Emerald allowance draws diverse field

AUBURN, Wash. – Saturday’s featured race at Emerald Downs looks like a good betting race. In other words, it’s going to be tough for horseplayers to find the winner. Nine fillies and mares will compete in the $18,900 first-level allowance at six furlongs, and it’s a diverse group with five or six realistic contenders.

Stephanie Plum, who has a win and two seconds in three starts at the meeting, could start as a lukewarm favorite, though the betting figures to be spread out, with speedsters Alert in Class and Hetty joining Grab Ahold, an improving closer, as leading contenders.

Complicating matters for those horses is the presence of Ms. Sutherland, who bolted to a five-length lead in the May 11 Hastings Handicap in her last start before hitting the brakes to finish seventh. Ms. Sutherland will start from the inside post position and knows only one way of going – directly to the front. If she gets away in good order from her tricky post position, Ms. Sutherland could make life difficult for any other horse with designs on the lead.

Alert in Class has started at seven different tracks during her nine-race career. She’s been with trainer Blaine Wright for the past few months, first at Golden Gate, where she was competitive in a couple of first-level allowance races, and then at Emerald, where she missed the board as the 7-5 favorite in her local debut May 17. Alert in Class led gate to wire in her only victory, a maiden race at Sam Houston in February 2013. She may need to adopt new tactics with Ms. Sutherland in the lineup.

Hetty finished second behind Ms. Sutherland in a $40,000 claimer April 26, missing by a nose after shadowing the leader all the way around the track. Hetty will start from post 3 and could be the first to engage Ms. Sutherland yet again.

Grab Ahold improved sharply in her most recent outing, overcoming traffic trouble in the stretch to finish a close third in a first-level allowance sprint. Perhaps more than any other horse in Saturday’s field, she stands to benefit if the leaders get reckless up front. Grab Ahold, making her third start of the year, seems poised to deliver her best effort. She is trained by Doris Harwood.

The others in the field are Whiskey Miner, River of Aces (who is 6 for 13 at Emerald Downs), Beautranda, and Da Burn.