Aspen Getaway comfortable on the lead or in stalking position

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Aspen Getaway, second to Koffee Grinder in the $50,000 River Rock Casino on June 7, will get some class relief and figures to be heavily favored to win a conditional allowance race at Hastings on Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds drew seven horses and headlines a seven-race card that begins at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.

Aspen Getaway went into the River Rock Casino undefeated in two starts, and his second win came in the $50,000 Jim Coleman Province in his first start this year. Trained by Anita Bolton, Aspen Getaway has good speed but can stalk. He sat just off the speed in his win in the Coleman and set the pace before getting nipped at the wire by Koffee Grinder in the River Rock Casino. Koffee Grinder was very impressive when he came back to win the $50,000 Chris Loseth Handicap on July 1.

Aspen Getaway drew post 3, where Amadeo Perez likely will make use of his good speed.

Trainer Robbie Anderson is looking for a strong performance by Slice of Red, who had a rough trip when he stretched out to a mile in the $50,000 Coca-Cola Handicap at Emerald Downs on June 22. Breaking from the outside post in the nine-horse field, Slice of Red went very wide while getting bumped around going into the first turn. He made a bit of a late move to finish a nonthreatening fifth.

Slice of Red was coming off a win in his second start in a maiden special weight race May 31 at Hastings. In his debut, he rallied to finish second behind Koffee Grinder.

“He did have some trouble on the first turn, but I’m not sure why he got so far behind,” said Anderson. “Hopefully, he’ll be a lot closer in this race.”

Anderson said he was using the race as a prep for the $50,000 B.C. Cup Stellar’s Jay on Aug. 4.

Tempest, second to Aspen Getaway in the Coleman, won’t mind the move back to a sprint. Trained by Dino Condilenios, Tempest set the early pace before tiring to finish third in his first route attempt in a 1 1/16-mile conditional allowance race June 15. According to DRF’s Formulator, over the past five years, Condilenios has won with 26 percent of his starters who were going from a route to a sprint.

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Richter Red surprisingly set the pace before tiring to finish last in the Loseth. The Bruce Unwin trainee should be heard from late if he reverts back to his usual running style.