Midnight Mojo will need a hot pace in Emerald feature
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Midnight Mojo, winner of the 2021 Gottstein Futurity, will attempt to win for the second time in his career when facing seven others in Saturday’s feature race at Emerald Downs, an allowance for non-winners of two lifetime or Washinton-bred won-winners of three.
With just the one win in 15 career starts, Midnight Mojo has developed a habit of drifting a bit too far back in the early going and rendering himself unable to make up all of the needed ground in the stretch.
Saturday’s allowance cast includes a couple of true early-speed horses in Tig and Prime Example. They are joined by Tax Code, who, along with Jill Baffert-owned Peso, can add mid-race fuel to the pace.
Midnight Mojo is trained by Tom Wenzel, who said, “If everything sets up and I get a clean trip then I can win this race,” adding, “having a closer at Emerald is tough.”
Still, Wenzel noted, “Tax Code is the horse to beat on paper.”
Tax Code, trained by Shelly Crowe, has run four times with all of his races spaced out. Saturday will mark his second start of the current campaign and the Speightstown gelding is a candidate for significant improvement off his yearly bow on May 13.
Kevin Radke is back aboard Tax Code and he should have a choice between going out to dispute the early pace or waiting patiently from a stalking position. The pressure seems to be on the true speed horses to gain control early while Tax Code can relax before delivering his very best.
Peso, who will make his 4-year-old debut for trainer Justin Evans, is an interesting runner who was purchased as a yearling for $90,000 at Keeneland. Peso debuted on turf in a maiden race at Del Mar for Bob Baffert and then quickly dropped in for a $20,000 claiming tag in August of 2022 only to have a claim voided.
The son of Pioneerof the Nile has been on tilt in the mornings since his arrival at Emerald Downs and sports four published workouts on the local strip, including a bullet five-furlong move in 58 seconds on May 8.
Prime Example, Evans’ second horse in the race, will be making just the third start of his career on Saturday after he was clearly best in a Turf Paradise maiden-claiming event on April 12. Isaias Enriquez has been named to ride.
Saturday’s weather is expected to feature partly cloudy skies and mild temperatures near 70 degrees. First post is scheduled for 2 p.m. Pacific.
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