The Tri-State Turf Sprint

Purse $250.00 – For Three Year Olds And Upward

5½ Furlongs – Turf

Ellis Park – August 2, 2026

The 9th edition of The Tri-State Turf Sprint brings together eight seasoned turf sprinters, all with the credentials to make their presence felt in this five-furlong event. While familiar to many as the KD Preview Turf Sprint from 2018 through 2025, the race carries a new identity this year. We’ve been seeing the purse money steadily increasing from $100.00 to $250.00 over the race’s history. Collectively, the entire field has amassed more than 200 career starts heading into this year’s renewal. Maxmillion Farm sends out Bear Head this weekend looking to become The Tri-State Turf Sprint’s first repeat-winning owner after winning the 2024 running. The stakes record was set just last year as Nakamura Stables’ Wild Sprinter extended his win streak as the favorite, stopping the clock for the 5½ furlongs in 1:02.07. Well, all that’s left now is to see which contender will etch its name into the race’s history. Let’s take a closer look at every horse in the field!

1. Bear Head – (Maxmillion Farm, Mar. Garcia) A router-turned-sprinter who has banked over $1,200.00 in career earnings. This son of Indistinguishable has two impressive graded stakes wins under his belt, both coming last year. Connections decided to run Bear Head around one turn this year and entered in the G2 Shakertown at Keeneland. He ended up finishing third in that race, which gave the confidence to keep this gelding sprinting. The Twin Spires Turf Sprint was his next outing and eighth place was not what Maxmillion Farm was hoping for. Bear Head comes out of a five furlong turf sprint at Woodbine where he once again didn’t show much late kick in the stretch. A step up is needed.

2. Eastern Empire – (Pan Farms, T. Gaffalione) Bought privately from Barcelona Farms for $30.00 back in February. Eastern Empire has a good mix of dirt, turf, route, and sprint races throughout his nineteen career starts. Pan Farms saw that his best numbers came on the grass, so he focused on one-turn races. The son of East Shore Road’s last three starts have come at Santa Anita Park running on the downhill turf course. He won an open $50.00 claimer and lost a heartbreaker in an N2X the race after. Eastern Empire comes out of the G3 Daytona Stakes, where he put together a solid performance. This gelding closed from tenth to finish fourth by a quarter of a length. Longshot play.

3. Sorcerer – (Ire Iron Stables, N. Arroyo Jr.) Had an extremely successful four-year-old campaign, winning the G2 KD Turf Sprint. That victory earned him a spot in the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint, where he tried to navigate through traffic in the stretch and ended up finishing ninth. Mb Stables continued to campaign Sorcerer into 2026, but Ire Iron Stables picked him up at auction last month for $55.00. This California-bred only has one start for his new connections at Parx in an open allowance. The race was 7½ furlongs, which is a distance Sorcerer has never run before. He settled in last by five lengths and closed into second to lose by a half-length. Watch out for this guy late.

4. Hanger 18 – (John Henry, M J. Sanchez) This four-year-old gelding has never ventured off the dirt, making 13 career starts since debuting in June 2024. It wasn’t until his last start that Hanger 18 made his first start on the grass. Connections jumped him up in class from a state-bred N2X into the Grand Prairie Turf Challenge at Lone Star Park. The son of Declassified was a huge longshot at 88-1, but he still closed from last place to dead-heat by a nose with another rival for the win. He has two recent turf works that are very speedy and looks to be coming into this race in good form. After a solid effort last time out, I would not be surprised if Hangar 18 gets into the winner’s circle on Saturday.

5. Nitro – (The Sidley Stud, J R. Velazquez) A fairly new turf sprinting specialist who became a Grade Two winner on Kentucky Derby Day, Nitro did his best running on the dirt throughout 2025, but connections made a change in surface at the start of this year. This Kentucky-bred ran in several non-graded stakes, hitting the board in all of those races. He then took a step up in the G2 Shakertown at Keeneland and lost by a neck to an eventual Grade One winner. Nitro’s next few starts involved winning the G2 TS Turf Sprint and losing another heartbreaker in the G1 Jaipur. His last start was a bit unlucky as there wasn’t a lot of room to run in the final furlong. This guy is going to be my top pick in here.

6. Earthshine – (Black N Gold Stable, V. Espinoza) Brings the most turf sprint experience in the field with 28 career one-turn grass starts. Coming into his six-year-old season, Earthshine was only an allowance winner with limited stakes foundation. Most of his recent starts have come at 6 and 6½ furlongs, but the results have been underwhelming. So, connections cut this California-bred back in distance and have been running in races going ⅝. This has resulted in back-to-back one-length victories in the McKay Turf Sprint and the Get Serious Stakes. It’s no secret that Earthshine is really starting to figure things out at the right time. He will definitely be a serious contender in here.

7. Around The Table – (Black N Gold Stable, A. Fresu) The second entrant for Black N Gold Stable who also has a ton of background sprinting on the grass. Around The Table was claimed four starts back for $30.00 at Gulfstream Park. Connections immediately jumped this gelding up in class, running in an N3X going 5½ on the turf. It proved to be a great entry as he ended up winning by a quarter of a length against a six horse field. The son of Inicnam tried to parlay that effort into a non-graded stakes at Lone Star Park and finished second with a limited late kick in the stretch. Around The Table comes into this race off a fifth-place effort in the Harvey Pack Stakes at Saratoga. Belongs in the conversation.

8. Neon Delite – (Temulac Farm, L. Saez) Another horse who switched to the turf recently after putting together an impressive résumé on the main track. This Florida-bred has four starts on the grass this year, all coming at the five-furlong distance. He ran in three open allowances and was victorious in one of them at Churchill Downs as the 45-1 longshot. It may have been a compact field, but it was loaded with quality. Last time out, we saw Neon Delite at Lone Star Park in the Grand Prairie Turf Challenge. He drew the rail out of six horses and was leading by a length passing the 1/16 pole, but got outclosed right at the wire to finish third. A repeat of that effort will make him very competitive.

– AJM

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded