Illumination Road, End to End meet in conditional claimer

Illumination Road and End to End look like the main players in a $12,500 conditional-claiming race that will serve as Saturday’s feature at Emerald Downs.

The one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up who have never won two races drew six horses and goes as race 8 on the 10-race card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific.

Illumination Road was the runner-up in a similar race July 17, and the 75 Beyer Speed Figure he received is easily the best last-race figure in this field. With Leslie Mawing aboard, he forced a moderate pace, and after looming boldly at the top of the stretch, he couldn’t get past My Chief, who drew off to win by 1 3/4 lengths.

It was Illumination Road’s first route attempt this year, and he could take a big step forward with a two-turn race behind him. Mawing heads to Victor Victorian, but nobody will complain with leading rider Julien Couton picking up the mount.

End to End is coming off a big effort in his first start after being claimed by trainer Jeff Metz. Stretching out to a middle distance for the first time, the son of Bellamy Road set fast fractions before giving way grudgingly to lose by a neck in a $15,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds last Saturday.

Metz must have liked the way he came out of the race to wheel him back this quickly, and he could be gone if he breaks on top.

Key contenders

Illumination Road (Last 3 Beyers: 75-69-60)

* He is coming off back-to-back seconds at this level and should get a cozy trip after breaking from the rail.

* He probably won’t be as close to the pace as he was in his latest, but he does his best running late and could get up in time if a duel develops in front of him.

End to End (Last 3 Beyers: 64-40-40)

* He took a huge step forward in his first route attempt and looks like the one they will have to catch.

DRF Formulator Fact: Over the past two years, Metz has a 21 percent strike rate with horses coming back in a week or less.

Victor Victorian (Last 3 Beyers: 52-45-53)

* He looked good in winning a $7,500 maiden-claiming race July 18, and trainer Candi Tollett is having an excellent meet in her first year as a trainer. She has won with 30 percent of her starters, including a score with the only horse she ran in a two-turn race.