Hollywood Park: Et Tu Walker back on favorite course Friday

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Veteran turf sprinters slug it out over six furlongs Friday in the seventh-race feature at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Horse-for-the-course Et Tu Walker and stakes winner A Toast to You are among a full field in the optional $62,500 claimer. For the pace-presser Et Tu Walker, a change in venue is welcome. His two recent starts at Santa Anita were mediocre.

“He’s a horse that’s not real fond of 6 1/2 [furlongs] down the hill – we found that out,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He likes six furlongs at Hollywood, and this is our last hurrah there.”

Et Tu Walker is a three-time turf-sprint winner at Hollywood, which will close at the end of the autumn meet.

Et Tu Walker, 6 for 19, came up from the bottom. He did not win until his fifth start in a $28,000 maiden claimer in July 2012 and afterward sunk to second-level, $12,500 claimers before he turned around his career.

“He had a throat procedure way down” at that level, O’Neill said.

As 2013 unfolded, Et Tu Walker continued to improve. He won four of five turf sprints, including a second-level claimer at Del Mar. After two mediocre starts at Santa Anita, Et Tu Walker returns Friday to his favorite course and at the allowance condition at which he already has won.

Et Tu Walker is entered for the $62,500 claiming tag, and Corey Nakatani will ride him for the first time. His regular rider, Mario Gutierrez, sticks with the “best horse.”

A Toast to You upset a $100,000 statebred stakes in his last start at Santa Anita, which begs the question, “What is a stakes winner doing in a claimer?” In this case, it makes sense. A Toast to You was a $40,000 claimer prior to his $39.80 upset in the minor stakes.

Peter Miller trains A Toast to You, who won his debut in a maiden special weight, made his second start in a stakes, and over the course of his career has won six races and $352,872 from 20 starts. A Toast to You also runs Friday for a $62,500 claiming tag.

Other contenders include Gonna Fly Now, trying grass for the first time; Camp Victory, a back-class Grade 1 winner; likely pacesetter Truest Legend; and Circa’sgoldengear. Other entrants are Kingpin Ryno, Silver Dragon, El Mirage King, and Royal F J.

If the race unfolds as expected, Truest Legend will set the pace, with Et Tu Walker racing in second. If and when the pacesetter weakens, Et Tu Walker will get first run. The turf rails are at 10 feet Friday. Three turf sprints were run last week, with the rails at 15 feet. Two were won by the pacesetter, the other by a horse positioned second.