Hot maiden winner Jose Jose tries allowance company

Recent Hastings maiden winner Jose Jose will try his hand at a first-level allowance race at Emerald Downs on Sunday. Trained by Robert Gilker, Jose Jose is perhaps most notable for being a half-brother to 2013 Longacres Mile hero Herbie D.

The 4-year-old by Jersey Town has raced once this year. Allowed to stroll on a soft early pace, he drew away in a nine-length romp over maiden company. All five of the other starters in that race have since returned ,with a pair having won next out and a third having been the runner-up to one of those winners.

As for Gilker, during the past four years he has sent nine runners to post at Emerald Downs and has had five wins and three seconds.

Jose Jose is not the only runner in the field with Longacres Mile in his pedigree. The dam of Ice Needs Whiskey is a half-sister to 2000 Longacres Mile winner Edneator.

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Ice Needs Whiskey, a Kay Cooper trainee, has been a bit of a hard-luck story. He’s already midway through his 5-year-old season and has made just four career starts. The son of Private Gold has shown promise along with good early speed every time out but has won just once.

Ice Needs Whiskey is a half-brother to North American record holder I Keep Saying, who nine years ago sped 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt at Emerald Downs in 1:12.94.

There is a chance Ice Needs Whiskey is the speed of the speed on Sunday. He has the benefit of a recent prep race for just the second time in his career.

Sunday’s feature race is quite competitive in the area of last-out Beyer Speed Figures, which for seven of the eight entrants are clustered between 60 and 68. The outlier among the group is 3-year-old Contejas, who bobbled at the start and missed by only a neck in his first start back after a nine-month layoff. Contejas, who earned a 48, has every right to improve.

Poverty Bay may have had the best luck at the post-position draw as he landed the outside berth. From there his rider can assess the others before needing to commit his charge. The Joe Toye trainee has had a productive 2023 to date with one win, two seconds, and a third from seven starts.

Toye has also entered Jin Tong, whose career began one year ago with a maiden score at Los Alamitos before he was rushed into stakes company at the Grade 3 level at Del Mar and Churchill Downs. After five months off, the 3-year-old turned up at Emerald Downs, where he ran a close third three weeks ago.

Sunny weather is expected with high temperatures in the mid-70s for a race card that will begin at 2 p.m. Pacific.

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