Cielo Diamante drops into claimer off stakes effort
Cielo Diamante and Enchanting Way look like the main players in a $25,000 claimer that will serve as the feature race Friday at Emerald Downs. The 5 1/2-furlong dash for 3-year-old fillies drew six horses and goes as race 6 on a seven-race card that begins at 7 p.m. Pacific.
The Jackpot pick six, which begins on the second race, is starting to grow and is becoming interesting with a $32,367 carryover.
Cielo Diamante will appreciate the class relief after not making an impact in the $50,000 Seattle, where she finished six of seven in the six-furlong dash for 3-year-old fillies.
Trained by Candi Cryderman, the Washington-bred daughter of Cupid was running on dirt for the first time when she was the runner-up to her stablemate Preskitt in a first-level allowance race with a $30,000 claiming option May 21 at Emerald. Gold N Glitter, who finished third, came back to win a similar race June 11. Cielo Diamante lost by 1 3/4 lengths and probably would have won the race with a clean trip. However, after breaking decently from the inside post, she was full of run but had to steady sharply approaching the turn and dropped back to last. She took a while to regroup, eventually finishing with determination from along the rail.
Cielo Diamante likes to be in the mix early as evidenced by her front-running victory in a $50,000 starter race April 2 at Golden Gate Fields, and she forced the issue when she won a $12,500 maiden claimer on March 12. She could be dangerous if she breaks alertly form post 2 with Javier Matias up.
The Rigoberto Velazquez-trained Enchanting Way also is dropping after finishing third in the race Gold N Glitter won June 11. It was just the third lifetime start for the Oregon-bred daughter of Harbor the Gold, so she could have plenty of upside.
Enchanting Way started once as a 2-year-old, romping by 6 1/2 lengths in a $25,000 maiden claimer on Aug. 1. In her initial outing this year, she dueled through honest fractions before losing by a neck to Ms. Parkside in a $25,000 claimer for nonwinners of two on May 29.
Enchanting Way will break from post 5 with Kevin Radke riding.
Fire Escape is another with decent speed, and she finished a neck behind Enchanting Way for trainer Blaine Wright on May 29.
A California-bred daughter of Straight Five, Fire Escape went into the race off an eighth-place finish in a $50,000 starter race on April 23 at Golden Gate Fields. She appears to be better on dirt, with a runner-up finish in her debut going 5 1/2 furlongs in a maiden special weight race for California-breds on July 17 at Pleasanton before easily winning a $25,000 maiden claimer on Aug. 21 at Emerald.
Fire Escape’s bullet half-mile move on June 26 suggests she could be sitting on a big effort in the third start of her form cycle. She breaks from the outside post with Juan Gutierrez aboard.