The $75,000 Bosselman Pump & Pantry/Gus Fonner Stakes has attracted a full field of 10 horses for Saturday's 1 1/16th mile race at Fonner Park.
“The $75,000 Bosselman Gus Fonner Stakes is the richest race run annually at Fonner Park,” Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak said. “The field of 10 in the race is certainly the best field of horses we will present all year. Mission accomplished. Money talks and it attracts. It will be an excellent betting race.”
Trainer Mark Hibdon, who will send Sarcastic Tone to the post for the Bosselman, agreed.
“For as long as I've been coming here, this is one of the toughest ones I've seen drawn up,” said Hibdon, who has been coming to Fonner Park since 2017. “It's anybody's race. I think there are several horses in there that are deserving and can win it.”
At the top of the list would be morning-line favorite Buck Moon. The 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Malibu Moon and Grand Pauline is 9-5 on the morning line. He's coming off a 10-length win in an allowance optional claiming race March 23 at Hawthorne.
Its A Wrap was trained by Isai Gonzalez a year ago and won the Dowd Mile in 2022 before finishing fifth in the Bosselman. Its A Wrap, now trained by Jon Arnett, has been off since a Jan. 25 win at Tampa Bay Down and is 4-1 on the morning line.
Gonzalez is back in the Bosselman with Munqad, a horse he claimed just three weeks ago for $20,000. At 8-1 on the morning line, he will likely go out to the lead along with Buck Moon.
“It looks like there's going to be a lot of competition,” Gonzalez said. “We've been looking at the field, and there are a lot of nice horses this year.”
Fleetridge, shipping in from Keeneland, is 6-1 on the morning line. This will be his first out since October.
Medicine Tail, winner of the Tondi earlier this meet, is 10-1 for trainer David C. Anderson. He's also bringing Bellamys Roan at 20-1 from Oaklawn Park.
Caseys Memory, a ship-in from Will Rogers Downs, and Cave Hill, who is trained by Larry Donlin and finished second in the Dowd, are both 12-1.
Unrestricted, trained by Marissa Black, is 20-1 after finishing fifth in the Dowd.
Long-time Fonner Park assistant racing secretary Wayne Anderson was impressed by the Bosselman field.
“I think it's one of our strongest fields,” Anderson said. “It's going to be a race kind of up for grabs depending on if the speed horses hook up and kind of set it up for the come-from-behind horses.
“And having the horses that ran first and second in the Dowd Mile coming back, that's always a good sign.”
The race will go as the 9th race on a card of ten races. First post is 1:30 pm CT; the 9th race post time is 5:40 pm CT.
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