Stryke One

Stryker Phd Wayne Nagai Photo

  A field of ten older runners faced the starter in the $50,000 Budweiser Handicap - the second race in the 2014 Longacres Mile series - including last season's top two Budweiser finishers, Washington-bred champions Jebrica and Stryker Phd. Jebrica, who had most recently run third in the Governor's Handicap, went off as the lukewarm favorite in the mile race.

  The Father's Day (June 15) crowd watched as newcomer Pepnic led through the first half-mile, but was then passed by Mark Dedomenico LLC and North American Thoroughbred Horse Company's five-year-old Mr. Bowling (Istan-Goldilock's Bear). Meanwhile, Stryker Phd, who is raced by Jim and Mona Hour and was partnered in the stakes by 2014 meet leading rider Leslie Mawing, strolled near the back of the field before once more unleashing his sweeping closing kick. He then drew off by himself at the wire with an official margin of 3 1/4 lengths. The final time was a quick 1:34.15. Mr. Bowling finished another 1 3/4 lengths the better of Swift Thoroughbred Inc.'s four-year-old Shooting Jacket (Hard Spun-Nortena), who outlasted Jebrica by another 1 1/4 lengths.

  The race marked Stryker Phd's first race back since running at Golden Gate Fields last November and was his first start for new trainer Larry Ross. Last year the son of Bertrando was runner-up in four Emerald stakes, including the Longacres Mile, before taking the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic Stakes by over three lengths.

  "As long as this horse has something to run at, he's going to give you 150 percent," said Mawing, who also shared in Polish Dollar's 14th Emerald win earlier on the card. "Hopefully, we have a lot more wins [with Stryker Phd] by the end of the season."

  With his victorious tally in the Budweiser, Mawing has now won 533 races at Emerald, to move him past Kevin Radke into fifth place among all jockeys at the Auburn track.

  Stryker Phd improved his race record to 3-4-4 from 14 starts and earnings to $155,251.

  Bred by Char Clark Thoroughbreds and Todd Havens, Stryker Phd is one of two Washington champions - the other being Kama'aina Thoroughbreds' Madame Pele - out of the Smart Strike mare Striking Scholar. Both Stryker Phd and Madame Pele are WTBOA sale alumni.

Harbor Party

Del Rio Harbor Kristy Batie Photo

  The $50,000 Coca-Cola Handicap had its 19th running on June 22. Since 2008, trainer Doris Harwood has dominated the race, and the results in 2014 would provide no exception, as Harwood-trained duo of Del Rio Harbor and Noosito finished one-two in the mile stakes. Four out of five of Harwood's winners - Noosa Beach, 2009; Koala Beach, 2010; Music of My Soul, 2013; and now Del Rio Harbor - have all been sons of Harbor the Gold. Her 2008 winner, Margo's Gift, came pre Harbor the Gold's first crop.

  A field of nine sophomore-aged males took to the track for the Coca-Cola. Last Rose Stable's Noosito, who had taken the Auburn Stakes by a commanding five lengths, was the short-priced favorite at .50-to-one. The only other runner held at less than double-digit odds was Del Rio Harbor, at 4.60-to-one.

  He's Zuberiffic broke to the early lead, setting fractions of :22.78 and :44.87. Sitting closest in his wake was Del Rio Harbor, guided by Gallyn Mitchell. The 2013 juvenile champion then took over and drew away to defeat Noosito (Harbor the Gold-Julia Rose) by 2 1/2 lengths in a time of 1:34.73, the second fastest time for the race since it was expanded to a mile in 2010. Tim and Sue Spooner's Charlie Thomas (Seeking the Dia-Champion Ride) finished third, another half-length back, in his Emerald and stakes debut.

  "I knew I had plenty of horse at the top of the lane," recounted Mitchell after the race. "I kicked him on and asked him in the middle of the turn, and he did exactly what he does in the morning. He got out front and pricked his ears. I just kept chirping at him and kept him busy. He heard the other horses coming and just kept to business."

  Both Del Rio Harbor and Noosito - who have now faced each other five times with Del Rio Harbor holding a three-to-two edge - were bred by Pam and Neal Christopherson's Bar C Racing Stables of Hermiston, Oregon, which is also the home of Harbor the Gold. The Christophersons race Del Rio Harbor (Harbor the Gold-Bahati, by Horse Chestnut [SAf]) - who was earning his fourth Emerald stakes victory - with his co-breeders Melodie Bultena and her husband Doak Walker's Desert Rose Racing LLC.

  Del Rio Harbor gave Harwood her 63rd stakes win at Emerald, Mitchell his 77th stakes-winning ride and was the 32nd stakes victory at the Auburn oval for progeny of Harbor the Gold. All are track standards.

Gemstones

  On June 21, Emerald Racing Club's other runner, the five-year-old mare Anelina, just missed in her debut for her 128-person syndicate, as the New York-bred daughter of Lion Heart finished a head behind Ron Crockett Inc.'s Once Upon a Song in a $7,500 claiming race. It was the first race for Anelina since she had been claimed for $6,250 by trainer Larry Ross out of a fourth place finish at Golden Gate Fields on May 10.

  Woodway Stable, Ramsey Ruff and Mike Sterkel's Cha Cha Latte, a five-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of After Market, became the second four-time winner at the meet on June 13 after she rolled to a 4 1/4-length win in a $5,000 claiming race. The now ten-race winner (out of 23 starts) was ridden by Rocco Bowen and is trained by Jeff Metz.

   In his first start back since finishing second in the 2013 Auburn Handicap, where he had sustained a knee injury, Nelson Family Racing's (Heidi Nelson) Disruption went gate-to-wire to score a 1 1/4-length win in the June 14 feature race, a 6 1/2-furlong allowance/$40,000 optional claiming (N) race. The Florida-bred gelding by Street Boss, who was ridden by Eliska Kubinova and is trained by Monique Snowden, has a record of 3-3-0 from seven starts and has earned $67,830.

  Both two-year-old maiden special weight races over the June 14-15 weekend were taken by first-time starters bred outside of Washington. On Saturday, John and Janene Maryanski's Seeking the Light, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Heatseeker (Ire) who is trained by Blaine Wright and was ridden by Felipe Valdez, scored a gate-to-wire 3 3/4-length win in a 4 1/2-furlong event. Sunday's race was won by 4 3/4 lengths by J C Racing's Forte Feroce. The Texas-bred gelding by Grasshopper, who is trained by Jeff Metz, was taken to the win by the owners' daughter, jockey Anne Sanguinetti, in her first win back since spraining an ankle in a May 24 mishap.

  Coal Creek Farm homebred Somewhere With You, a four-year-old stakes-placed Washington-bred gelding by Cahill Road out of Coal Creek's multiple stakes producer One for You, by Dayjur, won a mile allowance/$25,000 optional claiming (N) race by a neck over 2012 claimer of the meet Rocky's Quest on the Father's Day card. Trained by David Martinez, Somewhere With You was ridden by Javier Matias.

  Pamela Gibson and Maureen Hallett's He's a Cruiser continues his unbeaten march at Emerald Downs this season as the five-year-old Washington-bred son of El Dorado Farms LLC's Raise the Bluff-Designer's Gold, by Stolen Gold, became the first five-race winner of the meet with his victory on June 21. Trained by Vince Gibson and ridden by Leslie Mawing, He's a Cruiser has added wins at the $5,000, $7,500, $10,000 and $15,000 (twice) levels and has earned $29,900 of his $73,024 total in 2014.

  Through the first 30 days (June 22) of the meet, trainer Jeff Metz's continues his dominance with 31 wins and $216,866 in earnings versus second place Frank Lucarelli's 18 victories and $199,976 total. Jim Penney currently ranks third in wins (13) and in earnings ($188,037). Tim McCanna and Vince Gibson are tied in fourth place with a dozen wins apiece.

  Among the Emerald riders, Leslie Mawing increased his lead over Rocco Bowen, 44-35. Mawing also leads Bowen in earnings, $416,948 to $322,396. Isaias Enriquez sits in third place with 27 victories and $276,591 in monies won. Juan Gutierrez, Eliska Kubinova and Gallyn Mitchell are tied in fourth with 19 wins each.

  Owners Tim and Sue Spooner, with $81,060, top win leader (15) Saratoga West's $67,732 in earnings. Ron Crockett Inc. sits second in the win category with eight wins.  

   Washington champion and 2010 WTBOA sales graduate Stryker Phd gained week ten honors for his breeders Char Clark and Todd Havens after his impressive tally in the Budweiser Handicap on Father's Day. Where We At was named owner of the week and Monique Snowden earned trainer of the week honors. The top jockey spot was given to Felipe Valdez, and Jose Espinoza, who hails out of the Larry and Sharon Ross stable, was named groom of the week.

  For the fourth week in a row, week 11 of the Emerald season honors, Washington-bred horse of the week honors went to a WTBOA sales horse, Point Da Harbor, who was bred by Neil Sinnema (see "WTBOA Sales Graduates in the News" below). Blaine Wright was named trainer of the week. He's a Cruiser's owners Pam Gibson and Maureen Hallett are the week's top owners. Gallyn Mitchell was awarded the rider high mark and Elodio Madrigal, who works for trainer Bob Meeking, was named groom of the week.

  Artist Joe MacKechnie's "Running on Air," which appeared on the cover ofthe Fall 2013 Washington Thoroughbred, was awarded first place in the Illustration (print or online) category at the 2014 American Horse Publications Annual Awards contest (for material published and dated 2013) held in Charleston, South Carolina on June 21. This year's competition included over 50 classes, 736 entries and 97 contestants, of which 64 became finalists and 38 earned first place awards. A total of 171 awards (first, second, third or honorable mention) were given out at AHP's "Gallop n' Grits" seminar held at the historic Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina.

  Since 2003, the Washington Thoroughbred has had at least one finalist every year and were also first place award winners in 2006, 2008 and 2009 (two), as well as in 1979.

  Among the other Thoroughbred print publications who received awards this year are: Daily Racing Form, Keeneland Magazine, Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, The Blood-Horse, The Florida Horse  and The Saratoga Special.

  This year, 25 professional judges placed the classes and provided critiques for all entries in order to encourage members to strive for journalism excellence.

  The younger Bergevin, who is from Ellensburg and graduated from Kittitas High School, plans to pursue "an equine internship at a private equine hospital upon completion of his doctor of veterinary medicine curriculum." He would eventually like to own an equine podiatry practice.

  Heaton, a member of the class of 2015, has as his ultimate goal to "own an equine practice which performs all tasks of an equine general practitioner (lameness, colic, vaccines, dental, field surgeries, etc.) with an emphasis on surgery."

    On June, 25, The Prodigious Fund trainer selection committee announced the finalists for the second annual 100-Day Trainer Challenge, in which four former Thoroughbred racehorses will be retrained to perform equestrian events at a special show this fall.

  Shelby Ahrens, Katie Peery, Paige Wagter and the team of Letty Moreno and Sarah Dupree compose the entrants for the 2014 edition of the 100-Day Trainer Challenge.
  The three individuals and one team have each been assigned a Thoroughbred to retrain for vocations such as dressage and jumping.
  The 100-Day Trainer Challenge culminates on October 4 at the Thoroughbred and Half-Thoroughbred Horse Show which will be held at Donida Farm in Auburn, with an end goal of placing the retrained horses into permanent homes via private sale.
  "We again are very pleased with the response from the equestrian community," said event coordinator Sophia McKee. "We achieved our goal and have a good cross-section of training talent."
  Trainers were assigned horses from a pool of former Emerald Downs runners donated by Emerald Downs owners and trainers.
  Meika Decher of Polestar Farm competed in the inaugural event, and found it to be so worthwhile and engrossing that she encouraged students Moreno and Dupree to become involved this year.
  "They are so excited to get started," Decher said. "And the Thoroughbreds excel quickly; they've had a lot of handling at the track. They really enjoy having something to do."
  At the Thoroughbred and Half-Thoroughbred Horse Show, judges' score in three categories to decide the winner: In-Hand, Flat and Freestyle.
  Trainers, in alphabetical order, chosen to compete in the 2014 100-Day Trainer Challenge are:

Shelby Ahrens, Shelton - Multi-discipline
  Ahrens specializes in Spanish horses, but has trained many breeds of horses from draft to pony. He is currently developing horses to show in dressage, western pleasure, working cow horse and driving. Ahrens trains out of South Side Stables (Ahrens Horsemanship, http://www.naturallymoving.com/). A majority of his horses in training are colts being started under saddle, but he also works on refining and finishing horses for many disciplines. 

   Horse: Curried Matt, a three-year-old Washington-bred dark bay or brown gelding by Matty G-Curried Casey, owned by MaryAnn O'Connell and Shannon Larson, and bred by Clemans View Farm. Lifetime record: 1-M-0-0 $125.

 
Katie Peery, Ridgefield - Three-day eventing/Thoroughbred trainer
  The 29-year-old Peery has competed through the preliminary level in dressage and she also trains Thoroughbreds that compete at Emerald Downs. Peery has won top placings at recognized events throughout the Northwest. She was a clinician and speaker at this year's Washington State Horse Expo. Along with husband Kenny, she owns and operates Hidden Fox Farm (facebook.com/HiddenFoxFarmHorseSales).

  Horse: Hot N Sauci, a five-year-old Washington-bred bay mare by He's Tops-Millfleur, owned and bred by Oak Crest Farm.  Lifetime record: 8-1-1-0 $7,474.

Paige Wagter, Blaine - Hunter/jumper
  Originally from Illinois, Wagter spent most of her show years in the Midwest and East Coast and has been riding and competing for over 20 years. She is a pre-veterinary graduate from Kansas State University, where she rode varsity on the equestrian team. 

   Owner of Wagter Equestrian (http://www.wagterequestrian.com/), she has produced, trained and shown hunters and jumpers in the top "A" level throughout the United States.

  Horse: King of the Sky, a six-year-old Washington-bred bay gelding by Flying With Eagles-Omnia Vincit Amor, owned and bred by Karl Krieg. Lifetime record: 28-5-3-5 $70,013.

Sarah Dupree and Letty Moreno, Lake Stevens -Three-day eventing
  Dupree, an 18-year-old native of Seattle, and Moreno, a 19-year-old native of Tri-Cities, are students at Meika Decher's Polestar Farm (http://polestarfarm.com/) in Lake Stevens. According to Decher, the 100-Day Trainer Challenge is part of an intense apprenticeship for Dupree and Moreno, who have been assigned the only unraced horse among the Thoroughbreds in this year's challenge.

  Horse: Mats Mats Bay, a six-year-old Washington-bred bay gelding by Matty G-Lady Niagara, owned and bred by Just A Dream Farm and  Julie Scofield.

  The Prodigious Fund is an organization dedicated to recognizing and supporting positive efforts made within the Thoroughbred aftercare community for the re-homing, promotion and care of retired racehorses.

   Breakfast at the Wire debuts on Saturday, July 5, 2014, at Emerald Downs. Breakfast at the Wire will offer race fans an insider's glimpse of Thoroughbreds in training, with appearances by prominent jockeys, trainers, exercise riders, agents, gate crew and more. Patterned after similar programs, such as Clocker's Corner at Santa Anita and Del Mar, attendees get a close-up look at the racehorses and the "racetrackers" -  the hard-working people behind the scenes.
  Hosted by Dean Mazzuca, Breakfast at the Wire is from 8 to 10 a.m. every Saturday during July and August and is located just past the finish line in front of the Trackside Deli on track level. The location offers optimum viewing of the horses' workouts.
  The program will offer a more leisurely format than the popular and structured Emerald morning programs offered once monthly.
  "Breakfast at the Wire is a great way to experience the morning atmosphere at the track. No reservations are required - just show up and enjoy the culture of the racetrack," said the program's creator Vicki Potter.
  With Mt. Rainier serving as a towering backdrop, Emerald Downs will serve breakfast priced at only $6. Breakfast features a choice of scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns or scrambled eggs with biscuits and gravy, and includes free parking and entry through the paddock gate from 8 to 9 am. 

   Wesley Ward returned to the prestigious and high fashion Royal Ascot on June 17 to take the £60,000 Windsor Castle Stakes with Hootenanny, a juvenile colt from the first crop of four-time Grade 1 winner Quality Road. Hootenanny, who was ridden by Victor Espinoza and won the five-furlong turf race by 3 1/2 lengths over a field of 23 other juveniles, had been purchased by Coolmore's Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor shortly before the race, after having won a maiden race at the Keeneland spring meet. Ward also won the 2009 Windsor Castle Stakes with Strike the Tiger.

  "He's a beautiful colt and hopefully has a big future," commented Ward, a native of Selah, after Hootenanny's impressive win. "Paul Shanahan at Coolmore was a big believer in me when I was nothing and has stuck by me all this time."

  Noted bloodstock consultant, turf writer and former WTBOA Sales pedigree announcer Bill Oppenheim when writing about the first days of the Royal Ascot meet in the June 10, 2014, issue of Thoroughbred Daily News said: "And as these things often seem to do, the meet's other two-year-old race on the first two days also fell to a first-season sire: the five-furlong listed Windsor Castle Stakes was won impressively by Coolmore's Hootenanny, a colt from the first crop of Lane's End's Quality Road. You wouldn't have figured him necessarily as a sire of two-year-old five-furlong black-type winners; but then you wouldn't have figured on him being trained by the American they fear most at Ascot, the wizard Wesley Ward. Keep going, Wesley."

  Ward also brought two of Dave Mowat's promising juvenile fillies to the meet. To Be Determined, a maiden daughter of Elusive Quality, finished last, while running against colts in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes on June 19. Baitha Alga, an Irish-bred son of Fast Company (Ire) won the five-furlong race. On June 20, Mowat's Sunset Glow (Exchange Rate-Perfectforthpart, by Dynaformer) finished a game second behind the Distorted Humor filly Cursory Glance in the £70,000 Albany Stakes, a six-furlong Group 2 race for juvenile fillies which had 21 starters. Just two weeks prior to her start at Royal Ascot, Sunset Glow, who races under Mowat's Ten Broeck Farm, had set a new course record at Belmont Park when she won a five-furlong maiden special weight race.

  Also on June 16, Ward-trained two-year-old Bessie's Boy, a son of Smoke Glacken, remained unbeaten in two starts after he won the $100,000 Tremont Stakes at Belmont by six lengths for On Ice Stables.

   Bar C Racing Stables' stallion Sixthirteen, whose first foals reached the races this year, was bred to both Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred mares in 2011. His first Quarter Horse offspring, the Oregon-bred filly Lil Touch of Dixie, won her debut in April at Sun Downs and then came back in her second start to finish a neck behind winner Cops R Zoomin in the $27,149 Abigail Kawanakoa O' Gold Futurity on May 4.

  Likewise, the first Thoroughbred starter for the stakes-placed son of Dixie Union also won her debut. Bred in Washington by Charles Landells and sold by him at the 2013 WTBOA sale, Miss Sixthirteen won a $20,000 maiden claiming race at Northlands Park by 1 1/4 lengths on June 20 over a field of seven going 3 1/2 furlongs. Trained by Greg Tracy, Miss Sixthirteen races for Alicia Landry and Darrell Landry. The filly is the sixth winner out of the multiple stakes-producing mare Wish Upon a Starr, a stakes-placed daughter of Casa Dante.

   The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (TIP) announced in late June that applications for its 2014 performance awards are now available and that prize money will be offered in addition to ribbons and other prizes.

  "The response to our Performance Awards pilot program in 2013 was tremendous," said Kristin Leshney, legal associate for The Jockey Club and the administrator of TIP. "We are pleased to be able to provide this program again this year, and especially pleased to add prize money as an award."

  The 2014 awards, which are worth more than $8,000, include ribbons, prize money, leather lead shanks and TIP customized lead ropes.

  The performance awards will be tabulated for horse shows that are held between December 1, 2013, and November 30, 2014.

  Performance award results are submitted by owners and riders. Forms must be postmarked by December 20, 2014, and are available at tjctip.com. In order to participate in the Performance Award program, owners and riders must obtain a TIP number for their Thoroughbred, and each rider/horse combination must have a unique TIP number.

  Horse shows do not have to offer TIP awards to be included in the performance award program.

  Created and announced in October 2011,TIP recognizes and rewards the versatility of the Thoroughbred through sponsorship of Thoroughbred classes and high point awards at sanctioned horse shows. In addition to the complete schedule of TIP-sponsored shows, other information about the program is also available on the TIP website, tjctip.com. Those interested in TIP can follow the program at facebook.com/tjctip.

   Arapahoe Park has announced, that effective June 27, 2014, the Colorado track will introduce a race-day medication-free incentive which will award trainers with a $1,000 bonus for every win with a horse in their charge who runs without the aid of medication, including Salix, phenylbutazone, flunixin and ketoprofin, which are all legal in Colorado. The bonuses will be paid through the end of the 2014 meet, August 17.   

  Summer Hit, a five-year-old gelded son of Bertrando out of the multiple stakes-producing Tough Knight mare Mia F Eighteen, added another $12,050 to his totals after he finished third, beaten two necks, in the $100,000 Oak Tree Stakes run at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet on June 1. He has now earned $544,269 and improved his record to 11-3-4 from 21 starts. The multiple graded stakes winner was bred in California by Washingtonians Ken and Jan Heidt.

  Dr. George Todaro and partners had two wins at Golden Gate Fields on June 14. The first was with four-year-old Salah Champ, a California-bred son of Benchmark-Morell's Love, by Cutlass Reality, who took his seventh win in a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance and upped his earnings to $149,500.  Moonshine Bay improved his record to 16-11-8 from 42 starts when the six-year-old Kentucky gelding by Kela out of Long Fox, by Langfuhr, took the five-furlong $50,000 Albany Stakes over the turf course. The Grade 2-placed runner, who had run second in the 2013 edition of the Albany, has earned $364,517. Both runners were guided to victory by Russell Baze.

  Grade 2 stakes winner Scherzinger, the four-year-old daughter of Tiz Wonderful-Dancinandsingin, by A.P. Indy, who races for Dr. Mark Dedomenico LLC, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, Jason Litt and Alex Solis II, ran third in the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap run at Santa Anita on June 14 and improved her record to 4-1-3 from nine starts and earnings to $314,193.

  Fran Snow and G and G Stable's Carson City Brown, a three-year-old British Columbia-bred gelding from the first crop of  El Dorado Farms LLC's stallion Abraaj out of the Topsider mare Honey Brown, wentgate-to-wire to earn his second victory, in a $16,000 claiming race, by nearly three lengths on June 21 at Hastings Racecourse and has now earned $26,319 in five starts.

  Glory B Stables LLC's Chocolate Starr won the $2,900 Southern Belle Stakes at Grants Pass on June 15. It marked the 16th victory for the ten-year-old Washington-bred daughter of The Deputy (Ire)-Savanaha, by Moment of Hope. Bred by Brad Shawhan, Chocolate Starr was unraced at two and won her first two starts as a three-year-old at Emerald Downs while racing for Darrin Paul. The Mary Boyle trainee has earned $41,990 over 53 starts.

  Homer Thoroughbreds' homebred The Motion Man, a five-year-old Washington-bred gelding by Chumaree-Gotta Motion, by Casa Dante, won a five-furlong maiden special weight race at Les Bois Park by five lengths on June 18.

  Dr. Rodney Orr's homebred Boyett (Sharp Humor-Bella Cantu, by War Chant), Oregon's 2013 champion three-year-old male, took a mile turf allowance/$62,500 optional claiming (N) race by three-quarters of a length at Santa Anita on June 12 and improved his record to 4-3-4 from 13 starts and earnings to $158,466.

  Horses with connections to Washington won the first three races at Santa Anita on June 15. The first race, a $50,000 maiden claiming race for three and up California-bred fillies and mares, was won in gate-to-wire fashion by 3 1/4 lengths by Grey Girl Gone, a three-year-old daughter of Illinois Storm who is out of Washington-bred Swan River Daisy, an eight-race winning daughter of Gumboy and stakes winner Heather Ala Roni. In the second race, Oak Crest Farm-homebred Guinevere's Finale, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Tale of the Cat out of Washington horse of the year and Grade 3 winner Guinevere, by Fit to Fight, remained unbeaten in two starts after winning a $75,000 claiming race for trainer Vann Belvoir. The third race, the $75,000 Desert Stormer Stakes, was won by four-year-old Sagebrush Queen, a California-bred daughter of Unbridled Energy. Her dam, Nite Moon, a Washington-bred daughter of Tough Knight, placed in two juvenile stakes at Emerald Downs in 2005. Sagebrush Queen improved her record to 4-2-0 from nine starts and has earned $189,770.

  Unbeaten two-year-old Wake Up Nick, the son of Cindago who won the $125,250 Santa Anita Juvenile Stakes on June 22, is out of Storm Hearted (by Lion Hearted), whose dam Shallah is a half-sister to four stakes winners, including successful El Dorado Farms LLC stallion Private Gold.

  Roz Barclay's four-year-old North Pacific earned his third win in a $20,000 claiming race at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet on June 21. The Florida-bred son of Master Command, who is trained by Len Kasmerski, has earned $85,197.

  S-Quarter K LLC.'s homebred Washington-bred Quarter Horse two-year-old Heza Dasha Fire remained unbeaten after he "blew 'em away" in the 350-yard Ed Burke Million Futurity by 11/4 lengths at Los Alamitos on June 22. The sorrel gelding has earned $402,730 in his trio of outings.

  Elections were recently held for the 2014-15 Thoroughbred Owners of California board of directors. Five of the 15 members have strong connections to Washington State, including Dr. Mark Dedomenico, of Redmond, and former Washington veterinarian and now trainer Mikel Harrington, who were both re-elected. Others serving on the TOC board include three former Washingtonians: trainers Kathy Walsh and Ed Moger Jr. and owner Mike Pegram. Dr. George Todaro, of Seattle, is also a member of the California association.

  2011 Pegasus Thoroughbreds sale two-year-old Belle Gallantey, a stakes-placed five-year-old daughter of After Market-Revealed, by Old Trieste, finished fifth in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont on June 7 and pushed her earnings to $416,270 with a record to 7-12-7 from 40 starts.

  Four-year-old Washington-bred filly Meet Me for a Kiss, who was bred by Charles B. Case and is owned and trained by Lyle Magnuson, added her second win, by 2 1/4 lengths, in a five-furlong allowance race at Lethbridge on June 21. She  is a daughter of Case's homebred stakes winner Bound to Be M V P and out of the Sky Classic mare Heavenly Refrain, a daughter of Washington broodmare of the year Whimsical Aire.

  The 2015 Breeders' Cup World Championships are scheduled to be run at Keeneland on October 30-31. It marks the first time the Lexington, Kentucky, track has hosted the event. Breeders' Cup Limited also announced that in 2016 the championship races will return to California, first to Santa Anita Park in 2016 and then, in another first, to Del Mar in 2017.

Richard "Dick" McDonnell

  Dick McDonnell, 87, died on June 3, 2014, in his Seattle home after suffering from a lengthy illness. He was born in Spokane on August 17, 1926, and later raised in Seattle.

  A World War II veteran, the longtime Pacific Northwest horseman purchased his first horse in 1958. One of his best horses was his homebred Go See Sam, who won the 1989 Spokane Futurity. Dick was a regular for many years at Longacres before its 1992 closure.

  In the 1950s, Dick founded Central Vacuum Service in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. His son Dennis took over management of the vacuum repair shop on Dick's retirement.

  His other son, Wayne, became a successful horse trainer with 312 winners between 1976-2011.

  A former amateur boxer, Dick became a prominent boxing trainer and promoter. In 2002 he was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Boxing Hall of Fame.

  He is survived by his four children, Wayne, Sharon, Dennis and Patty (Lydon); and three grandchildren, Dennis, Dustin and Lauren.

Gloria Nonna Simonis 

  Gloria Simonis, 85, passed away on June 14, 2014. She was born on September 27, 1928, to John and Helia Powers in Waitsburg.

  She married Gilbert "Bud" Simonis on January 11, 1947, in Phoenix. The couple's passion in life was horses and they spent the next 60 years in the horse racing industry.

  In 1954 they moved to Bend, Oregon. Through the years she trained and cared for Thoroughbreds who would go on to win for Bud at the track.

  In 1966, she went to work for the Oregon Racing Commission and five years later she was hired as the Salem racing secretary, becoming only the third woman in racing history to hold this position at a recognized track.

   In 1993, the couple moved to Prineville, Oregon, where Gloria started the Pioneer Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. They became known as the "Lavender Ladies" because of their lavender jackets,

  In 2009, she was extremely honored to be the grand marshal for the Crooked River Round-Up. She also worked many years with the rodeo board and was involved with horse racing in Prineville.
  Gloria is survived by her husband, Bud;  daughter, Sharron (Steve) Loney, of Prineville; grandson, James "Mike" Jones, of Prineville; granddaughter, Kimberley (Chad) Sumner, of Malott, Washington; grandson, Ian Loney,  of Kenmore, Washington; and great-grandsons, Kash and Kruz Sumner, of Malott.