Wolfie’s Dynaghost returns to his Virginia roots a changed horse. Raised in Virginia at the Woodslane Farm of his owner-breeders, Rene and Lauren Woolcott, Wolfie’s Dynaghost starts as the favorite Wednesday at Colonial Downs in the $150,000 Bert Allen Stakes. The race is his first since being gelded Aug. 21, and if fewer hormones coursing through his body helps Wolfie’s Dynaghost relax, he’ll be a handful the 1 1/16-mile Bert Allen. The Bert Allen, race 4 of 12 on the closing day of the 2022 Colonial meet, is one of five stakes on the card, all on turf for horses bred in Virginia, by Virginia-based sires, or raised during a portion of their early life within the commonwealth. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. That last qualification gets Wolfie’s Dynaghost into the race. The 4-year-old is a half-brother to Sadler’s Joy, another Woodslane homebred and one of the best longer-distance turf horses in North America from 2017 to 2020. Sadler’s Joy earned nearly $2.7 million and won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer over 1 1/2 miles in 2017, though he was known as much as anything for a long string of narrow defeats in high-level grass races from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 miles. Tom Albertrani trained Sadler’s Joy and trains Wolfie’s Dynaghost, who is by Ghostzapper and is a different kind of horse than Sadler’s Joy. Wolfie’s Dynaghost won his career debut in November 2020 going seven furlongs on dirt and has shown listed-stakes-class ability in five dirt starts. He appears to be better on turf but is a miler more than a long-distance type. In the June 18 Poker, a one-turn mile at Belmont Park, he finished second behind Masen, among the better turf milers in North America, and it was after a seventh-place finish July 15 in the Forbidden Apple at Saratoga that Wolfie’s Dynaghost was given the ultimate equipment change. Wolfie’s Dynaghost typically has been most comfortable leading or racing close to the pace. Passion Play will want the lead in the Bert Allen, and Largent surely has to use some of his speed drawn in post 2. If Wolfie’s Dynaghost relaxes off one or two of those horses, or makes a clear lead, he’s likely to win. If not, there are others who can. Six-year-old Largent won this race a year ago but had to work to get home, and he was shaky late in a half-length win July 11 at Colonial in the Edward P. Evans Stakes. Third in the Evans was Kendama, the best price shot in the Bert Allen. Kendama, a 5-year-old by Uncle Mo, finished third in the 2020 Bert Allen, run at Laurel Park, and missed the 2021 renewal while away from racing more than a year. His comeback race was rained onto dirt, which Kendama couldn’t handle, and following his solid performance in the Evans he was an improved second Aug. 9 in a Colonial turf allowance. One more step forward and Kendama, with the right pace setup, could post an upset. The Bert Allen’s sister race is the $150,000 Nellie Mae Cox over 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares. Mo Clare’s won the Brookmeade in this division July 11, and can win the Nellie Mae Cox, too. Trained by Chris Block, Mo Clare’s was campaigned as a dirt sprinter much of 2021 before being moved to turf routes late in the season. That switch transformed the mare, who since has won three of five starts, adding a wire-to-wire allowance tally after the Brookmeade to her summer 2022 résumé. Jareth Loveberry is likely to put her on the lead and see if she can hold off key rival No Mo Lady. No Mo Lady brings a 14-race losing streak to the Nellie Mae Cox dating to June 2020. She is fast enough to win this race – but is she sufficiently willing? Pick your poison in turf sprint Either Grateful Bred or Determined Kingdom is extremely likely to win the $150,000 Meadow Stable over 5 1/2 furlongs. Which one of them rates a better chance is a much thornier question. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! Determined Kingdom is just a 3-year-old but both horses carry 122 pounds, and the 6-year-old Grateful Bred comes into this contest the fresher horse. He last started on July 30, when there were plausible excuses for his second-place finish at Laurel in the restricted Ben’s Cat Stakes. The grass course was labeled “good” for that day’s racing and clearly the ground had plenty of give since Grateful Bred, a fast horse, contested fractions of 23.90 and 46.94, a pace more likely to be found in a two-turn mile than a 5 1/2-furlong sprint. Laurel has two finish lines and employed the second one that day, and after leading for much of the extended homestretch run, Grateful Bred was run down a few strides before the finish. Grateful Bred won this race a year ago and on July 18, in his only other Colonial start, finished a close second in the open Van Clief Stakes. A week before the Van Clief, Determined Kingdom crushed lesser foes than Grateful Bred in the Virginia-restricted Punch Line Stakes, and there was no shame in his third-place finish Aug. 14 at Saratoga in the $150,000 Mahoney. That race was won by Big Invasion, the best 3-year-old turf sprinter in North America and a faster horse even than Grateful Bred. In the $150,000 Camptown, a 5 1/2-furlong dash for fillies and mares, Puppymonkeybaby can upset likely favorite Spun Glass. Spun Glass is a much better horse now than she was when she finished seventh behind Puppymonkeybaby in a Virginia-restricted turf-sprint stakes in July 2021, but Puppymonkeybaby likely is better, too. She has raced only two times this season, running well in a pair of open turf-sprint allowance races in Maryland, and looks primed to peak Wednesday for trainer Sarah Nagle. Pletcher, Ortiz team up Sendero, with a trainer-jockey combination rarely seen in Virginia, will be an odds-on favorite to win the $125,000 Jamestown for 2-year-olds over 5 1/2 furlongs Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Sendero for trainer Todd Pletcher, and if Sendero improves much upon a close second-place finish in his career debut, he’ll be formidable in the Jamestown. But Sendero did lose at odds of 6-5 in his first start, and first-time starter Notion looks well meant shipping from Kentucky for trainer Joe Sharp.