Station (Grade 3)- $600.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
October 25, 2025

Station will offer the highest purse this weekend of any race that takes place as we continue to get closer to the BC races. Before we get to that, how about a $600.000 purse that is up for grabs this Saturday for three-year-old turf horses. This race runs for the ninth time but has not been carded every single year. After a debut in 2007 and running for three years, it had a one-off return in 2015 before disappearing again until 2021. That year, a classic three-way dead heat for the win meant that there was no way the race could continue to not be held. In 2022, the purse doubled from $150.000 to $300.000, and then last year, doubled again to $600.000. Charlie Jace was the winner of that race, for Mb Stables, and he’s continued to run well. In fact, he won the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes at SA last month, so is expected to be running next week at DMR. Now, Mb Stables will be back with two of the nine that will be taking part. Here’s a look at the field!

1- Dragon (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- When running on the turf, he has been very successful, winning three of his four starts on the grass. We saw an example of that last time out, as he won the $150.000 NY Stallion Series- Calloway at SAR two months ago. That represented a return to the surface after running in KYD preps, the KYD itself, and other stakes. Results in those were hit or miss, but this is the type of race that he has been far more consistent with.

2- Scorched (Mb Stables, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- Plenty of fire in these first two posts, for sure. Scorched had exclusively run on the dirt throughout his career, running in several stakes, and even seeing Dragon in the Grade 3 Winn back in June. He had not done much in those races after a January victory and was moved to the turf last time out. No, it’s not an immediate success story, as the rain put out his flame in the $2,000.000 Gun Runner. His two off track starts have not been pretty, so we can use that as an excuse, but he still needs to prove himself on the turf.

3- Model Citizen (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by F Geroux)- Broke his maiden in his sixth career start, taking down a field at BTP. The trainer has tried to move him back forward after that, but up to this point, Model Citizen has not been able to step up. There was a second place run in a DMR optional claimer, but that’s the one positive run in a stretch of four where the others are duds, to say the least. That DMR side must come out, but even if it does, this field might be too tough.

4- Bear Head (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by S Bridgmohan)- After covering his impressive win in the Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes at CNL, I was a believer in Bear Head. However, he would disappoint in the $2,000.000 Gun Runner. Maybe that was only because of the soft turf, and in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile, there would be no weather issues. In that, he would be tenth again, but that was a wild finish, not quite as crazy as the three way dead heat the Station had for the win in 2021, in which Maxmillion Farm was a part of, but any of the top 13 (of 14) probably could have won with a little more luck. Now, it’s time for Bear Head to step up.

5- Late Knight (Night Rider Stables, ridden by J J Castellano)- From the fiery start to the look through the field, we’ve now reached our Knights, starting with Late Knight. This is a gelding that took a while to find a home, being auctioned three times and then claimed two other times over nine months, a period where he made just six starts. Night Rider Stables has had bigger aspirations, not only running him three times, but all at the stake level. Last month, he would win the Grade 3 OK Derby, likely making all those other trainers who’ve had him wish he was still in their barn. Don’t underestimate what having a steady trainer can do. The move to the turf is an interesting one with him, wish I had recent public turf works to look at.

6- Western Knight (Our Athletes, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Not surprisingly, both of our Knights are sired by Our Dark Knight. Western Knight has won twice this year and has hit the board in five of his six starts. The two victories were big ones, the Grade 1 American Turf at CD, and also the $250.000 KD Preview Nashville Derby in August. There would be nothing wrong with his performance in the Gun Runner, either, as he was a third in a dead heat for that $2,000.000 race. Seems like all that would be good enough to get into the BC Mile but being 14th on the leaderboard with two auto qualifiers below him, he would probably miss out. (But would he? Five of those above him are Mb Stables-owned, as well as one of the auto qualifiers. Ahh, the dilemmas! Our Athletes has two of them, too). Regardless, he’s here and formidable in this field.

7- Hail Justice (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by D Davis)- Broke his maiden at SA at the start of the year, and would be stakes placed immediately after that. He’s yet to return to the winner’s circle, but Hail Justice typically is within a length of the winner in all of his starts. His closest call came at SAR in the Grade 3 Manila, where he got his picture taken with the winner (Darrow), but had to settle for second. Likely ran better in the Gun Runner last time out than his sixth-place effort implies, as even there he was only a length out. Eventually, it will be his day.

8- Tropical Surge (Red Fox Farms, ridden by P Lopez)- Five of his eleven starts have come on the turf, and he has been first or second in four of them. After breaking his maiden at TAM, he was put on the KYD trail and had success in the prep races (particularly the early ones), and he would take part in the KYD. Was beaten by eleven lengths there, and then by eight in the PRK, which is when the decision to move him back to the grass would come. Won the $250.000 American Derby by four, though did not take well to the added distance in the Nashville Derby. Seems to want to run closer to a mile, as he will here.

9- Have Another Beer (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- A bunch of close calls for this one may have had his supporters and possibly trainer wanting to have another beer, but he may be turning the corner after the move to the turf at the start of last month. In the Grade 3 Old Dominion from CNL, his first turf race, and was second in a photo, then he’d get that win late in the month at the $150.000 Ponti from AQU. Time will tell is Mb Stables has another giant in the making within this division, as his presence in the BC Mile will be apparent, as was mentioned when we looked at Western Knight, but the promise is clearly there.

Prediction: 6-4-8-9

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES