Friday’s richest showdown at Emerald Downs, a six-furlong, $20,000 claiming race for fillies and mares, features a pair of curious class-droppers in Kristin Lee and Miss Dynamic.
A 4-year-old filly trained by Tim McCanna, Kristin Lee closed her marvelous 2024 campaign with two straight wins, the last of which came in a conditioned allowance at Pleasanton to finish the year with a 7-5-1-0 record. McCanna had high hopes for her season debut at Emerald, but Kristin Lee hopped out of the gate, veered way outside, and finished last of nine with Francisco Duran up.
“I think she’ll run better,” McCanna said of his filly’s prospects on Friday, when she’ll wear blinkers for the first time. “She kind of hopped at the start and never got back to the middle of the racetrack. We slapped some blinkers on her, so I think that’ll help her. If she runs like she can, she’ll be tough.”
Kristin Lee came to McCanna’s barn from that of Faith Taylor after racing in Northern California ceased for the foreseeable future at the end of 2024. Her new trainer is unconcerned about the prospect of losing her as she drops in claiming price.
“She’s getting a little older. It seemed like the right place to go with her,” McCanna said. “I’ve only had her for a few months. I kind of inherited her when Northern California went the other way.”
Notably, Kristin Lee gets the services of Kevin Krigger for the first time Friday. Krigger had seven combined victories this past Saturday and Sunday to take a 42-39 lead in the jockey standings over Manuel Americano, and he presumably could have gone for three straight wins aboard a very viable contender in this race in Sing a Happy Song before opting to ride for McCanna.
Miss Dynamic boasts the best last-out Beyer Speed Figure (76) in the eight-horse field and a 13-4-3-2 career record on the local strip. The front-running 5-year-old trained by Rigoberto Velasquez has competed in stakes races at Emerald every year, winning the $50,000 Angie C. Stakes as a 2-year-old in 2022 before finishing second in the Seattle Stakes the following year.
Miss Dynamic flopped in her lone stakes try last year in the Hastings, but a strong second in a conditioned allowance June 7 here has her well-positioned to steal one.
“It’s time for us to drop down and try to win a race with her,” Velasquez said. “I think we’ve got her in the right spot on Friday.”
Another horse who figures to be on or near the lead, the ever-steady Sing a Happy Song, has won five of her last six races. Alex Cruz has the call for trainer Joe Toye, who claimed the 5-year-old mare for $15,000 from Justin Evans out of her last start.
The lone closer in the field, Lets Declare Peace, could pick up the pieces with his best race in the event of a total pace incineration, and the presence of Americano in the irons should give bettors looking to take advantage of a nice price some confidence.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.