By all measures, Frank Lucarelli has had a successful 2025 meet at Emerald Downs. Heading into closing weekend, he ranked fourth among local trainers in wins with 24 and second in earnings with $440,758.
But when asked to assess his barn’s performance this meet, Lucarelli pointed out a few ways in which things could have broken more to his favor.
“I’ve had a decent meet. I lost all my cheap horses by the claim box these last couple of months,” said Lucarelli, who has won three stakes at Emerald this summer. “At the end of the meet, the better races don’t go and I just get beat up. Other than being disappointed in not getting some of my better horses started, I can’t complain.”
Lucarelli will soon ship several of his horses to Grant’s Pass and Turf Paradise, but there’s still work to be done at Emerald. In Friday’s sixth race, a 6 1/2-furlong affair with a claiming price of $10,000, Lucarelli sends out a pair of class-droppers in Don’t Hit Me Bash and Fantastic Day, who have one win – and a placing – between them at the current meet.
If Don’t Hit Me Bash, a 4-year-old who will be ridden by Adrian Castellanos, runs back to the 78 Beyer Speed Figure he earned winning his Emerald debut on May 11, he’ll be hard to beat. But in his last two races, the early runner has fallen prey to unfortunate track biases and perhaps too deep of company, finishing seventh and fifth with Beyers in the low 60s.
“He likes to be close to the lead. He doesn’t have to be on the lead,” Lucarelli said. “His best race is when he’s right in the mix early. Dropping down, it’s the best spot he’s been in a while.”
The same could be said for 8-year-old Fantastic Day, who has rallied to finish a close fourth in each of his last two races while posting 71 Beyers. Purchased for $500,000 as a yearling, the son of Medaglia d’Oro’s claiming price will be cut in half for this race, and his late-running style gives Lucarelli a chance to win regardless of how the pace plays out.
“He usually gets back pretty far,” Lucarelli said. “You just kind of let him settle on his own and he makes a run. If you try to get busy on him early, he’s not real happy. Six and a half [furlongs] and him also dropping [in class] is giving him a chance to win.”
Like Fantastic Day, the Tom Wenzel-trained A Skip in the Park is a closer looking for his first win of 2025. He’s also earned back-to-back 71 Beyers while finishing third in each of his last two races. He has a decent chance here if he can improve on that slightly.
Of the remaining five contenders, Mister Mafioso seems to be rediscovering his form of last year for trainer Faustino Patino and could post an upset if allowed to get loose on the lead.
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