MacPherson brings hot hand to Monday allowance
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Craig MacPherson is hoping his hot streak at Hastings will continue when he runs Floral in a nonwinners-of-three allowance race that will serve as the feature race on Monday at Hastings. The 6 1/2-furlong dash for fillies and mares carries a $35,000 claiming option, $43,500 claiming for British Columbia-breds, and all six horses entered are in for a price. It goes as race 3 on a seven-race card that begins at 5 p.m. Pacific.
Floral paid $10.20 when she won a $16,000 claimer for nonwinners of three in her first start as a 4-year-old on May 17. If she does win Monday, she will probably pay a similar price as the 9-2 third choice on the morning line behind She’s Divine and Under Par.
MacPherson likes the way the 4-year-old daughter of Bakken came out of her win and is looking forward to another strong performance.
“The water is a lot deeper Monday, but she is doing really well, and we have always liked her,” MacPherson said.
In all three of Floral’s wins, she was in front at the half-mile call, and in two of her victories she led from start to finish. With plenty of other speed in the field, most notably She’s Divine and Under Par, Floral will need to stalk to have any chance.
“She does better when she is on the front end, but she will not be going hellbent for leather Monday,” MacPherson said. “She has natural speed, so she will be close early and hopefully she can finish.”
MacPherson has won with eight of his 19 starters at the meet, with an average win price of $6.55. He was realistic about keeping his hot streak going.
“It’s been a terrific start and a lot of it has to do with the great job done by me crew,” he said. “It’s a real team effort. Most of the horses that have been winning had conditions, though, so it is going to be a lot tougher as the meet goes on. Floral is a good example.”
Floral will break from post 3 with Alex Marti picking up the mount from the injured Scott Williams.
The Glen Todd-owned and -trained She’s Divine is the one to beat. The 5-year-old daughter of Creative Cause is coming off a runner-up finish behind her stablemate Princess of Cairo in an open allowance race for fillies and mares on May 18 at Hastings. With Williams riding, she came from a stalking position to edge Solarity by a neck for second. In her previous race, she took them all the way going a mile in a $25,000 optional claimer on March 20 at Oaklawn. It was her second start for Todd, who claimed her for $30,000 on Feb. 16.
She’s Divine drew the rail, which was golden at Hastings last Monday and Tuesday. With her good speed it would not be surprising to see Efren Hernandez put her into the race right from the start.
Under Par is the speed of the speed and figures to move forward in her second start back for trainer Mark Cloutier.
The 6-year-old daughter of Stephanotis held a one-length lead at the half-mile mark before fading in the same race She’s Divine exits.
Under Par is a 10-time winner from 18 starts, and last year she took them all the way in the $50,000 Monashee for her first stakes win.
She will break from post 4 with Amadeo Perez riding. She could be tough to reel in if she breaks on top and gets away on her own.
Sangria, trained by Barbara Heads, is making her first start since she won the $75,000 Century Casino Oaks going 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 27 at Century Mile. The 4-year-old homebred daughter of Sungold is a two-time sprint winner, so she should be okay with the cutback in distance.
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There is no carryover in the pick six, which paid $41,234 last Tuesday. The pick five is building, though, with an $18,502 carryover going into Monday. The sequence begins in the third race.
Coulterberry should improve
Tuesday’s feature is a carbon copy of the Monday’s main event but for 3-year-olds and up.
The Cloutier-trained Coulterberry looks like the one to beat in the 6 1/2-furlong dash, which drew five horses.
Coulterberry is coming off a fifth-place finish in an open allowance race on May 17. It was the first time the 8-year-old son of Finality did not win his first start of the year, which includes a victory in his debut in 2016. He ran an unusual race last time. Coulterberry usually settles early and makes one big run. However, he appeared to run off with Scott Williams riding him for the first time, and after moving into second at the half-mile call, he came up empty late.
With a race under his belt, he should be more settled, and he is reunited with Amadeo Perez, who was aboard for seven of his 11 wins.
Coulterberry will have speed to run at with Sir Bregovic coming off a front-running win in an $8,000 claimer for nonwinners of three for trainer Jim Strachan on May 25.
Sir Bregovic will vie for the lead with the Glen Todd-trained Pitch Count, who set a quick pace before finishing third in a $25,000 claimer May 17.