While he’ll occasionally enter one of his many horses in a stakes race, trainer Jorge Rosales has largely been content to ply the claiming ranks at Emerald Downs, a tendency that will come to the fore again when Clubhouse Drama runs in Saturday’s six-furlong sixth race.
Sent off as the 4-5 favorite in a six-furlong sprint on Aug. 8 at Emerald, Clubhouse Drama stunk up the dirt, running eighth and last and posting a career-low Beyer Speed Figure of 14. But Rosales saw something in the 4-year-old filly by Clubhouse Ride and put in a $5,000 claim for her in her next race, another six-furlong affair that she won by 6 3/4 lengths, earning a career-high Beyer of 64.
“I was watching her running and I just took the chance,” Rosales said of his curious claim. “We’re happy that we got her in the barn. I hope she shows up Saturday.”
Rosales is moving Clubhouse Drama up in price to $8,000 claiming. Her stiffest competition should come from Pop Chart, a 4-year-old Elodio Madrigal trainee who prefers to race on the lead. Rosales has never been afraid of getting front-runners to rate, and he acknowledged this is something jockey Adrian Castellanos might do with Clubhouse Drama.
“We might try to sit a little bit behind,” Rosales said. “It depends on how the race plays out.”
The Saturday claiming price is $8,000, which represents a class drop for another 4-year-old, Special Diva, who’s trained by Vince Gibson and will be ridden by Manuel Americano. After winning the Washington Cup Juvenile Filly Stakes in August 2023, she ran a pair of strong seconds in conditioned allowances the following spring before being soundly defeated in a pair of 3-year-old stakes.
Special Diva has been off since finishing fourth as the favorite in a $15,000 claiming race on July 19. The last time she finished in the money was in a May 11 allowance with Americano aboard, so perhaps the talented jockey’s second time astride will work to her benefit.
Vhagar, who has tactical speed and finished second to Pop Chart at this level and distance last out, could upset matters if the fractions get too hot. Longer shots Max’s Maxine, Happy Is, Moonlight Grey, and Prancing Matilda round out the field.
Heading into Friday night’s races, Rosales was fifth among Emerald trainers in earnings with $280,597 to leader Blaine Wright’s $512,239. Rosales leads all trainers with 31 wins from 163 starts at the current Emerald meet, which concludes Sept. 7.
“As a trainer, everybody wants to feel that,” said Rosales, who won his lone Emerald training title in 2022. “We’re there, so we’ve just got to keep it up. We have good people in the barn.”
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