Mambo Meister, who got upended two races back in the Woodward Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga, will try for his third stakes win this year at Calder Casino & Race Course Nov. 26 when he takes on seven rivals in the Fred W. Hooper Handicap (gr. III). The 6-year-old son of King Cugat will carry top weight of 121 pounds, giving his foes from five to seven pounds in the 1 1/8-mile race.
The Fred W. Hooper is scheduled as the ninth race and set to go off at 3:57 p.m. EST.
Mambo Meister, who finished third in last year’s Fred W. Hooper, was in his prime this summer at Calder. After finishing a close second in the Memorial Day Handicap (gr. III), he captured the Mecke Stakes by four lengths in June and then stormed home to win the Primal Stakes by 11 lengths in July. Following his seventh-place effort in the Woodward the first weekend in September, he finished a strong second, beaten a length by Mad Flatter, in the Spend a Buck Handicap (gr. III) at Calder in mid-October. Fernando Jara will ride again.
Three others in the Fred W Hooper field—Stimulus Plan, Sky Venture, and Flatter This—also contested the Spend a Buck, finishing a third, fourth, and sixth, respectively.
Flatter This, by Flatter , boasts two stakes wins at Calder this year. He captured the Band Is Passing Stakes and then took the Darn That Alarm Handicap by 6 1/2 lengths. Luis Saez, who rode Flatter This in the Band Is Passing, will be aboard him Nov. 26.
The Spend a Buck was Stumulus Plan’s second consecutive stakes placing. In his previous start, he ran second in the Darn That Alarm Handicap. The son of Jump Start will be ridden in the Fred W. Hooper by B.J. Theriot.
Sky Venture sports consecutive wins at Calder this year. He won for a claiming tag of $25,000 in August and then captured an allowance/optional claimer by 6 1/4 lengths in September. J.C. Leyva rides again.
Three of the other Fred W. Hooper contestants—Generalissimo, Tellum Berto, and Jimanator—enter off wins, with Jimanator’s proving the most impressive. The son of Broken Vow captured an allowance race by 6 1/4 lengths at Parx Racing in mid-October.
$100,000 Fred W. Hooper Handicap (gr. III, Race 9, 3:57 p.m.), 3-Year-Olds and Up, 1 1/8 Miles
Post, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Stimulus Plan B J Theriot 115 D F Hunt
2. Tellum Berto A Fuller 114 H Toledo
3. Sky Venture J C Leyva 115 C Paul
4. Jimanator J Bravo 114 M J Trombetta
5. Generalissimo P Morales 115 G S Bennett
6. Flatter This L Saez 116 K O’Connell
7. Shellback D Centeno 114 G S Bennett
8. Mambo Meister F Jara 121 P A Gleaves