Heads hotter than the weather

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The heat is rising in the Pacific Northwest, so much so that due to the expected record temperature, Hastings did not take entries for Monday. Emerald Downs canceled its Sunday card.

With temperatures forecast to drop slightly, there are seven races carded at Hastings on Tuesday. Because of the excessive heat, post time has been moved from 5 p.m. Pacific to 6 p.m.

Speaking of heat, there is nobody hotter than leading trainer Barbara Heads. Last week she won with four of her six starters for an average win price of $9.70.

Heads has four horses entered Tuesday and has an excellent chance of winning a nonwinners-of-three allowance race that will serve as the feature. The 6 1/2-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses and goes as the fifth race. The highly competitive race is part of the pick five. The jackpot wager begins on race 3 with a $65,689 carryover.

The Heads-trained Set to Shine will use his substantial speed after breaking from the rail with Antonio Reyes riding. If the 4-year-old son of Bakken cannot cope with the expected pressure from Toriador, Cha Ching could pick up the pieces for her stablemate. Set to Shine and Cha Ching are Russell and Lois Bennett homebreds.

Set to Shine is coming off an easy 4 1/2-length victory over Smart Lad in a $25,000 optional maiden claiming race on June 14. The 80 Beyer he received is easily the best last-race figure in the field and only topped by the 95 Erlich earned for his win running over a sloppy track in a one-mile maiden special weight race at Aqueduct in 2019.

Set to Shine’s only older sibling, Solarity, won the Red K. Smith Handicap for fillies and mares at Century Mile last year so his future could be bright.

Cha Ching has the next best last-race Beyer, a 76 she received for her surprising win over Cascade Billy in a similar race in her first start of the year on June 1.

With Lenny Seecharan riding, the 5-year-old daughter of Finality bided her time while Bold Arch and Toriador dueled through wicked interior fractions of 21.64 and 44.51 seconds in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint. She started to make her presence known on the stretch turn, and finished with a rush while going three-wide to win by three-quarters of a length.

Cha Ching paid $26.10 and figures to be a lot shorter price Tuesday. After all, three of the six horses entered finished behind her and she does have a right to move forward with a race under he belt. And, there will be speed coming back to her.

Cascade Billy, trained by Mel Snow, looked like he had Cha Ching’s race won when he opened up a clear lead in midstretch but came up empty late and had to settle for second.

Erlich rallied late to finish third in the same race. He could be dangerous from a stalking position with leading rider Efren Hernandez riding.

The Brian O’Connell-trained He’s Relentless should be rolling late.

Toriador, trained by Milton Palma, guarantees a fast pace.