Hastings claimer hard to figure

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Pick-four players might want to use all of the horses in the seventh race at Hastings on Friday as it is difficult to separate the eight older sprinters running for a top claiming price of $17,500.

Most of the races that make up the pick four appear to be competitive, and it is possible that nobody will have all four winners. If that is the case, the entire pool will be carried over to Saturday, with new rules regarding the payout of the bet being instituted this weekend. Previously, if no one had four winners, the pool was divided among the people with the most winners.

Bear Most Wanted, trained by Craig MacPherson could end up being the lukewarm favorite in race 7. He was the 3-1 choice in a similar race July 1, but with Fernando Perez aboard he stumbled badly leaving the starting gate. After rushing up to put pressure on And All That Jazz, he tired to finish fourth. In his previous race, Perez eased him off the pace and he responded with a strong late move to beat And All That Jazz by a half-length.

And All That Jazz will be the one they have to catch, and it looked like they weren’t going to catch him when he took clear leads into the stretch in each of his last two starts, both at this level. He is shedding seven pounds, and his new rider, apprentice Ryan Pacheco, has been hot since he arrived here two weeks ago, winning with 5 of his 22 mounts.

Joy of the Lord, Jump Pass, and I Wanna Go Fast are all coming off of wins.

Joy of the Lord is cutting back in distance after edging Right Honorable by a nose for $12,500 on June 26.

Trainer Monica Russell claimed Jump Pass out of his winning race for $7,500 on June 27, and she will be adding blinkers to his arsenal.

I Wanna Go Fast came from well off the pace to win a $12,500 claiming race going 6 1/2 furlongs on July 10 and should have an honest enough pace to work with.

Noble Lad has been a disappointment in his two starts this year, but he is dropping in class and looked very sharp in his three-furlong work in 34.20 seconds Tuesday.