He's Cagey tries to pick up where he left off

The first evening card this year at Emerald Downs begins at 6:30 Pacific on Friday. A wide-open $10,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up that goes as race 6 headlines the seven-race card.

He’s Cagey could end up favored in the six-furlong dash, which drew eight horses. After all, he has won six of his last seven starts, all at Emerald with Erick Lopez riding, and he may have been trying to tell us something when he worked a sharp three furlongs in 34.80 seconds on Monday.

However, the 8-year-old Idaho-bred hasn’t raced since last September and has never won while coming off a layoff, and none of his nine wins in 49 lifetime starts was at six furlongs.

His lone win sprinting came in his final start of 2016, when he romped going 6 1/2 furlongs in a $10,000 claiming race for trainer Blaine Wright.

He will be making his first start for trainer Roy Lumm, who haltered him out of the race on behalf of Blue Diamond Stable and Janet Johnson. Under the waiver-claiming rules at Emerald, he is not eligible to be claimed in his first start this year.

He’s Cagey drew post 5, with Lopez retaining the mount.

KEY CONTENDERS

He’s Cagey, by Cause Ur Mine

Last 3 Beyers: 82-82-74

◗ He has thrived at Emerald, and the 82 Beyer Speed Figures he received in his last two starts stand out in this field.

Solemnly Swear, by Yes It’s True

Last 3 Beyers: 71-70-84

◗ He is taking a substantial drop for his initial outing as a 6-year-old and could come out firing for trainer Michael Puhich.

◗ Coming off a substantial layoff last year, he finished third behind O B Harbor and Kaabraaj while going 5 1/2 furlongs in a $50,000 optional-claiming race. O B Harbor won his next three starts in stakes before finishing third as the favorite in the Grade 3 Longacres Mile. Kaabraj set a track record going 6 1/2 furlongs in his next start. It was Solemnly Swear’s first race since he finished fourth in the $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial at Hastings in 2014.

◗ Solemnly Swear will break from the inside post, with Javier Matias riding.

FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past five years, Puhich has won with 15 percent of his starters returning from a layoff of 180 days or longer.

Mister Breeze, by Hampton Bay

Last 3 Beyers: 63-73-66

◗ In four races coming off similar layoffs, he has two wins and two runner-up finishes.

◗ Trained by Alan Bozell throughout his 27-race career, he started last season with a win going 5 1/2 furlongs at this level.

◗ His back-to-back bullet five-furlong works on March 22 and March 29 suggest he’s ready for another solid effort off the bench.