Owners' Prestige figures the one to catch

Owners’ Prestige will be tough to run down if he can get away on his own in a $20,000 waiver-claiming race that serves as the feature race Thursday at Emerald Downs. The 10-race card begins at 5 p.m. Pacific.

Grinder Sparksaglo and Cody’s Choice should keep Owners’ Prestige honest, however. A hot and contested pace will help The Press, who could get the trip in the 5 1/2-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up.

An Australian-bred, Owners’ Prestige began his career in Hong Kong, where he went unplaced in two starts at Sha Tin in 2017. He made his North American debut a winning one for trainer Blaine Wright. Breaking alertly with Gary Wales aboard, he cruised to a 6 1/2-length romp in a maiden special weight race at Emerald in 2018.

His only other win came in his first outing last year. Running over a track rated wet-fast, he took control early in a first-level allowance race with a $30,000 claiming price on Sept. 8 at Emerald.

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In his most recent start, Owners’ Prestige set the pace and held the lead at the eighth pole before tiring to fifth in a $25,000 claiming race Feb. 29 at Golden Gate Fields.

He will break from post 2 in the eight-horse field with Wales riding.

Trained by Howard Belvoir, The Press was coming off a seven-month layoff when he won a first-level allowance race with a $30,000 claiming option in his initial start last year on May 19. It was a strong performance as he had to steady at the quarter pole and then had to wait for room turning for home. He finished full of run to beat Grinder Sparksaglo by 2 1/2 lengths in the six-furlong sprint.

A five-time winner, The Press has been working well this spring, and Belvoir has a respectable 15 percent strike rate with horses coming back from a layoff of 180 days or more the past two years.

The 7-year-old son of Harbor the Gold drew post 7, where he should get a perfect stalking trip with Jennifer Whitaker aboard.

Grinder Sparksaglo by far has the most wins in the field, 15, and money earned, $250,017. The 9-year-old Washington-bred gelding has good speed but does not necessarily need the lead to win.

Trained by Joe Baze, the son of Grindstone is making his first start since he finished eighth in the $25,000 Bienvenidos on Oct. 12 at Turf Paradise. He forced the issue early before fading in the 6 1/2-furlong dash.

Last year’s leading trainer, Frank Lucarelli, has a solid one-two punch with Freiburg and Bullet Drill. Freiburg figures to be in the mix early. Bullet Drill will be rolling late.