Provost moving up the ladder after Evans claim

Provost appears to be the horse to beat in Friday’s six-furlong feature race for $25,000 claimers at Emerald Downs. The gelded son of Street Boss was claimed two starts ago by leading trainer Justin Evans, and there was a quick return on the investment by virtue of a win at the $10,000 claiming level on June 9.

Of his $8,000 claim, trainer Evans said, “Provost is a horse that we really like and who has taken well to our program. My plan was to cut him back in distance and see if he would finish with a big run, which worked out really well.”

The conditioner has compiled a solid record over the past five years in first-after-a-claim scenarios with 24 percent winners, but he has done even better in second-off-the-claim situations with 38 percent winners during the same time period. The data gets better yet in situations where his runners won in first start off the claim and then returned for Evans next out, which applies to Provost on Friday. In those scenarios, Evans has an ultra-impressive 15 wins from 30 starts over five years.

Evans added, “His outside draw is great, he can stalk if he wants to or go straight to the front. I think he has a lot of upside.”

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Heading the opposition are Dirt Road Red, another from the Evans barn, and longtime Emerald stalwart Cody’s Choice, who in his younger years used to be a pure speed merchant who would have relished the small field and uncertain pace competition on Friday. In more recent times, Cody’s Choice tends to select his own running style, but he has emerged victorious in five of his past 15 starts at Emerald Downs so he has probably earned that right.

Dirt Road Red has won his last two starts at Emerald and was within a nose of being 3 for 3 at the meet after dropping a starter allowance on May 6.

Also in the field are Muncey, winner of the WTBOA Lads Stakes here in 2019; Clayton Delaney, second at this level on May 20; and Firewalker, who is dropping down from the allowance ranks.

Clayton Delaney has raced only twice at Emerald Downs and broke poorly in each of them, so he certainly deserves another look given the potential for much more if he is afforded a clean beginning.

The son of Grazen hasn’t won in almost a year, but he has been facing better stock in the Southwest and has been fairly competitive despite the poor beginnings in each start to date at Emerald Downs.

Friday’s weather is expected to be mostly sunny with high temperatures in the upper 70s. First post is scheduled for 7 p.m. Pacific.

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