My Grandpa’s speed provides edge

My Grandpa and Hollywood Heat look like the main players in a first-level allowance race that will serve as Thursday’s feature at Emerald Downs. Washingtonbred nonwinners of three are eligible to the 5 1/2-furlong dash, which drew six horses.

Trained by Tom Wenzell, My Grandpa is making his first start since he finished second in the Washington Cup Sophomore last Sept. 1. The good news is that My Grandpa can fire fresh, as evidenced by his win in his only start as a 2-year-old in 2018.

Following his 2-year-old debut, he was given the rest of the year off, and in his first start back he could not keep up with Baja Sur in the $50,000 Auburn. Baja Sur dominated the six-furlong sprint from start to finish.

My Grandpa started to show his best stuff in his third outing last year, when he was the runner-up to Sky Confidential in a first-level allowance race with a $30,000 claiming option on June 29, 2019.

In his next start, he ran a huge race at 34-1 in the $50,000 Seattle Slew Stakes. Stretching out to a middle distance for the first time, he forced the issue early and then held on well to finish third in the 1 1/16-mile race. It set him up perfectly for a victory in the 1 1/8-mile Muckleshoot Derby. He closed his 3-year-old campaign with another good effort in the $50,000 Washington Cup Sophomore.

My Grandpa has speed, and if ready could be tough to handle in a race that doesn’t figure to unfold at a brisk clip.

He will break from post 5 with Heribert Martinez riding.

Hollywood Heat is coming off a solid effort in a $50,000 starter race at Golden Gate Fields for trainer Arnold Torres. This will be his first race for trainer Jose Rosales and his first at Emerald. His only other start on dirt came in his debut last year at Santa Rosa, where he was up close for a half-mile before fading to finish last in a maiden special weight race.

The 4-year-old Californiabred is an improved horse of late. He dueled and held on to win a maiden special weight race on March 15 at Golden Gate. Then he showed he can rate when he rallied to finish fourth in his next start on May 17 in the $50,000 starter.

Gary Wales will be aboard Hollywood Heat when he breaks from the outside post.

Elliott Bay will be rolling late. With $134,838 in the bank, he is by far the top money earner in the field. However, his lack of speed is an issue, and his last win came as a 2-year-old in the $95,000 Gottstein Futurity in 2017. He is trained by Frank Lucarelli

The feature goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that begins at 5:05 p.m. Pacific.