Dirt Road Red could get trip for fourth straight win

Dirt Road Red will seek his fourth win in a row when facing seven foes in the Saturday night $25,000 claiming feature at Emerald Downs. The son of Clubhouse Ride leads all horses in number of wins during the current season with three while he is just a nose away from a fourth.

The Justin Evans trainee drew the rail for the six-furlong contest, and rider Alex Cruz will likely have to select a strategy for stalking the pace and getting out for Dirt Road Red’s usual rally.

The opposition is loaded with live possibilities, and the Emerald strip having been especially fast in recent weeks only amplifies the potential for the field.

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Evans also trains Gold Crusher, who cruised on an easy lead through moderate-for-Emerald fractions beating a field of four on June 23 in 1:07.41 for six furlongs. Gold Crusher retains the services of leading rider Luis Negron, who piloted Dirt Road Red to each of his three prior wins at the current meeting.

It seems likely that some of the others will put more pressure on Gold Crusher in the early going Saturday. Among them is Cobra Jet, trained by Frank Lucarelli, who recently set a lively early pace in an Emerald race that went in 1:07.68 for six furlongs. Another is Cody’s Choice, trained by Vince Gibson, who is no stranger to Emerald and more often than not makes his presence felt on the front end.

Yet another possible pace player is A View From Above, who has been in front at every call in all three of his lifetime wins. A View From Above is trained by Kay Cooper and will be ridden by Rocco Bowen.

Recent Howard Belvoir claim Holiday Hustle is adept at both winning on the front end as well as tracking others. Holiday Hustle and Dirt Road Red assure that there won’t be any letup in the mid-race tempo, and that could lead to a very noteworthy time on the board.

With so much potential pace, it makes sense to look for a closer, and a good candidate is Blaine Wright trainee Executive Chef. Winner of the Auburn Stakes here last year, the 4-year-old Executive Chef has raced once at the current meeting and finished fifth, beaten 6 1/4 lengths. The top three in that May 28 contest ran 1-2-3 at every call, so it wasn’t exactly easy to make progress from behind.

Wright said that he is “hoping that [Executive Chef] turns it around. Transition from 3 to 4 can be tough, and we are looking for [the right] level for him.”

At any rate, there should be quite a lively tempo on Saturday evening to set up any late move Executive Chef can offer.

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