Yanez clicking with Elusive Ryder

The first five months of 2020 have been bad. Across the board, around the globe, bad. But set within that weighty context, the year has been good to veteran trainer Moises Yanez.

Yanez, for decades a stalwart on the Chicago circuit, fell on tough times starting in 2016. His horses won just nine races from 100 starts that season. And things got worse. From 2017-19, Yanez compiled a dismal win record of 7 for 222. His barn always had been more volume than high percentage, but 0 for 50 in 2018 and 2 for 74 in 2019 were rough numbers from any perspective.

But here came 2020 and suddenly there was Yanez, back in business again. Racing exclusively at Tampa Bay Downs, Yanez is an excellent 50-10-3-6 this year, more wins in five months than he notched in three years. A 6-year-old mare named Elusive Ryder has been a big part of the barn’s success. Already this year she has made eight starts, winning five, and she can push that total to a North American-best six victories in the last race Wednesday at Tampa Bay.

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Elusive Ryder is one of 10 entrants in race 8, a $16,000 starter allowance restricted to females and carded at one mile on turf. She fits the spot cozily, and if you are arguing that making her third start in a month is too much racing for Elusive Ryder, you’re not looking closely enough at her busy recent history.

Campaigned heavily all year, Elusive Ryder hasn’t regressed yet, and after taking a major step forward when Yanez, who owns the mare, stretched her from sprints to routes, she’s recently found another home racing on turf. It was only three starts ago that Elusive Ryder moved from dirt to grass, and after dominating $10,000 claimers two races ago, rallying into a slow pace, she was comfortably best closing into a quick tempo in a first-level allowance race. Jockey Jose A. Garcia has just nine wins from more than 200 starts at this Tampa meet but is 2 for 2 on Elusive Ryder.

Others have a chance, though, even if Elusive Ryder holds form.

Glam raced poorly in her lone start this year, back on April 3, but was facing higher-level allowance foes than she meets Wednesday and turned in three performances over three different turf courses last fall all strong enough to contend. Native Lion prefers longer distances than one mile but has a win, place, and show in three recent turf starts at this class level. Monkey Mind moves quickly into starter-allowance competition after a narrow April 8 defeat when trainer Keith Nations dropped her down to a $16,000 claimer following a 10-week layoff.

Elusive Rider so far hasn’t needed any layoff this season, already the best in years for Moises Yanez.