Jim Price

Can zigzagging become an art form? Five straight days with four winners have produced five days of losses. Last Saturday, sandwiching a second-place finish between pairs of winners prevented three winning Pick 3s. Sunday, choices ran 1-2-4, allowing a big trifecta to slip away. With only three days left, it's time to catch up or go bust. Bold August M.D. may be a cinch in today's first race, Prairie Walker can't find a better spot than the fifth and, in the eighth, Prosperous Smile has run well against males.

Let's assume the course will be as muddy today as it's been all season, eliminating a few horses and elevating others. Earlier wet tracks suggest that horses with speed merit extra consideration. Each of the three stakes races has very few horses that are solid in the class, a fact that limits the number of possible winners. Sister Charlene, with lots of lick and excellent mud form, may be a lock in the seventh race. In the eighth, Jeremy's Song has not been off the board in 10 wet-track starts, but he may have to outfinish Exspecially, who just used up his conditions. In the eighth, Lower Valley Girl has blistering speed but dull mud form. Initial Melody has fine lines on off going. Here are today's selections: FIRST: In the daily double, wheel the field to MYSTERY MESSAGE in the second race and pair GREAT PLAYER with CURRENT PLEASURE, FUNNYMONEY HABIT and B.D. CUBE ($20).

Before we go any further, let it be known that, around here, Gray Guy is a horse you can love in today's sixth race, the first of three stakes races for claiming horses. He comes off a fine race against Win D., who would beat this bunch for fun, and he's been right there every time out. In the eighth, Finnish Royalty has built a four-race win streak at 4 furlongs, but he can handle this distance and he's pure steel. In the 10th, we find out if tempermental Secretsophar has really become a race horse. A winning trifecta prevented Your Worst Nitemare's poor showing from turning Friday's card into a bad dream.

Arabian horses, which have provided some of the meet's most formful racing, play a major role today, filling three of the 10 races. The second race brings out the best of the breed with Vals Starburst, earner of more than $90,000, taking on Rasfadjur and Pk Whiskey. Emerald Downs invaders top the thoroughbred sport. Precious Note in the sixth race, Your Worstnitemare in the ninth and Occasionally Lucky in the 10th make their second local starts after disappointing debuts. Spud Lite, unraced since last summer at the Auburn track, may be favored in the eighth. Here are today's selections: FIRST: $5 daily doubles combining TRAVELING WIND and SHARP PIRATE with VALS STARBURST in the second race ($10).

Get-A-Hunch? Lately, it's been more like Get-A-Clue. The selection of winners hasn't slowed appreciably, but the art of passing up the winners and betting on the losers is nearing peak form. Saturday's picks produced four wins and three seconds, but nary a winning ticket. On the grounds that there's always tomorrow and, in this case, tomorrow is today, check out today's co-featured eighth and ninth races. In the eighth, Angus Road, a former Spokane favorite, trounced Six Foot Six when they met in Yakima. Both must contend with Jacob Brown, who's trying to become one of the track's all-time claimers. The ninth brings out would-be stars, led by Way The Best, who's been right there twice at Emerald Downs. Palermo Gray, a hard-knocker coming off a layoff, and Articulate, making a perilous drop in class, might be tons the best in the 10th and 11th races. Here are today's selections: FIRST: $10 to win on LA CHISTOSA and $5 daily doubles combining her with WINNING PACE and HEELERS HOPE in the second race ($10). THIRD: $30 to win on LOVELY ALICIANNE. SIXTH: $10 to win on SHAD ROE DEE and $5 quinella combining him with SENSATIONAL KNIGHT. EIGHTH: $20 to win on ANGUS ROAD and $5 quinellas combining him with SIX FOOT SIX, JACOB BROWN and MACCOOL JET ($15). NINTH: $20 to win on WAY THE BEST. ELEVENTH: $1 trifecta box of ARTICULATE, SAUCY SAM, J ME DAY and IM FREEZE DRIED ($24). Original bankroll: $2,000. Saturday's result: Lost $86. Present bankroll: $1,684.40.

Pretty Peggy Slew may be any price in today's renewal of the Lilac Lady Handicap. She has won four straight races, all easily. Pedro Alvarado, who just added the Emerald Downs title to his long list of riding championships, has the mount. What's not to like? Well, you can read that Pretty Peggy Slew began her winning streak for a $2,500 claiming tag and she's winless in six starts at Playfair. Go on. Take the price. But if you're timid, consider that you probably can't buy Raini Day Slew, Paso Pandy or the maiden Rolls Belle, all lightly raced and unclassified, for the $5,000 tag the favorite carried last time out.

Considering that racing secretary Ted Martin is trying to wring some extra races out of the meet's last three weeks, when there's no competition from Emerald Downs, today's card seems very competitive. Every horse has a good shot in the third race, the fourth race for Arabians is a dandy and the 10th matches some good up-and-comers. Prosperous Smile is the chalk in the feature, but note that she's meeting males and only has four lifetime wins. Conversely, Sir Tiger K. and Irish Turban have never been better. Artic Way deserves another chance in the sixth. With 10 races, the automatic rolling Pick 3 will cost the bankroll an additional $8 bet.

Like it or not, handicapping often proposes questions that seem to have no answers. Off his last three races, Baffalo Soldier almost looks like a lock in today's feature. But . . . he ran his best race on a day when Emerald Downs was rock hard and Ichor, who's cheaper but super sharp, put up the same Beyer rating there three weeks earlier. Both horses can mud. So can Win D., who's never been better. In the ninth, Challenging Knight is a sentimental pick as he makes his 100th career start.

It's hard to believe, but it has been about 30 years since Oregon trainer Delmer Webb brought redoubtable Doctor Spark to town for the Playfair Mile. They went home empty-handed. Today, Webb returns with Portland Meadows star Flying Huey, who'll pack 125 pounds, including regular rider Shawna Barber, in the Children of the Sun Handicap. Flying Huey has a five-race win streak. Nonetheless, it will be tough to take a short price on a horse whose only recent bullring start, last fall's Lone Oak Mile at Salem, saw him a clear loser. Bold Oak might steal it. Remember there's a standing bet in the rolling Pick 3.

Conditions win races. A horse entered in a race suiting it perfectly after chasing better-qualified stock, is said to be "getting the conditions." Today's fifth race is restricted to non-winners of three races. King of Komedy has two recent starts in which he ran fourth to Sensational Knight and fifth to Finnish Royalty. Hint: Each of those horses has won more races than today's entire field. Secretsophar, who began his career by hurdling the backstretch rail on Playfair Mile day in 1955, can win the first race, if he doesn't bolt. Artic Way, with solid Beyers in Northern California, jumps off the page in the seventh.

Today's allowance feature for up-and-coming sprinters appears to be a forum for Polar Rain, who regained her early form in time to win the recent Graduation Stakes. Four-year-olds were eligible, but none entered and half of the six 3-year-olds, including Polar Rain, are fillies. You may not want to take a short price on Polar Rain or the impressive Arabian Sparkling Sky in the second race, but both look too tough to bet against. Even Pulpit paid $4. If nothing else, you can use them in your Pick 3s. Thanks to the aborted eighth race and a ninth-race scratch, we belatedly uncovered a winning Pick 3 payoff Friday that caused a minor bankroll adjustment.

Daily Racing Form informs us that Pop Star Mackee, one of seven fillies or mares in today's feature, seldom, if ever, puts her nose through a bridle against such relatively moderate company. She's had a four-furlong tuneup clearly too short after good workouts and, if she's a shadow of her former self, should beat a field of horses stepping up in class. In the first and second races, Fresh Pack and Freds Bad Boy make their local debuts off past performances that suggest both may dominate their fields. Note that Challenging Knight, recently a sprinter, has six mile wins in the unimpressive third race. If you toss out his last effort, River Broker leaps off the page in the ninth. Don't forget there's a standing bet in the $1 Pic 3.

It beats me how a grown-up horse, well-established at traditional sprint distances, can become a 4-furlong superstar at the age of eight, but Finnish Royalty, the chalk in today's feature, has not been worse than second in nine tries at a half-mile. So, good luck if you decide to bet against him. There are other favorites today, Dunasabre and Clever Pursuit come to mind, who may be guilty of false advertising. Crazyboutyou gets the conditions in the eighth after running fourth in open company at 53-1.

Today, once again, handicappers may face the challenge of a drying track. The course has been wet often enough that most of the meet's form has been established on off going. What to do when it is dry or drying? It is important to recognize that we're talking about a surface that is largely sand, not soil. Wet sand packs down and, until dug up, remains packed. Very firm going favors speed. That said, who will make the lead in today's featured seventh race, jammed with middle closers? Could it be wrong to say Initial Melody almost looks unbeatable in the fifth or that Angel's Mistress should appreciate the extra quarter-mile in the eighth? Here are today's selections: FIRST: $2 daily doubles combining SUSIE MAGUMBO, RONNIES BARGAIN and PRECIOUS NOTE with LITTLE ROUSSKIE and UNO PAW PAW in the second race. ($12). THIRD: $10 to win on FS FLASH DANCE. SIXTH: $10 to win on SUNCO EXPRESS and $5 quinellas pairing him with SIR TIGER K. and MYSTERY EXPRESS ($10).

If you can pick a winner from among the seven hard-knocking claimers in today's featured seventh race, go for it. Jeremy's Song is superior in the mud. The others, including the rejuvenated Ichor, merely love it. In the second race, Tommy Ama, coming out of a stakes race, seems to have hit her stride. The chalk in the third, Regal's Precious, hasn't won going a mile. Ringing Sound looks good enough to eat in the sixth, but don't expect a bargain. Odds-on winners continue to make profitability problematical. It took seven winners in nine races to make 80-some dollars Saturday.

Three certified horses, two of them former local champions, face the starter today in the Valentine Handicap. The form says sprint specialist Che Meza will make an easy lead and, off a loss to Logan Drive in the City of Spokane Handicap, come back a winner. Stretch-runners Ought To Burn and Mantis also love the course. All three should handle the going, as will upstart Baffalo Soldier, who's shown plenty of gas with cheaper. Given the perils of underpriced favorites, it took a $49 win bet on Lower Valley Girl to break even last Sunday.

Wet or dry, with half of the season in the books, it seems certain that the track has a bias toward speed horses. In other words, if they aren't close early, they're not likely to be much closer late. That said, it doesn't seem as if there is any horse that can steal today's contentious eighth race, which brings out Fleet Triad, a horse for the course, for his winter debut. The sixth, at a mile, also has plenty of contention, but little early foot. Nonetheless, we'll give late-running My Best Habit one more chance.

Today's Graduation Stakes, a sprint for 3-year-olds, pits Emerald Downs invader Super Raptor, a colt, against Claire Morn, a filly, and a couple recent winners. It's February. Go with the colt. Friday, despite bets on four winners, there was a small loss, demonstrating again that it's tough to show a profit when most winners pay close to even money.

Today, the track might really be dry, unlike last weekend when an old problem, handicapping for one surface and racing on another, punched some holes in the bankroll. In some cases, running second would be a consolation, but not when the bets depend on finishing first. Ought To Burn's triumphant return touched off a winning exacta that saved the day on Sunday. Jacob Brown, runner-up to Ought To Burn, has never been better, but the odds may be too short in today's feature. All Fire in the fourth race and Exspecially in the eighth, backed off Emerald Downs form in their debuts, deserve another chance.

Ought To Burn makes his first start at Playfair since being named horse of the meeting in 1995, when he faces seven rivals in today's feature. His excellent Beyer ratings at Emerald Downs earn him the nod, although super-sharp Jacob Brown might steal the lead in a race filled with excellent finishers. Shzaflippinfirefly, obvious chalk in the second race, is running out of chances. It will be tough to catch a price in the excellent fourth race for Arabians. And, in the sixth, Small Town Revel, finally catches a dry track. Today's bankroll corrects Saturday's typographical error.

Jockey Vince Ward, a computer whiz who has spent most of the winter working in a Yakima electronics shop, has been saddling up, now and then, to ride in stakes race. Ward will be on the scene today to ride Emerald Downs invaders Ducking the Issue in the Prima Donna Handicap, a sprint for fillies. Despite a suspicious drop to $2,500 claiming two starts back, she won her last for four times that. And that, as they say, is good enough for us. Local races also include a stakes race for Arabian horses - wouldn't you like a horse that runs forwardly at Los Alamitos? - and an allowance sprint for 3-year-olds that should develop a stakes contender or two.

Today's challenges are the possibility of racing on a fast track and trying to pick a winner in the second race, perhaps the most contentious this season. If Crstzalu replicates a recent work and her 1995 form, she'll smoke other maidens in the fifth race. Obvious choice Sash Gang is drawn outside a lot of other speed in the eighth. In the ninth, Regal's Precious, despite her fast-closing style, has never won a route race. Judylyn, who also has a generous style, has.

As often happens when short fields and wet tracks limit contention, today's card presents some money-management challenges. Sister Charlene in the featured sixth is unbeaten in three starts on wet tracks. Do you take a short price or do you dare bet against her? Too True Slew presents almost the same proposition in the first. Gap Road looks like a lock in the fourth. Small Town Revel, an obvious contender in the fifth, hates the mud.

There are some horses to like on this card, maybe the best to date this season. Three-year-old fillies will sprint six furlongs in the Debutante Stakes. Claire Morn looked good enough to go off at 5-1 for similar money at Emerald Downs, so throw out her poor effort and give her the edge over Polar Rain. My Best Habit steps into a perfect spot in the fifth race. So does Gee Oh Dee in the eighth. Elttaes Child in the seventh deserves another chance.