Insensitive, Won Happy Mama, and Glengarry All Win Friday Stakes Races
Cornishman Posts Upset In Grade III $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap
July 11, 2025 – Altoona, IA.
When the official sign went up after the final stakes race of the 2025 Iowa Festival of Racing on Saturday July 5, locally based horses and horsemen were savoring the spoils of victory.
On Friday, July 4, the first night of the festival, Insensitive, Won Happy Mama, and Glengarry all crossed the finish line first in their respective races.
Insensitive, a five-year-old mare by Karun (Ven) – Hy Belle Champ, won the $100,000 Iowa Distaff for co-owners Rose Hill Farm (Tony Ocampo), Charles Bush, and Prairie Meadows- based trainer Doug Anderson.
With Jareth Loveberry in the saddle replacing the injured Alex Birzer, Insensitive stalked the pace set by Wild Bout Hilary and Corningstone and drew clear late to win by one length.
Won Happy Mama, a four-year-old daughter of Run Happy – Vicarious Won (Elusive Quality) became the first Iowa-bred stakes winner of the 2025 Iowa Festival of Racing with a wire-to-wire victory under Elvin Gonzalez in the $100,000 Saylorville.
Campaigned by trainer Travis Murphy with partners Matt Trent and Allen Poindexter, Won Happy Mama became the first three-time winner of the 2025 Prairie Meadows season with her third life-time stakes victory in her 12th career start.
One race later, the talented four-year-old colt Glengarry (Maximus Mischief – L. A. Way), scored a front-running tally in the $100,000 Iowa Sprint under leading rider Tyler Bacon.
The Iowa-bred Glengarry, co-owned by Aaron Kennedy, Toby Joseph, and trainer Doug Anderson, recorded his sixth win and fifth stakes victory from 12 lifetime outings.
On Saturday, July 5, the second and final night of the 2025 Iowa Festival of Racing, it was the Dan McFarlane-trained Cornishman who rose to the occasion and pulled off a 14-1 upset in the richest race of the weekend, the Grade III $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap at a mile and one-eighth. Racing for owner Joseph Schumer, the four-year-old son of Curlin – Penwith (Bernardini) outran not only his odds, but his past performances, with a rally-wide late run under Prairie Meadows Hall of Fame jockey Glenn Corbett to hit the finish line a neck in front of runner-up Heroic Move, with post time favorite Gould’s Gold finishing another neck back in third.
Another locally based runner, Sayucan, narrowly missed notching a fifth victory for a Prairie Meadows-based horse with a tough luck runner-up effort in the $225,000 Iowa Oaks.
Sayucan, the Iowa-bred daughter of Promises Fulfilled – Bold Kitten (Kitten’s Joy), took the lead at once under Elvin Gonzalez and was in front until the very end when the late-running favorite Quickick caught her to win by a nose.
Quarter Horses contested three stakes races at Prairie Meadows during the Fourth of July weekend with fastest qualifier Chew Bac Cah leading throughout in winning the $94,935 Hawkeye Futurity on Saturday, July 5.
One day later, on Sunday, July 6, 26-1 longshot Mystic Paint prevailed over Iowa-bred Ab Boogie in the $50,000 Keokuk Stakes at 350 yards and Daussault won the $208,650 Prairie Meadows Gold Futurity.
The Quarter Horses are back in the stakes spotlight this weekend with $57,290 Cyclone Derby (IA) at 350 yards on Saturday, July 12 and the $118,375 Prairie Meadows Gold Derby at 350 yards on Sunday, July 13.
About Prairie Meadows
Prairie Meadows began operations as a nonprofit organization in 1989 with the goal of promoting economic development, jobs, agriculture, and tourism in the state of Iowa. Through taxes and charitable donations, Prairie Meadows has given more than $2.3 billion to the state of Iowa. Prairie Meadows offers slot machines, table games, live and simulcast racing, sports wagering, hotel accommodations, entertainment, and more.
