Race 4. Questions about the two probable favorites make this is a race ripe to be won by a price horse. DON’T REMEMBER broke several lengths slow in his return to racing after a 6 month vacation, but he showed a new dimension by closing well in a very rapidly run race. His new connections show confidence in this guy by jumping him from $2,500 to $5000. He was competitive with better in Arizona this winter and this is a great spot for him to pull an upset. CONTINUE ON VICTOR is a tough horse to get a line on. He broke extremely slow in his first 3 races, and showed a bunch of late run in starts 2 and 3. Then in race 4, when he finally broke a little better, he was flat down the lane. There have been several winners come out if his last 2 races and if the 5 weeks off since his last race has sharpened him up, he’s another upset possibility. MOJAVE didn’t show much when facing much tougher earlier this meet. In his latest, he showed big improvement when he was dropped to a more reasonable level. He was part of a big speed duel while racing far off the rail on a rail favoring day. There appears to be a lot of early speed in here, and with a return to his usual off-the-pace style, MOJAVE is another realistic upsetter to consider.
Selections 2-7-6
Race 5. 11 year old DOCTOR BRUCE S might be a better sprinter, but he’s run plenty of good routes without ever winning one, and this field is full of inconsistent runners who aren’t currently in real peak form. BRUCE generally comes from out of it when he sprints, but he’s gone to the front in the route races showing on his form. This race figures to have a quick early pace, and if BRUCE relaxes early he’s in a good spot to get win #4 of the meet. CHECK AND RAISE didn’t fire at all on the sloppy track he ran on in his last start, but his fast track races this meet have been pretty good. He had a nice closing win 3 races back, and was wide on a rail favoring day 2 races back. He has a good style for this group and if you can excuse his last race on the sloppy track, he’s a big contender in here. DON’TBESHYWILLIE has done nothing but sprint for the past year, but back in July 2019 he shows a gutty 2nd place finish going long. There’s a couple of other speed horses in here, but his sprinters speed should be able to get him clear from the routers speed of the others. If he’s able to get clear early and get a breather along the way he may never look back.
Selections 5-1-6
Race 6. LIVE A GOOD LIFE has hit the board in 4 of his starts this meet. In his latest he broke a little slow and then could not catch the winner, who took full advantage of a strong rail/biased track to post a fast wire-to-wire win. There are a couple of horses on his inside who have shown early foot and if LIFE can break clean he should be in a good position to get first run when they begin to back up. BRETT defeated LIFE on a wet track 2 races back, then finished several lengths behind that one in their latest. BRETT was compromised by a wide trip on the rail favoring track that day, but he had finished 1st or 2nd in his four starts before that. He also has a stalking style of running and if he returns to his best form, he’s a big player here. CELTURIAN has certainly not regained his best form after being claimed last year and immediately given a year long vacation. 2 races back he ran a good 3rd against much tougher, but, in his latest, he finished behind the top 2 when they ran over a wet track. On the basis of his good finish 2 races back going to give him one last chance to pull an upset in here.
Selections 4-6-7
Race 7. MIRROR IMAGE has hit the board in all 4 of his local starts since arriving from No Cal. His last 2 starts were going long, but he’d been very successful sprinting prior to that and his 2 local sprints are good enough to win this. The route-to-sprint angle could actually have him ready to run an even better 6 1/2 furlongs in here. Contentious group, but giving an edge to this guy. MIKE MAN’S GOLD may have lost a step at the age of 10, but he showed he hasn’t forgotten how to win while recording his 23rd victory two weeks ago. It feels blasphemous to poke holes in any race MIKE wins, but, the truth is, he took advantage of a slow pace and a very strong rail bias to get the win. There isn’t a ton of early foot in here, so it’s possible he can pull off another wire-to-wire win here, but this is a tougher group. GOLDEN COWBOY comes off two fast wins in a row. He generally settles a length or two off the early lead, but considering he was on top of sub 44 second half miles in his last two starts he could be taking it to MIKE from the outset. Good chance to get his 3rd in a row.
Selections 7-5-8
Race 8. STAY IN GRACE has been very sharp of late for underrated trainer Velasquez, who is having a terrific Emerald meet. GRACE appears to have a clear advantage over these in the early foot department, and she’s very tough to get by when she’s on the lead. She made the lead from the one hole in her last start, and a repeat effort makes her a short priced winner. CLOSE THE SHOW LO broke slow and could not threaten GRACE in the mud last time out. She went wire-to-wire 2 races back, but the pace was slow and she’s not quicker than GRACE, so she’ll have to try to figure out how to stay close and wear that one down late to pull the upset. B C Z MIDDLETON has a had an excellent career, but it’s been a long time since been much of a threat to get a victory. She’s been beaten by both of the top 2 recently and probably can only hope to fill the bottom rungs of the exotics.
Selections 1-5-2
Race 9. It’s usually a pretty easy handicapping test in a bottom maiden race when you have 2 horses that just ran second and no one else ran better than 5th last time out. BLEU MUSKET just ran a distant second in a surprisingly fast race. MUSKET was used up in a big speed duel in his race two back and ran another good second three back, so could say he’s in good current form. MUSKET can run from on or off the pace, but with an alert break from the one hole he has a good to lead all the way with these. HE’S BANDIDO just got beat a nose in his last start, but it was probably a little softer field than what MUSKET just faced. BANDIDO is capable of showing good early speed, but his finishes have improved greatly since he started coming from out of it. Clearly the top threat to MUSKET. ALESUND has finished a non-threatening 3rd, 4th and 5th in his three starts this year. He has absolutely no early speed and does his rallying down the lane. Would need to really hurry up to threaten the top two, but is as likely as any in here to fill out the tris and supers.
Selections 1-8-3