Claimer could set up for Aliante

Aliante has the right kind of running style to win a $15,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds that will serve as Friday’s feature at Emerald Downs. He is capable of stalking what should be an honest and contested pace in the 6 1/2-furlong dash, which drew eight horses. It also won’t hurt that leading rider Rocco Bowen, who won five races Sunday, retains the mount.

Aliante is by no means a single in the Jackpot 7, which has a $36,777 carryover. The seven-race program begins at 6:30 p.m. Pacific.

Aliante will be making his third start for trainer Charlie Essex, who acting on behalf of Steven Tillotson claimed him for $8,000 on May 20. Aliante easily won the $8,000 maiden claimer for trainer Blaine Wright, and in his first start for his new connections he was the runner-up in a $25,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds on June 1.

In his latest race, a $15,000 claimer for non-winners of two on June 30, he was bumped leaving the starting gate and may have been farther back than Bowen would have liked. He made a late move, but could not catch the 4-year-old Buckley Bay, who came from a stalking position to win, nor runner-up Cody’s Choice, who set a brisk pace in the six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up.

Cody’s Choice also runs back Friday and will break from the outside post with Leonel Camacho-Flores aboard. He will have to deal with Ridgefield Rocket, who set the pace before finishing third in a $15,000 claimer for 3-year-olds on June 10. If the expected duel develops, the race should set up nicely for Aliante.

KEY CONTENDERS

Aliante, by Dixie Chatter
Last 3 Beyers: 63-53-64

◗ Toss his debut and he hasn’t been worse than third in his eight-race career. If he breaks alertly from post 6, he should get the same kind of trip he had in his only win.

Cody’s Choice, by Raise the Bluff
Last 3 Beyers: 69-35-61

◗ The speed of the speed, he owns the best last-race Beyer Speed Figure and could be gone if he gets the jump on Ridgefield Rocket.

Take Charge Deputy, by Take Charge Indy
Last 3 Beyers: 67-68-53

◗ Trained by Jorge Rosales, the two-time Portland Meadows stakes winner will be making his start since he was moved up to first via disqualification in the $15,000 Columbia River at Portland Meadows on Jan. 28.

◗ He improved dramatically when he won the $11,000 Sophomore in his previous start, and first as a 3-year-old, and if he comes back as good as he left he could win what appears to be a wide-open event.

He’s Not Grey, by Slew’s Tiznow
Last 3 Beyers: 45-67-48

◗ The Candi Tollett-trained California-bred hasn’t lived up to the promise he showed when he won the $49,000 Emerald Express in his debut last year. He fits nicely here, though, as he just missed at this level in his first start of the year and then couldn’t keep up when he was a lukewarm favorite in a first-level allowance race with a $25,000 claiming option on June 23.