Trainer Jason Wise has no reasonable explanation for Apple Crumble's disastrous outing June 6 at Prairie Meadows.

Running for the first time on the Iowa track, and for the first time in a long-distance race, the 3-year-old filly finished last.

By 56 lengths.

"I sent her over to Doug Anderson over there," Wise said. "I asked him what he thought, if there was any response out of the jockey, or any reason why, and he said, 'No, not really, she just kind of hung it up after 5 or 6 furlongs.' "

Wise brought Apple Crumble back to Lincoln for an evaluation that uncovered no physical ailments. She was training just fine.

"We're just going to chalk it up to she had a bad day," Wise said. "Maybe she didn't like the track, maybe she didn't like … I don't know. It's hard to say."

Whatever the reason, Apple Crumble returned to her winning form at State Fair Park, winning Sunday's $20,000 Breeders' Special, a stakes race for Nebraska-bred 3-year-old fillies. She also won the May 10 Princess Stakes in Lincoln.

Sunday's victory wasn't easy. Apple Crumble had to rally after trailing by eight lengths midway through the 6-furlong race.

"I was kind of squirming in my seat over there," Wise said.

Jockey Jordan Olesiak, who rode Apple Crumble in her other stakes race victory here but not in the Iowa race, asked for more out of his filly, and she responded.

"When she took off, she took off," Olesiak said. "She's a nice filly. You ask her, and she goes."

Apple Crumble won by 41/2 lengths over Ms. Bumper, which broke strong from the gate and opened a sizable lead.

Wise was concerned because he had seen Ms. Bumper had a strong workout last week, and he knew it's tough to recover on Lincoln's speed-biased track.

But he also knew Ms. Bumper, trained by Larry Staroscik, hadn't raced since May 10.

"I thought that might be a factor," Wise said, "and you kind of saw at the head of the lane, she struggled just a little bit."

Briefly

* Roaring Home, trained by Joanna Lambert, won Saturday's $17,500 State Fair Board Stakes. Jockey Michael Ziegler guided the 6-year-old gelding to a 51/4-length victory over Blumin Attitude in the open race. The winning time in the 1 mile and 70-yard race was 1:44.6.

* The final four days of live racing in Lincoln begins Thursday night. The silent-auction benefit for jockey Mike Luark will be Friday night, and Saturday afternoon is Fan Appreciation Day (free admission, free programs, free tip sheets) and Jockey Appreciation Day. Free general admission will also be offered on the final day of racing on Sunday.

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.