Dutcher is the 5-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 440-yard, $75,000 Refrigerator Handicap (G1) at Lone Star Park.

© Scott Martinez

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX—OCTOBER 3, 2017—Dutcher, a homebred 5-year-old Apollitical Jess gelding owned by Jumonville Farms and Brian Ranch, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 440-yard, $75,000 Refrigerator Handicap (G1) at Lone Star Park.

Dutcher is coming off of a fourth-place finish, 4 3/4 lengths behind reigning world champion Jessies First Down, in the 440-yard, $250,000 Albuquerque Fall Championship Stakes at Albuquerque Downs on September 24. The gelding has earned $35,232 from four outs this year, and his season resume includes a second-place finish as the 17-10 favorite in the 440-yard, $50,000 Sam Houston Classic Stakes (G2) in May.

Dutcher drew post 8 and will be ridden by Rodrigo Vallejo for trainer Jimmy Padgett.

Jose Heriberto Rodriguez’s Heza Bell Perry drew post 10 and will be ridden by Alfonso Lujan for trainer Robert Meche. A 6-year-old son of Heza Fast Dash, the gelding has won four of five starts this year, including three stakes, and he has won five of his nine outs at the quarter-mile distance.

The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey and weight assignments and morning-line odds:

1. He Is The Risingstar (Jose A. Alvarez, 125), 4-1
2. Apollitical Wave (Francisco Mendez, 124), 12-1
3. Wild Tycoon (Raul Ramirez Jr., 123), 12-1
4. EBW Catalyst (Larry Gamez, 123), 8-1
5. Kid Can Dash (Luis Vivanco, 123), 10-1
6. Cobalt Creek (Ricky Ramirez, 124), 5-1
7. KW Cowboy (Gaspar Garcia, 123), 15-1
8. Dutcher (Rodrigo Vallejo, 125), 5-2
9. Kraken Black (Eddie Sanchez, 124), 20-1
10. Heza Bell Perry (Alfonso Lujan, 125), 6-1