Star of the Dia could hold edge over Perfect Night
Take your pick between Star of the Dia and Perfect Night in a $25,000 conditional-claiming race for 3-year-olds and up that will serve as the featured race at Emerald Downs on Friday night. The six-furlong sprint drew seven horses and goes as race 6 on the seven-race card that begins at 6:45 p.m. Pacific.
Star of the Dia, trained by Frank Lucarelli, beat Perfect Night by a head in a similar race Sept. 11. The Howard Belvoir-trained Perfect Night easily handled Star of the Dia when they met for the same condition Aug. 9. Sandwiched between their respective wins, Star of the Dia finished third, a half-length in front of Perfect Night, in a $25,000 conditional-claiming race won by Pray Hard on Aug. 23.
They are both versatile.
Star of the Dia, who came from last in his latest win, led all the way in an open, $25,000 claiming race in his first start at the meet July 3.
Perfect Night forced the pace when he won a $25,000 conditional-claiming race on June 26. In his win over Star of the Dia, he came from a stalking position.
Star of the Dia could have a slight edge. He had a rough trip when he finished fourth in Perfect Night’s win Aug. 9, and he overcame a poor start to win his latest.
Star of the Dia drew post 3, with Leslie Mawing retaining the mount.
Perfect Night will break from post 6 with usual rider Jennifer Whitaker aboard.
KEY CONTENDERS
Star of the Dia (Last 3 Beyers: 69-73-67)
◗ A six-time winner, he was good enough to overcome a poor start to win a similar race in his latest.
Perfect Night (Last 3 Beyers: 69-72-77)
◗ The 6-year-old homebred is a bit win-shy, but he has been part of the superfecta in 18 of his 20 career starts and at the very least should be part of any exotics ticket.
Gross Misconduct (Last 3 Beyers: 65-66-76)
◗ Trained by Dharma G. Khalsa, he ran an interesting race when he finished third behind Star of the Dia and Perfect Night on Sept. 11. With Javier Gutierrez aboard, he broke sharply, then chased the pace early before dropping back to fifth on the stretch turn. It looked like he might be done, but after Gutierrez wheeled him to the outside, he finished full of run. He is usually involved early, but he showed that he can finish in his latest, and it will be interesting to see if Gutierrez eases him off the pace after he breaks from post 2.