STICKNEY, Ill. – It was five years ago in June that What’s Up Dude made his career debut and four years ago in May that owner Danalisa Racing and trainer Mark Cristel claimed the gelding for $20,000 at Arlington Park. “We were looking at horses at Oaklawn that winter and I’d say, ‘Oh I like this one, I like that one,’ and every time we got out-shook,” Cristel said. “They just said, ‘That’s okay, we’ll claim something at Arlington.’ This was the first horse we tried to get.” That’s worked out very well. What’s Up Dude has won seven races and banked close to $300,000 since the claim. An 8-year-old synthetics specialist, What’s Up Dude finished second in the 2019 renewal of the Grade 3 Hanshin Stakes at Arlington, but he ran the best race of his 14-start Hawthorne dirt career on April 17, and if he can come right back to that performance, he can factor Saturday in the $75,000 Robert S. Molaro Stakes. The Molaro, restricted to Illinois-breds, is carded at six furlongs. “He is kind of a classy horse,” Cristel said. “He’s got some good about him. The pace really set him up last time, but in Saturday’s race, there’s a decent amount of speed in there, which is good for us. The track’s important too, it’s got to be on the fast side.” What’s Up Dude, one of several stakes horses produced by the excellent broodmare Rooney Doodle, did get a great setup winning a high-level allowance race last month. But if W W Cookie Monster and Valiant Vinny hook up early and set a strong pace, What’s Up Dude might have the run of the Molaro. :: Serious horseplayers use serious products. Get DRF's premium past performances, now free for the first time “I don’t think he’s lost too much from his best. The key is me giving him enough time between races, and he’s had perfect time to this,” Cristel said. W W Cookie Monster is one of three entrants, along with Ghaaleb’s Big Win and Archiemyboy, trained by Scott Becker, who came into this racing week with an 11-6-3-0 meet record. W W Cookie Monster last saw racing action Nov. 14, when he won the Lightning Jet Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong Illinois-bred Hawthorne sprint. That, however, was about as well as W W Cookie Monster ever has run, and on Saturday, returning from a half-year layoff, he’s drawn inside a major pace rival, Valiant Vinny. Valiant Vinny has a good chance to win the Molaro himself. He has a strong Hawthorne record and unlike W W Cookie Monster has made a start this year. He’s trained by Larry Rivelli, who was What’s Up Dude’s original trainer. Post time for the Saturday feature is 5:20 p.m. Central.