Elegant Boy may get right setup in competitive field
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At a racetrack bedeviled by small fields, Emerald Downs bettors should find plenty to like in Saturday’s race 7, a 6 1/2-furlong affair for 3-year-olds and up who will be running for a $25,000 claiming tag.
The race has a purse of $23,000 and attracted a field of nine, at least half of whom have a decent shot at winning. One of those is Elegant Boy, a versatile 5-year-old gelding with seven wins from 35 starts and a stakes score this past fall at Grants Pass in Oregon.
Elegant Boy is just 1 for 9 at Emerald, but he’s posted his best speed figures at the Auburn, Wash., oval and has the second-best last-out Beyer in Saturday’s field, a 78.
“He likes this track,” said owner-trainer Sergio Perez, whose barn is 3 for 25 at the meet, including a victory by Elegant Boy. “He’s won everywhere. The race is a little tough. In the mile, he’s a really tough horse. Six and a half? I don’t know. He ran good last time at six furlongs.”
That he did, finishing a respectable third behind Elder Mack and Golden River on July 3 following a June 20 win in a $15,000 claiming race at a mile, for which he also earned a 78 Beyer.
A winner of two in a row and stakes-placed last year at age 3, Goin’ South’s 80 is the best last-out Beyer in the field and he figures to be favored first off the claim for trainer Alexis Silva-Martinez. Historically, the former Blaine Wright trainee has gone straight to the lead, and should have company there Saturday in Coastal Jazz. Trained by Howie Gibson, 8-year-old Coastal Jazz will be ridden by Blake Nunnally, who has ridden Elegant Boy in his last two starts.
Elegant Boy will get the services of jockey Adrian Castellanos, who has Perez’s trust.
“Goin’ South, that horse is really tough,” said Perez. “It’s a lot of speed, which is good for us. With the horses in the front, he can come and close. I told Adrian maybe we let the speed go. I think we’ll be there in the money. Adrian has a lot of experience and tries hard all the time.”
Whiskeyjack and My Vino look a tad overmatched and Its Kraken Time might need a race before regaining the fine form he flashed last summer. On the far inside is trainer Howard Belvoir’s 7-year-old Firewalker, a 3-for-33 gelding who hasn’t won since 2024 but whose Beyers fit with this group.
Breaking from the three-hole will be Counteract, who finished fourth, just behind Elegant Boy, in that July 3 sprint and will likely be looking to run a race similar to that of his rival. In post 8 is Baladi, who closed impressively to win his May 25 Emerald debut after a rough start before finishing fourth of five in the $50,000 Budweiser Stakes on June 21.
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