The decision to increase the purse of the Arapahoe Park Classic from $30,000 to $50,000 for Sunday’s running has helped the track lure one of the best bred horses to ever race in Colorado. Schramsberg, a son of Storm Cat and champion Serena’s Song, is set to make his stakes debut against nine others in the mile and an eighth race. He was a private purchase from the Robert and Beverly Lewis Trust this spring, and ships to Arapahoe off a first-level allowance win at Prairie Meadows.
“The idea is we want to try to get a little black type,” said Chris Hartman, who trains the 4-year-old Schramsberg for Bobby Joe Hammer. “He’s obviously got the pedigree to be a stud horse, hopefully in the New Mexico-Colorado area, so we want to give him exposure in that kind of spot. We want to give him a little exposure out there and see how it works out.”
Schramsberg should get good support in the Classic for his front-running win at Prairie on July 16. He led throughout the one-mile race and earned a Beyer Figure of 82. The number is the best last-race Beyer in the Classic.
“When they pushed the purse over to $50,000, that makes for some black type and that made all the difference,” Hartman said referring to the requirement for stakes recognition in major sales catalogs. “We wouldn’t have scrambled up there for $30,000.”
Track officials increased the purse of the race this meet because of elevated handle figures at Arapahoe.
Schramsberg won his maiden in February on Golden Gate Field’s synthetic Tapeta surface. The win came in his fourth career start, and after a few more races between Golden Gate and Hollywood Park he shipped to Prairie Meadows.
“They thought he didn’t like the synthetic, and I’ve got to agree with them,” said Hartman.
Hartman said he likes how Schramsberg has trained up to the Classic, which will be his first start at a mile and an eighth. His dam, Serena’s Song, won the Jim Beam, Black-Eyed Susan, Mother Goose, Gazelle, Beldame, Pimlico Distaff, and Fleur de Lis at the distance en route to her career record of 18 wins and earnings of $3,283,388. Her top runners as a broodmare include Grade 2 winners Harlington and Grand Reward.
Others in the Classic include regional stakes winners Dance to the Star, Shivers Me, Toccet to Me, Hezamazing, Cheatin a Little and Singin Vicar.
