Jack Coady/Coady Photography - Story by Ty Wyant

Headache Rallies In Cornhusker ‘Cap

Altoona, IA – June 25, 2011 - Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey’s Headache made a five-wide rally down the middle of the Prairie Meadows track to win the Grade 3, $300,000 Cornhusker Handicap to conclude the two-night Iowa Festival of Racing on Saturday.

Odds-on favorites fell in the other two Grade 3 stakes on the card when Prayer For Relief took the $250,000 Iowa Derby and 7-2 shot Little Miss Holly won the $200,000 Iowa Oaks.

The Michael Maker-trained Headache, a five-year-old gelded son of Tapit, kindly rated along the rail for jockey Miguel Mena in the one-and-one-eighth mile Cornhusker Handicap. Mena saved ground and hustled the gray down the middle of the track in the stretch to boldy close and draw out to win by two-and-one-half lengths.

Headache, sent off as the 9-2 second choice, was timed in 1:47.83 for his second straight win. He prepared for the Cornhusker with a dominating allowance win at Churchill Downs by more than seven lengths at one-and-one-sixteenth mile.

West Point Thoroughbred’s 9-5 favorite Awesome Gem, winner of last year’s Grade 1, $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup, launched a wide bid around the turn but could not match the winner through the lane and settled for second place under jockey Robby Albarado. The Craig Dollase-trained gelding won the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Handicap in his previous start.

Peter Johnson’s Victory Pete was a neck behind Awesome Gem for third place. The third-place finisher in the 2009 Grade 1 Strub Stakes was ridden by Rafeal Bejarano for trainer Alexis Barba.

Bejarano, aboard Zayat Stables’ Prayer For Relief, gave trainer Bob Baffert the win in the Iowa Derby at nearly 6-1 odds with a tactical trip. Prayer For Relief took the lead out of the gate in the one-and-one-sixteenth-mile derby from the inside post position and then allowed Morco’s Fling set the pace. Prayer For Relief then made his move at the quarter pole and was able to kick clear of runner-up Sherriff Cogburn in deep stretch.

Prayer For Relief crossed the finish line two lengths clear of Sherrif Cogburn with a 1:41.73 time.

Dreaminofthewin was more than five lengths back in third while 1-2 favorite Astrology, third in the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness Stakes, never threatened and finished sixth.

Prayer For Relief was rested after a second-place run in the Real Quiet Stakes last November at Hollywood Park and then surfaced to win a Hollywood Park conditioned allowance race on May 29, his start before the Iowa Derby.

Gold Square’s Little Miss Holly also had a tactical trip and put away her rivals in the stretch to win the one-and-one-sixteenth-mile Iowa Oaks. Jockey Corey Lanerie kept the Maria’s Mon filly in a stalking position and then they rallied to get the two-length win over Hearts On Fire.

Find The Humor set the pace in front of Little Miss Holly and saved third place in the field of six fillies. Fair Grounds Oaks winner Daisy Devine, the 1-2 favorite, never mounted a bid and finished fifth.

Little Miss Holly, third in the Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds last January, also took an allowance race before her win at Prairie Meadows. She used the same stalking tactics to win at Churchill Downs on May 19.