"The first time I rode the filly at Churchill Downs, she ran huge. I told Mr. Forster that if this filly develops, she's going to be something special," said Nakatani. "I got to ride her again in Iowa, I said 'Grant, whenever you send her next, give me a ring and I'll be there for you."'

   Brushed by a Star is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Eddington out of the Broad Brush mare Brush Hour. In 16 starts, she sports a record of 5-4-2 and has earned $304,087.

  Three-year-old Tribe, in his first start, finished second in a $70,000 maiden special weight race at Del Mar on July 27, earning $14,000. A son of Tribal Rule-Silent Alarm, by Boundary, the British Columbia-bred colt had been consigned by Orange Blossom Farm, Brian Leight, agent, to the 2010 WTBOA summer sale from which trainer Vann Belvoir, who races the colt with his wife Sauci, had purchased him as a yearling for $1,700.

  2011 WTBOA September sale yearling Silver City Sizzle,a full sister to stakes winners Carrabelle Harbor and Catalina Harbor, won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Northlands Park on August 1. The Washington-bred daughter of Harbor the Gold-Silver City Lilly, by Tiffany Ice, was bred by Bar C Racings Stables Inc., races for Curtis Landry and is trained by Greg Tracy.

  In week 16 of the meet, the ninth Washington-bred title of the week went to unbeaten two-year-old Mike Man's Gold, who won the Premio Esmeralda Stakes on July 29. The son of Liberty Gold, who was bred and is owned by Keith and Jan Swagerty and their Swag Stables, is the second Washington-bred stakes winner out of the Slewdledo mare Chedoodle, as his half-sister No Flies On Doodle won four stakes wins at the South King County racing oval.

Palmer Photography

Hombre de Oro

  On July 5 a trio of promising and well-bred colts -- Mike Man's Gold, Finallygotabentley and Music of My Soul - faced off in a five-panel maiden special weight race, which was taken by Swag Stables' Mike Man's Gold by a length over Northwest Farms LLC's Finallygotabentley with Elttaes Stable's Music of My Soul another 1 1/2 lengths back in fifth.

  Fast forward to July 29 when the three colts, along with five other juvenile male runners, went forward in the 17th running of the Premio Esmeralda Stakes. Going off as even-money favorite in the six- furlong race was Scat Daddybaby, who had had been impressive in taking his June 16 debut.

  Cariboo Road, owned by Canadians Glyn Kelly and Anne MacLennan, broke first and set a quick :21.93 first fraction. Following a length behind him was Mike Man's Gold, with Javier Matias in the irons. By the half-mile, Mike Man's Gold had narrowly taken the lead and then drew off in the stretch before holding off Finallygottabentley by a half-length at the wire. Cariboo Road (Cahill Road-Courtroom Charmer) finished next best, another 2 3/4 lengths back. Music to My Soul finished fourth and Scat Daddybaby weakened to finish seventh. Final time was 1:10.04.

  "I waited until the quarter pole to ask him because I didn't want him to move too early," said Matias. "At the quarter pole, I said 'Let's go.' I never heard anyone coming until Gallyn (Mitchell aboard Finallygotabentley) passed me after the wire."

  Mike Man's Gold - who is a Liberty Gold-sired half-brother to four-time Emerald stakes winner and $184,526 earner No Flies On Doodle - was bred and is raced by Keith and Jan Swagerty's Swag Stables out of the Slewdledo matron Chedoodle. It was the first Emerald Downs stakes win for David Martinez. The colt's two-for-two record has earned him $34,568.

  Finallygottabentley, the first foal out of Emerald champion Shampoo and a son of classic winner Smarty Jones, has now run second in each of his three starts.

Palmer Photography

Going Somewhere

  Northwest Farms LLC, the nom-de-course of Washington Racing Hall of Fame breeder Jerre Paxton, scored his record 30th Emerald Downs stakes win with the one-two punch of Goin to the Window and Blueberry Smoothie in the August 5, Angie C. Stakes. The beautifully bred fillies - who both run with Paxton in partnerships - went into the six-furlong stakes after impressive open-length maiden special weight tallies in their first outings. Goin to the Window with Juan Gutierrez aboard and Blueberry Smoothie, ridden by Leslie Mawing, had their own little "match race" going through the first furlongs, as the two dueled as team through early fractions of :22.30, :44.05 and :56.82. As the Northwest runners vied through a "vigorous drive," Goin to the Window edged away to defeat her stablemate by one length in a stakes record time of 1:09.01. Finishing third, another 10 1/2 lengths back, was Vixen Queen Sandy Corp.'s homebred Valid Vixen Queen, the Washington-bred daughter of Harbor the Gold-Valid Princess who had won the first juvenile filly stakes of the meet.

  Mawing was subbing for Gallyn Mitchell after Blueberry Smoothie tossed Mitchell at the starting gate and then stepped on the rider's right hand, causing a severe fracture. The injury, which required surgery, is likely to keep the leading rider grounded for up to eight weeks.

  "I rode both (Go to the Window and Blueberry Smoothie) in their first starts, so I knew they were both good fillies" commented Gutierrez. "It was a hard decision [choosing which filly to ride], but I had more confidence in Goin to the Window because she won her race easier.

  Commenting about his winning trip, the rider added, "I didn't have to ask her at all. In this race, I wanted to sit behind the speed, but she pulled me right up to the front. I had to ask her a little bit in the lane, because I knew (Blueberry Smoothie) wouldn't quit. She's a nice filly."

  Goin to the Window, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Tapit out of Queens Full, by Indian Charlie, races for Paxton with his wife Debbie. Blueberry Smoothie, who was also foaled in the Bluegrass State and is a daughter of Giant's Causeway and Emerald Downs champion Shampoo, by Gulch, races for Northwest Farms in partnership with C and M Racing (Corey Kin der and Mihai Tiru). Blueberry Smoothie's granddam Taste the Passion won the 1999 Angie C in Northwest Farms colors.

  Both Goin to the Window and Blueberry Smoothie hail from Tom Wenzel's barn and the race marked the fifth stakes victory (three of which have come with Northwest Farm fillies) this season for the Tacoma native.

Gemstones

  The August 5 card at Emerald Downs celebrated the Washington Thoroughbred Foundation and its numerous equine related charities during record-high 90-degree weather.

  Among other industry members seen at the track for the Sunday races were Paulick Report editor Ray Paulick and his wife Carol, and KOMO-TV news anchor Dan Lewis, whose Kooky Saluki won the seventh race in a quick 1:34.63.

  The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International, which will hold its 2012 conference and annual meeting awards banquet in Bellevue on November 11, has announced their 11 region recognition award winners.

   The upcoming 11-day Keeneland September Yearling Sale, scheduled for September 10-21, 2012, will catalog 3,604 horses, a drop of 16.5 percent over the 4,319 yearlings the Kentucky-based sales company cataloged in 2011.

  Mark Dedomenico LLC and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's three-time stakes winner Cathy's Crunches added her ninth stakes placement when the four-year-old daughter of West Acre-Miss Atticus, by Atticus. finished third in the Luther Burbank Handicap at Santa Rosa on July 29 and upped her earnings to $230,450.

  Street Life earned his second stakes victory in the Curlin Stakes run a Saratoga on July 27. The three-year-old son of Street Sense - out of the winning Grindstone mare Stone Hope - has three wins in seven starts and has earned $234,405. Among the partners that own the colt is Seattle businessman Dan Zucker.

  Miss Oil, a six-year-old daughter of Gibson Thoroughbred Farm's Parker's Storm Cat, finished third in the $50,000 Oakley Stakes run at Colonial Downs on July 27. The West Virginia-bred mare, who ran second in the 2011 version of the stakes, has earned $117,281. Parker's Storm Cat's top son Ben's Cat finished fourth - beaten three necks - in the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Handicap run at Penn National on July 28. The six-year-old Maryland-bred gelding increased his earnings to $951,090. On August 1, Parker's Storm Cat's four-year-old daughterWhatsnottolike won for the seventh time in 17 starts when she took a six-furlong allowance race at Penn National by 4 1/2-lengths. Out of the Cyptoclearance mare Calling Fappiano, the Maryland-bred mare has earned $104,430.

  Six-year-old Smart Call, a Washington-bred son of Beau Genius out of stakes winner One Last Call, by Phone Order, won the $11,563 Vernon Cup Stakes at Kin Park over fellow Washington-bred West Walker (2003 gelding by Skywalker out of champion Mahaska) by two lengths on July 29. Bred by Chris and Nancy Webber, Smart Call has won seven races and $41,519.

  Hastings Racecourse, through its parent company Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, has reached an agreement to extend its lease of the track through November 2013.

  On August 9, My Jpoia, a new York-bred three-year-old daughter of Utopia (Jpn), earned her first stakes victory in the restricted $100,000 Statue of Liberty Stakes run at Saratoga. The $133,697 is one of five winners out of My Jodi Lynn, a daughter of former Washington sire Defensive Play.

Pete Pedersen

  Washington Hall of Fame member and 2002 Eclipse Award of Merit winner Pete Pedersen, 92, died on August 5, 2012, in Pasadena, California, from complications due to a recent fall at his Arcadia home.

  Born in Seattle in 1920, the then Rainier Beach resident was present when Longacres opened its doors on August 3, 1933. While attending Franklin High School he began walking hots and selling programs and he later became the teletype operator at the Renton track for the SeattlePost-Intelligencer under turf editor Mike Donohue. Working in the track's publicity department helped him to fund his education at the University of Washington where he studied journalism and rowed in the eight-man crew which won a gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

  After college, he served as a flyer in the Navy Air Corps in World War II and upon his return, he was hired as Longacres director of publicity.

  In 1947, Pedersen was hired by Tanforan (in Northern California) to be a steward's assistant during Longacres' off season. From then, until his retirement in 2005, Pedersen presided as a well-respected steward for over100,000 races at Longacres, Pleasanton, HollywoodPark, Bay Meadows, Santa Anita and Del Mar. He was a member of the three-man team who stewarded the first Breeders' Cup championship races, run at Hollywood Park in 1984, which included the disqualifications of two runners who had passed first over the wire.

  Pedersen also was a prominent freelance writer and gained wide recognition as one of the turf's most astute reporters. Among the publications which featured his works were: Collier's, Liberty, Turf and Sport Digest, Thoroughbred Times, Daily Racing Form, San Francisco Chronicle, The Blood-Horse and the Los Angeles Times. His byline could also be found in early editions of The Washington Horse and years later after the journal's name had been changed to Washington Thoroughbred.

  Pedersen received the Joe Palmer Award, presented by the National Turf Writers Association, in 2005. In 2008 Pedersen was honored with the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award and was also inducted into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame as a special achievement winner.