Welcome back. Welcome back, welcome back. It’s not every day that a story about a race at Emerald Downs warrants an exhumation of the theme song to Mr. Kotter’s classroom, but today is one of those days. Justin Evans, Emerald’s reigning leading trainer, on Sunday has a pair of horses in race 1 who have logged a combined 154 races. Bedrock, an 8-year-old gelding, is the spring chicken, while Surprsinglyperfect is three years older. In spite of their advanced age, both should be in the thick of things in the mile-long allowance that has a $14,000 purse. Evans has bought, sold, and watched both of these horses walk away multiple times, with Bedrock, claimed for $8,000 out of a third-place finish at six furlongs just a week ago, involved in the most recent tit for tat. But Evans and Surprsinglyperfect go way back. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. It was the summer of 2017 when Evans spotted Surprsinglyperfect at a horses of racing age sale and purchased him for Dick Cappellucci, his pal on the New Mexico circuit. The horse was a bit middling and was sold the following year. In 2022, the horse and Evans, then and now Turf Paradise’s top trainer, were in Phoenix when Evans claimed him and trained Surprsinglyperfect to five straight wins. At that point, Evans explained, “A guy from Canada came down and offered me a pretty good price for him, so I sold him.” Such is the nature of the claiming game, and two years later, Evans would grab him back for his barn. At age 10, Surprsinglyperfect was at his best, winning four of seven races at Emerald Downs, posting a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure for a 6 1/2-length victory in a one-mile claiming race, and earning popularity points in the process. “He really became a fan favorite at Emerald last year,” said Evans. “People would come up to me and ask when he’s racing next. He put up fast times last year. Not only is he a fan favorite, he’s a family favorite. He’s a pet. He’ll have a forever home with us. If I had 10 more like him, this would be an easy game. “Old horses like that, they don’t need to take the day-in and day-out. As long as you keep them fresh and happy and sound, they’re going to do the job for you. He’s like the old Toby Keith song: ‘I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once, as I ever was.’ He’s a racetrack success story.” So is Evans. He’s led Turf Paradise’s trainer colony in wins for the past five meets and Emerald’s the past two. Bedrock and Surprsinglyperfect are his first two entrants at Emerald meet, which commenced on April 27, and heading into Saturday’s card, he’d spotted six wins to the ever-formidable Blaine Wright. “I don’t have as many horses up here as I have in years past,” Evans said. “I’m trying to take a different approach, maybe focus on quality instead of quantity. It would be amazing to be leading trainer again, but I think if we’re able to spend more time with the horses and put them in better spots, that gives us an advantage.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.