Pool Boy in for tag for first time

AUBURN, Wash. - Pool Boy will resurface in Friday's Emerald Downs feature, a six-furlong test for older $20,000 claimers that has drawn a field of seven.

Pool Boy, a 4-year-old son of Slewdledo from the barn of trainer Tim McCanna, has not raced since dispatching a field of $32,000 optional claimers here on May 1, when he got six furlongs in 1:08.20 to finish two lengths clear of runner-up Knightsbridge Road. McCanna said Pool Boy trained steadily for more than a month while waiting for another race, then pulled a muscle and went to the sidelines. He returned to work four furlongs in 49 on Monday and should be awfully hard to beat if ready for a representative try.

Pool Boy, who was twice stakes placed last year at 3, has never been worse than third in six career starts and he has never before raced for a claiming price.

Jumpingjupiter is coming off a sharp win going 6 1/2 furlongs against $20,000 claimers on June 9 and may offer Pool Boy his sternest opposition. Jumpingjupiter, a 5-year-old trained by Bud Klokstad, has posted seven wins from 33 career starts and has finished in the top three 18 times. His most recent win came at the expense of Friday foes Full Force Gale and Mountain Mustang, who finished third and fourth. Jumpingjupiter got the distance in 1:15.40 to prevail by a length over Marbury, who won a three-horse photo for second.

Colony Lane is a stakes winner who won a six-furlong test for $25,000 claimers here in May.