iowa Double Gold Derby for 3-year-olds.

The highlights of the meet include Challenge Weekend on Sept 2-3, with six stakes races that are regional qualifiers for the national Bank of America Challenge Championships.

The meet's closing weekend will offer nine stakes races on Sept, 30-Oct 1. The Valley Junction Futurity, the meet's richest race with a purse estimated at $200,000, will be Sept. 30, while Oct. 1 will have six stakes races for Iowa-breds, headed by the Jim Bader Futurity with an estimated purse of $125,000.

Race days are Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. Unlike the thoroughbred meet, the standard starting time for all four days will be 6:30 p.m., the exception being a 4 p.m. first post on Labor Day.


Prairie Meadows' quarter horse meet
When: Aug. 19 to Oct. 1
Racedays: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday.
Starting time: Normally 6:30 p.m., the exception being a 4 p.m. start on Labor Day, Sept. 5.
Admission & parking: Free.

Stakes schedule
Aug. 19 Iowa Double Gold Futurity, $100,000 est., 2-year-olds, 350 yards.
Aug. 19 IQHRA Sale Futurity, $37,500, 2-year-olds, 350 yards.
Aug. 20 Iowa Double Gold Derby, $70,000 est., 3-year-olds, 400 yards.
Aug. 20 Keokuk, $45,000 added, 3-and-up, 400 yards.
Sept. 2 Prairie Meadows Starter Allowance Challenge, $15,000, 3-and-up, 350 yards.
Sept. 2 Prairie Meadows Distance Challenge, $22,500, 3-and-up, 870 yards.
Sept. 2 Prairie Meadows Derby Challenge, 27,500, 3-year-olds, 400 yards.
Sept. 3 Prairie Meadows Distaff Challenge, $22,500, 3-and-up fillies & mares, 400 yards.
Sept. 3 Prairie Meadows Juvenile Challenge, $30,000, 2-year-olds, 350 yards.
Sept. 3 Prairie Meadows Championship Challenge, $70,000, 3-and-up, 440 yards.
Sept. 17 Prairie Meadows John Deere Bonus Challenge, $20,000, 3-and-up, 350 yards.
Sept. 24 Covered Bridges, 3-and-up, $25,000, 870 yards.
Sept. 30 Two Rivers, $45,000, 3-and-up, 440 yards.
Sept. 30 Altoona Derby, $100,000 est., 3-year-olds, 400 yards.
Sept. 30 Valley Junction Futurity, $200,000 est., 2-year-olds, 350 yards.
Oct. 1 Jim Bader Futurity (Iowa-bred), $125,000 est., 2-year-olds, 350 yards.
Oct. 1 Polk County Derby (Iowa-bred), $100,000 est., 3-year-olds, 400 yards.
Oct. 1 Terrace Hill (Iowa-bred), $50,000, 3-and-up, 400 yards.
Oct. 1 Future of Iowa (Iowa-bred), $40,000, 3-and-up fillies & mares, 350 yards.
Oct. 1 Iowa Stallion Futurity, $35,000, 2-year-olds, 350 yards.
Oct. 1 Iowa Stallion Derby, $25,000, 3-year-olds, 400 yards.