With a June 2 deadline looming, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is urging individuals to submit a comment to the US Treasury Department in support of modernization of regulations relating to player withholding and reporting.

   "Recent communications with the Treasury department indicate they are closely monitoring both the quality and quantity of comments," said NTRA president and CEO Alex Waldrop. "The changes we seek would have a positive impact on every segment of the industry as well as state and federal governments. We urge individual fans, gamblers and other stakeholders to submit a comment through an easy-to-use electronic process available at NTRA.com/IRScomment."

   Nearly 2,500 comments originating from all 50 states and the District of Columbia have already been submitted.

   The changes proposed by the NTRA on behalf of its membership and the Thoroughbred racing industry would positively impact all levels of horseplayers, regardless of whether a person typically wagers $1, $100 or $1,000. For example, the amount wagered by a Pick Six player who hits with one of 140 combinations on a $1 minimum wager would be $140, which is the total amount bet into the Pick Six pool.

  Currently the "amount wagered" is calculated using only the $1 bet on the single winning combination. By understating the amount wagered in this manner, the IRS is imposing significant additional reporting and withholding obligations on horseplayers while creating unnecessary paperwork for the IRS.

  A clarification would directly benefit pari-mutuel customers by reducing burdensome tax obligations. The proposal also aims to lessen racing's competitive disadvantage against other forms of gaming that are not subject to such aggressive tax treatment related to reporting and withholding. According to the Daily Racing Form, redefining the way the IRS calculates the amount wagered to include all money bet by an individual into a single pool would eliminate a high percentage of the reporting and withholding tickets and could increase pari-mutuel wagering by as much as ten percent, or $1-billion, in year one alone.

   The NTRA has created an easy-to-use form that makes it simple for the public to submit an e-mail directly to the appropriate IRS and US Treasury officials at www.ntra.com/IRScomment.  

Soar Like an Eagle

  A strong group of ten older runners went to the gate for the first race in the 2015 Longacres Mile (G3) series, the 6 1/2-furlong Governor's Handicap. Half of the field was an accomplished contingent of Washington-bred stakes winners, including a trio of state champions led by race favorite Noosito ($1.80-to-one).

  Scat Daddybaby set the opening fraction of :21.94, but at his throatlatch was the unheralded ($39.70-to-one) Fleet Eagle, who in his last start had finished eleventh and last in the mile Thunder Road Stakes over Santa Anita's turf course.

Fleet Eagle Erin Palmer Photo

  As the field reached the half-mile marker, Fleet Eagle, ridden by Diego Sanchez,had taken the lead and the racing partners quickly continued to distance themselves from the pack, scoring a 6 3/4-length win in 1:14.27 (to give him a 99 BRIS Speed Rating) over Noosito, the 2014 state champion who was making his 2015 debut. But all was not going to go well for the Doris Harwood-trained Noosito, as the riders of both Absolutely Cool and Mebossman lodged objections to Noosito's drifting out in the stretch - as both riders had to steady their mounts - which was confirmed by the stewards' decision to place Absolutely Cool in fourth, Mebossman in fifth and demote Noosito to sixth. The two other horses to gain from the decision were Mark Malnati and Robert McKay's Trick Or Retreat (Harbor the Gold-Retreat After Me) who ended up with second place, and Swag Stables and Gallo Stables' consistent campaigner Mike Man's Gold (Liberty Gold-Chedoodle). Noosito's rider, Julien Couton, was later fined $500 by the stewards for failing to maintain a straight course in the race.

  "I've been riding this horse every morning and since the first day I ever got on him I was saying 'this horse is amazing.' He was ready to win the race," said Sanchez of the winner. "When the horses broke from the gate, I had to push a little bit. Once he got clear, he started running and I let go. He ran fast early but that's just how good he is. I was expecting everything good."
  It marked the first stakes win - and first tally on the dirt in six attempts - for Fleet Eagle, a six-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Don't Get Mad - a $793,836 stakes-winning son of Stephen Got Even - out of Crazy Sissy Jo, by Silver Deputy.

  After eight unsuccessful tries to break his maiden on the Southern California circuit, Fleet Eagle won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Presque Isle Downs in August of his sophomore season. At four he added allowance wins at Prairie Meadows and Presque Isle Downs. Last year his lone win came in an allowance/$62,500 optional claiming (N) race at Presque Isle. He returned to California where he finished fourth in the Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar in late November. Prior to his victory in the Governor's Handicap, Fleet Eagle's best finish of the year had been a third place in a Golden Gate six-furlong allowance in late January.

  Fleet Eagle races for trainer Paula Capestro, of Rancho Santa Fe, California, and his breeder Francesca De La Flor's Oak Knoll Meadows Farm Inc., of Alameda, California. In 27 lifetime starts he has a record of 5-3-4 and earnings of $182,705 earned while running at eight different tracks nationwide.

  Among the allowance winners over the May 15-17 weekend were Howard E. Maggard's homebred Betrbegone, a three-year-old Washington-bred son of Gibson Thoroughbred Farm's Parker's Storm Cat who took a six-furlong allowance race by nearly three lengths on May 16. Trained by David Martinez and ridden by Javier Matias, the gelding out of Final Drummer, by Tough Knight, was scoring his second win in four outings. Earlier on the same card, Nelson Family Racing's Thetrailerguy, a sophomore Kentucky-bred son of Henny Hughes, won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race by 1 1/2 lengths for trainer Monique Snowden and rider Julien Couton after a troubled trip. He had run second in his debut on May 2.

  Also, Bryan Smith's first-time starter Westley,  a four-year-old Washington-bred son of Magnum Farms' Houseofroyalhearts-Mira's Magic, by Katowice, took a five-furlong maiden $10,000 claiming race by 7 1/4 lengths. The Gary Lonctot trainee was ridden by Jake Barton.

  2014 Washington most improved plater of the year Dare Me Devil, who was also voted Emerald Downs' best claimer and sprinter of 2014, began his 2015 campaign with a 1 3/4-length win for Rancho Viejo and Jerry Carmody in a $15,000 claiming race on May 17. Bred by Andria Mengucci, the Rigoberto Velasquez trainee was recording his 13th win. The seven-year-old gelded son of Devil On Ice-She Can Too, by Western Fame, has earned $131,650. Also on Sunday, Velasquez-trained Mr. Top Kat went gate-to-wire to win a $25,000 claimer by four lengths - and record his 15th win in 36 starts. The six-year-old ridgeling, who was bred in Washington by John and Doris Konecny, is a son of Katowice-Czechmate Miss, by He's Tops. He most recently raced for Mark Hughes.

  It was announced on May 17, that for the first time since 2011, the horse population at Emerald Downs has reached 1,000. Last year the meet topped out with 818 head.

  "We are starting to see the results of having higher purses [after a 20 percent increase] and more horses on the ground," said Emerald Downs President Phil Ziegler. "The field sizes are up which leads to more exciting races for our fans."

Fooling Around in Auburn

Fooled Again Erin Palmer Photo

  Todd and Shawn Hansen's Fooled Again rallied from mid-pack to defeat seven other sophomore males in the $50,000 Auburn Handicap, a 6 1/2-furlong test run on May 24.

  In marked only the second start for the Howard Belvoir trainee, who had won his May 15 debut in a maiden/$25,000 optional claiming (N) race by 3 1/4 lengths. Fooled Again has earned $38,775 in his two outings.

  Daytona Beach, in his first start since winning the Northwest Stallion Cahill Road Stakes last September, was ahead at the first call, but dropped back behind 2014 Gottstein Futurity winner and race favorite Prime Engine at the half-mile marker. By the time the field reached the stretch, Juan Gutierrez - in his 55th Emerald stakes win - had Fooled Again on the lead as the pair drew off to a 1 1/4-length tally in 1:16.22. Aithon Stable LLC's Gloria's Angelo (City Zip-So Explosive) finished second, a half-length in front of 54-to-one longshot Senna, a Tale of Ekati-Perfect Paula gelding raced by Glyn Kelly and Anne MacLennan.

  "He's a nice colt, we think he'll run all day," said Belvoir, who also trains the Hansens' 2014 Washington champion two-year-old filly Ethan's Baby. "We're shooting for the moon right now."

  A $4,300 2013 WTBOA Sale yearling. Fooled Again was bred in Kentucky by Emerald Downs Vice President Jack Hodge Jr. and his wife Theresa's Oak Crest Farm. The three-year-old is the 47th stakes winner for his sire Scat Daddy and is the fourth winner out of 2002 Gottstein Futurity runner-up Valour Road, a daughter of Honour and Glory. Valour Road is a granddaughter of the Hodges' Washington champion racemare Finally Free.

  Trainer Michael Puhich had two wins on the Sunday card with distaffers owned by Mark Dedomenico LLC and North American Horse Company. The first was with the three-year-old Tale of Ekati filly Saffron and the second was with multiple stakes winner I Think So, a five-year-old mare by Proud Citizen. I Think So, ridden by Leslie Mawing, was a 4 1/4-length winner of the 5 1/2-furlong allowance/$40,000 optional claiming race which saw the $165,062 earner haltered by trainer Dan Markle for Jeffrey Stoddard - in one of the largest claims in track history.

  In his 2015 debut, Don and Wanda Munger's homebred Spit and Shine, a four-year-old sired by Munger stallion Nacheezmo out of Only Mine, by Barbaric Spirit, won a six-furlong allowance. It marked the third win for the Washington-bred colt who has earned $37,405. Jose Zunino was aboard for the half-length win.

  John V. Xitco, Dan J. Agnew and James Glavin's Square Dancer gave trainer Mike Chambers his first win at Emerald since September 16, 2011, when he won the feature race on the Memorial Day card. Chambers has won 104 races in 364 starts at the Auburn oval, giving him a track-high 28.4 percent win rate. Jake Baton was aboard the five-year-old Florida-bred son of Circular Quay for his head victory in the $20,000 claimer.

  Trainer Alan Bozell had a triple on the holiday card with Miners Night, Foolish Miss and Top Kitty Kat, giving him a seven-for-17 record this season.

    Through the first 16 days of racing, rider Julien Couton continues to lead the win standings, having booted home 22 first place finishers. He ranks second to Leslie Mawing ($225,484) in earnings with $204,418. Mawing is the second leading rider in wins with 19, one more than Juan Gutierrez who ranks in third place in wins (18) and money ($170,442). Joe Steiner ranks fourth in wins with 12 and is fifth in earnings ($128,592) to Rocco Bowen's $130,592 in monies won. Jake Barton ranks fifth in wins with 11.

  2013-14 leading trainer Jeffrey Metz continues to lead the 2015 standings with 13 wins and $113,457 in earnings. Blaine Wright ranks second in wins (with nine) and is fifth in earnings with $76,112. Frank Lucarelli and Michael Puhich are tied in third with eight wins apiece. Lucarelli's $95,789 ranks him third in earnings behind Howard Belvoir in second with $98,373. Puhich ranks fourth in monies earned with $89,665. Belvoir and Alan Bozell have each won seven races.

   For week four (May 8-10), Tom Grether Farms Inc.'s three-year-old filly Boss Lori was named Washington-bred of the week. Bred by Pam and Neal Christopherson's Bar C Racing Stables, the 2013 WTBOA summer sale session yearling had begun her career at Les Bois Park on July 5 with a second place finish in the Chris Christian Futurity. The daughter of Harbor the Gold next ran fourth in the Angie C. Stakes at Emerald and had one more second place finish during her two-year-old career. Her 2015 season started off with another second on April 19 before she moved to the ranks of winners with a gate-to-wire victory in a five-furlong maiden $15,000 claiming race on May 9. Trained by Robert Lawrence and ridden by Joe Steiner, Boss Lori has earned $22,223.

  Boss Lori is the second foal and winner produced out of Oregon champion racemare Silver Patrona, a daughter of Tiffany Ice who won four stakes and earned $89,036. Silver Patrona is a full sister to Oregon champion Corona Del Hielo.

  Jockey of the week honors went to current Emerald leader Julien Couton. M. L. Pierce was named best trainer. Don Buckner earned owner honors. Rafael Contreras, who works for Tom Wenzel, was named groom of the week and freelance exercise rider Pedro Vera Enqriquez topped that category.

  Week five (May 15-17) Washington-bred honors were bestowed on C. E. "Rich" and Ann Richardson's homebred It's Little Richie, who made an impressive debut when the three-year-old gelding by Harbor the Gold-Butterfly Belle, by Wavering Monarch, took a $25,000 maiden claiming race by 8 3/4 lengths on May 17. The Charles Essex - who was named trainer of the week -- trainee was ridden to his sparkling win by Jake Barton. He is the second foal and winner out of $111,034 earner Butterfly Belle, a half-sister to Washington horse of the year and $464,267 earner Reba Is Tops, a 2004 daughter of He's Tops, and four other winners. Butterfly Belle has a two-year-old, named Chester Bellwether and a suckling filly, both sired by He's Tops.

  Paymaster Racing took owner honors. Javier Matias was named top rider and freelance exercise rider Guillermo Miuro was also acknowledged. Mauro Avila Vera, who works for Robbie Baze, was given the groom of the week award.

  The three-day Memorial Day weekend (May 23-25) saw week six Washington-bred horse honors go to Sue and Tim Spooner's homebred Tim Tim Tim, a three-year-old Dan Markle trainee who was ridden to his half-length win in a $25,000 maiden claiming race on May 24 by Jake Barton. A gate-to-wire winner in this his first start, the gelded son of Delineator is the fifth winner for the Country Light mare Country Whirl, who also won her first outing, a juvenile maiden special weight race at Golden Gate Fields, in gate-to-wire fashion. Country Whirl is a half-sister to $232,791 stakes winner Wild Cycle.

    Owner honors went to John Parker. Alan Bozell was named trainer of the week and was joined by Jose Zunino as top jockey. Oracil Muro, who hails from the Jim Penney barn, was honored as the top exercise rider, and Juan Garcia, who works for trainer Markle, was lauded as top groom.

  Todd and Shawn Hansen will be honored as Washington's 2014 TOBA breeders of the year at the 30th TOBA Awards and Dinner to be held at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Lexington, Kentucky, on September 11.

  The Hansens, who own and operate Scatter Creek Training Center in Tenino, bred four starters last year, of which three won and included unbeaten Washington two-year-old filly champion Ethan's Baby. Their other two winners were Call Me Cinderella and Ethan's Way.

  The other Washington TOBA finalists for 2014 were: David Breiwick, Pat and Mullan Chinn (Vital Signs Stable), Homer Thoroughbreds (Jason Homer), Marvin Pietila and Tim and Sue Spooner.

  The WTBOA also submitted three names in the Western Regional Owner category: Karl and Darlyne Krieg, Roy and Ellie Schaefer and the late Jerre Paxton. The winner in that category will be announced at the September banquet.

  Matt Dinerman will become only the second track announcer at Emerald Downs when he succeeds Robert Geller on June 12. Dinerman, 22, who recently graduated from Chapman University in Orange, California, is a San Diego native who grew up attending the races at to Del Mar. He expanded his horse knowledge by working four summers for trainer John Sadler and spent two additional summers on the Del Mar publicity team.

  "We consider Matt Dinerman to be a very talented young man," said Emerald Downs President Phil Ziegler after hearing Dinerman call two recent races at the track. "He has a great aptitude for announcing races, and he figures to get even better with experience. It's great to have him on board."

  "Emerald Downs staff, horsemen and fans are all extremely enthusiastic about their racing and I am beyond thrilled to be joining their team this summer," said Dinerman. "I am extremely excited to get started."

   Robert Geller will join the staff at Woodbine where he will call his first race at the Thoroughbred/Standardbred track on June 13.

   A native of England, but raised in Australia, Geller has served as announcer at Emerald Downs since its June 20, 1996, opener. He will be replacing the retiring Dan Loiselle, who began at Woodbine in 1967 and has been the track announcer at Canada's premiere track for nearly 30 years.

  Geller, 55, who began his announcing career at Wangaratta in Victoria, Australia, also was the English-speaking race caller for the Hong Kong Jockey Club for 6 1/2 years and has been the announcer at New Mexico's Sunland Park since the 2000-01 season, a position he will continue to hold.

  "Robert is an elite announcer and a class act," said Loiselle. The fans, horsemen and his many fellow employees of Washington racing most assuredly echo that statement and wish Geller the very best in his new position and life in Ontario. 

 The ever-amazing Ben's Cat, now nine, won the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint Stakes for the fourth time in five tries on May 15 at Pimlico. The four-time Maryland horse of the year was making his second start of the season after finishing second to five-year-old Bold Thunder in a five-furlong grass allowance race run at the Maryland track on April 17.  The $2.10-to-one favorite in the field of ten, Ben's Cat came from mid-pack to win the five-furlong grass race by a neck over Bold Thunder with four-year-old Amelia's Wild Rider nearly four lengths further back in third. His final time was :56.04 over a firm surface. The course record in :55.70.

  The son of Gibson Thoroughbred Farm's four-time leading Washington sire Parker's Storm Cat, Ben's Cat races for his owner/breeder/trainer, and recent National Racing Hall of Fame selectee, King Leatherbury, and is out of the stakes-placed Thirty Eight Paces' mare Twofox. The gelding was partnered in his 30th win (in 48 lifetime starts with an additional seven seconds and four thirds), by his regular rider Julian Pimentel. Ben's Cat has earnings of $2,396,005. Leatherbury is pointing Ben's Cat toward the May 30 Hollywood Casino at Penn National's Pennsylvania Governor's Cup, a race the gelding won in 2011.

  As of May 26, Parker's Storm Cat leads the state stallion rankings with 11 winners and the earners of $213,1911.

  Darrell Landry's Knight Crossing, a three-year-old gelding by Raise the Bluff-Knight Weave, by Basket Weave, bred in Washington by Nina and Ron Hagen, won his second straight win at Northlands Park this year when he took a $20,000 waiver claiming race by five lengths on May 22, upping his earnings to $18,688.

  Three-year-old Shaman Ghost, a Ontario-bred son of Ghostzapper, took his first stakes win in the $128,659 Marine Stakes (G3-Can) on May 16. A winner of three of six starts, he is out of the multiple stakes-placed $384,050 earner Getback Time, a daughter of Gilded Time who is one of seven winners out of WTBOA Winter Sale yearling Shay, a $122,694 earning daughter of Incinderator who won stakes at both Emerald Downs and Golden Gate Fields. Shaman Ghost has earned $134,431 for his breeder Frank Stronach.

  Among the four WTBOA Sale graduates winning at Emerald Downs on May 17 was Todd and Shawn Hansen's maiden special weight winner Thundering Away. Bred by Rick Pasko in California, Thundering Away is a four-year-old gelded son of Stormin Fever out of Pasko's stakes-winning and stakes-producing Just the Time mare Timely Bet. It marked the second outing for the Howard Belvoir trainee, who was ridden to victory in the six-furlong test by Javier Matias.

  Later on the same card, Jim and Mona Hour's three-year-old filly Rachae Leigh, a half-sister to the Hours' 2014 Washington horse of the year Stryker Phd, scored a six-length win in an allowance/$40,000 optional claiming (N) race. It marked the second win for the Washington-bred daughter of Stormin Fever out of 2014 Washington broodmare of the year Striking Scholar, by Smart Strike, who was bred by Char Clark. Ridden by Leslie Mawing, Rachae Leigh is trained by Larry Ross.

  Center Point Racing Stables' Arrom Bear, who is trained by Frank Lucarelli and was ridden by Joe Steiner (in his tenth win at the meet), recorded his third win of the year by going gate-to-wire to take a $20,000 claimer at Emerald Downs by 6 1/2 lengths. The three-year-old son of Blue Ribbon Farm stallion Nationhood out of Lite Nite, by Conquistador Cielo, who was bred by Rick and Debbie Pabst, has earned $38,817 in eight starts.

  Highlander Racing Stables LLC's Citizen Kitty, a three-year-old Washington-bred daughter of Proud Citizen, took a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Emerald Downs on May 24. Trained by Jeff Metz and ridden by Joe Steiner, the son of Washington champion racemare No Constraints, by Katowice, was bred by Dunn Bar Ranch LLC.

  The Prodigious Fund is partnering with the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) to advance up to three entries from The Prodigious Fund Thoroughbred and Half-Thoroughbred Horse Show on October 3 to the National Thoroughbred Makeover and Symposium at the Kentucky Horse Park October 23-25, 2015.

  While the Thoroughbred Makeover program has been oversubscribed with entries, The Prodigious Fund has been granted up to three spots for qualifying contestants.

  "There was a lot of interest from trainers in Washington for the Thoroughbred Makeover, but shipping cost was a big deterrent to their participation," said The Prodigious Fund President Sophia McKee.

  "We believe we have some phenomenal training talent here in Washington and we'd like to give those trainers the opportunity to show what they can do at a national level," McKee continued.

  Trainers must meet the requirements of the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover and show in the Thoroughbred Makeover classes at The Prodigious Fund Thoroughbred and Half-Thoroughbred Horse Show at Donida Farm in Auburn. Up to three horses will qualify as determined by a panel of judges.

  As part of the qualification, The Prodigious Fund will cover shipping costs of the competitors to the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park.

  To be eligible for the Makeover horses a) must have a Jockey Club tattoo, b) must have raced at least once or been in race training after January 1, 2013, and c) must have no training in a discipline other than racing before January 15, 2015, other than a maximum of 15 allowable rides. The Management Committee will eliminate horses from the competition, even after they have been approved, if conclusive evidence emerges that second career training commenced before the January 15 start date.

  Owners, farms, organizations and trainers can enter one or multiple horses. Trainers can be professional, amateur or junior, and multiple trainers may work with a single entry.

  The program will replace The Prodigious Fund's 100-Day Trainer Challenge.

  "The 100-Day Trainer Challenge was extremely popular the last two years," McKee said. "This allows us to open the competition up to more trainers and help more Thoroughbreds get the basic training necessary for successful second careers."

  Interested trainers can get more information by e-mailing sophiam@emeralddowns.com.

  Brazilian Triple Crown winner Bal A Bali (Brz), who is a direct descendent of Washington horse of the year Table Hands, and a recent winner of the Grade 3 American Stakes, is the subject of a front page story in the May 28, 2015, issue of Thoroughbred Times Today, titled "Brazilian Star's Long Journey to the Winner's Circle," written by T. D. Thornton.

   Peggy Hopwood's Red Zeus, a five-year-old Arizona-bred gelding by Red Sky's, won a 7 1/2-furlong turf allowance at Canterbury Park on May 24. The $295,393 earner is one of four stakes horses out of Crimson Cricket, a daughter of Crimson Slew bred in Washington by Susan and Richard Vlosich. The mare's other stakes horses are $73,586 stakes-placed Getaway Grace, a 2001 daughter of Basket Weave; 15-race and $99,041 Washington-bred stakes winner He's a Flyer, a 2003 gelding by Defensive Play.

  Dr. George Todaro and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's multiple stakes winner G. G. Ryder added his second graded stakes win in the $100,000 All American Handicap (G3) at Golden Gate on May 25. His record now stands at 10-3-1 from 19 starts and he has earned $375,114. The four-year-old colt is a son of former Emerald Downs stakes winner Chhaya Dance.

  Horseplayers Racing Club LLC's (HRC) multiple stakes-placed Glamoride won an allowance/$17,500 optional claiming race at Louisiana Downs on May 14. It marked the fourth win for the four-year-old Louisiana-bred daughter of Ide who has earned $154,425. The following day at the Louisiana track, HRC and Richard Hill Stallions LLC's Seeing Silver, a four-year-old Louisiana-bred daughter of Sightseeking, won for the second time. HRC and partners' Maximinus, a four-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Roman Ruler, won his second race, a $12,500 claimer, at Santa Anita on May 23. He has earnings of $56,380.

  Three-time graded stakes winner Willcox Inn, a son of Harlan's Holiday who earned just over $1-million while racing for Jack and Theresa Hodge and partners and had just finished his first season at stud, was euthanized after being injured in a paddock accident at Saratoga Stud LLC in Stillwater, NY, in late May.

  Three-year-old Atac M April, a daughter of El Dorado Farms LLC stallion Abraaj, made it two in a row after she took a 6 1/2-furlong $16,000 claiming race in gate-to-wire fashion by 2 1/2 lengths on May 16 at Hastings Racecourse. She improved her record to 3-1-1 in five starts and the British Columbia-bred has earned $24,028.

  Cautious Giant, a four-year-old gelded son of Giant's Causeway-Dangerous Diva, by Deputy Minister, bred by Theline Schuemann's Grousemont Farm in Kentucky, won a 6 1/2-furlong allowance/$40,000 optional claiming (N) race over Santa Anita's downhill turf course on May 14. It marked the second win for the runner, who was ridden by Tyler Baze to his one-length victory. The Carl Gaines trainee had won a maiden special weight race at the Arcadia track last November. Cautious Giant has earnings of $99,700.

  Schuemann's Slip By, a four-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Curlin, took his third race on May 16 when he won a 1 1/16-mile $20,000-$25,000 optional claiming (N) race over Pimlico's turf course. Bred in the name of Grousemont Farm, the half-brother to $475,338 graded stakes winner Palmeiro and $358,567 stakes winner Slews Final Answer - all produced out of $304,420 stakes winner Fortune Pending, by Fortunate Prospect - is trained by Michael Matz and has earned $88,420.

  Asleyluvssugar, a four-year-old gelding sired by the late former Washington sire Game Plan, earned his second graded victory - ridden by Gary Stevens - in the $200,000 Charles Whittingham Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita on May 24. He has now won six of his 11 starts, and with his $120,000 earnings in the 12-furlong grass race, he has earned 455,504.

  Gibson Thoroughbred Farm broodmare Stay Awhile, an unraced daughter of Unbridled's Song, is the dam of four-year-old Moonlit Stroll, by Stroll, who ran third in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff Stakes run at Churchill Downs on May 2 in her stakes debut for Team Forster 151 LLC and trainer Grant Forster. Unfortunately, the $79,000 earner took a bad step in a workout on May 22, which led to her humane demise. Stay Awhile has a 2015 foal sired by the Gibsons' War Power and was bred back to their new stallion Linchpin.

  Ten Broeck Farm Inc.'s (Dave Mowat) first-time two-year-old starter Moment Is Right made an impressive beginning to her racing career when the Wesley Ward-trained filly went gate-to-wire to take a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight by 8 1/2 lengths at Gulfstream Park on May 15. The new winner is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Medaglia d'Oro-Rite Moment, by Vicar. 

  Mowat's Grade 1 winner Sunset Glow finished second to Celestine in the $100,000 Wait a Bit Stakes at Belmont Park. In eight starts Sunset Glow has a record of 3-4-1 and has earned $590,146. The sophomore daughter of Exchange Rate, is also trained by Ward.

  Summer Tiger, a three-year-old son of Summer Bird, won his second start, a maiden special weight race at Canterbury Park on May 25. He is the fifth winner out of 2002 Washington Breeders' Cup Oaks winner and Grade 1-placed Erica's Smile, by Williamstown.

  Mark Dedomenico LLC and North American Thoroughbred Horse Company's Dear Lilly went gate-to-wire to score a 3 1/2-length victory in a six-furlong allowance/$35,000 optional claiming (N) race at Hastings Racecourse on May 2. The five-year-old Florida-bred daughter of Graeme Hall has five wins in eight starts and has earned $53,564. On May 16 the partnership's Mr. Bowling, a six-year-old son of Istan, took his fifth stakes victory in the John Longden 5000 Stakes at Hastings, raising his earnings to $394,445.

  Three-year-old Black Master, by Arch, won a 1,500-meter turf race at Monterico racetrack in Peru on May 2. Both he and his three-time Emerald Downs stakes-placed dam, Seeking Ema, by Seeking the Gold, were bred by Northwest Farms LLC. Seeking Ema is the first foal out of 2003 Emerald Downs champion sprinter and 2004 Grade 2 stakes winner Ema Bovary (Chi), who earned most of her $721,642 while racing for Rick Beal Jr. and Lana Ramsey-Brog and was trained in North America by Larry Ross.

  Seven-year-old Sakura Gospel (Jpn) won his third graded stakes when the son of Sakura President (Jpn) took the $921,598 Keio Hai Spring Cup (G2-Jpn) at Tokyo on May 16. His dam, Sakura Blues (Jpn), by Cure the Blues, is out of multiple graded stakes producer Slew Princess, a half-sister to the late Katowice, a prominent Washington stallion. Sakura Gospel has earned $2,815,637 with a 9-3-0 record in 29 starts.

  Nine-year-oldIrish Gypsy, a Grade 2-winning $386,470-earning daughter of Hennessey, produced a filly by Midnight Lute on January 31 for Mike Pegram and Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings Inc. and was returned to the champion sprinter. She is out of the stakes-winning Relaunch mare Rayelle, a daughter of Washington horse of the year and Grade 1 winner Delicate Vine.

  Also foaled in Kentucky this spring was the March 2 filly out of Daisy Mason, whose stakes-winning dam, Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek, stems from former Washington stakes producer One Last Bird, by One for All, as does champion Beholder and stakes winner and sire Into Mischief. 

John "Jay" W. Mills

  John "Jay" William Mills, 89, of Monroe, passed away peacefully in his sleep on May 19, 2015, in Everett. Jay was born September 15, 1925, in Stigler, Oklahoma, the seventh of 11 children born to William "Bill" and Ida Mills. In the late 1930s many of the family left Eastern Oklahoma for the prospect of better living and working conditions in the San Joaquin Valley of California, settling in Bakersfield and nearby Wasco.
  Jay joined the US Navy in January 1944, at age 18. While serving, Jay met his future wife Zelda Shepherd when she and her mother were walking along a street during the New Year's Eve celebration in downtown Seattle later that same year. He shipped out mid-January 1945 aboard aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill to the South Pacific. On the morning of May 11, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, the ship was hit and severely damaged by two Japanese kamikaze planes, suffering the loss of 346 men, 43 missing and 264 wounded. Jay was awarded for helping save several of his shipmates by pulling them from a smoke-filled deck up the outside wall of the ship to safety on the flight deck. The ship limped back to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for repairs, allowing Jay to once again see Zelda. The two married in August 1945. By the time the ship was ready to sail again, the war had ended.

   Jay was honorably discharged in January 1946. Daughter Sandra was born in August 1946 and son John was born in 1951.
  In 1953, Jay ran a crane during the construction project that added three additional floors to the main downtown Seattle Bon Marche building. His proficiency at operating heavy equipment fueled his desire to start up his own construction business. In 1956, the family moved from Seattle to Edmonds where Jay and neighbor Whitey Bowen began B&M Contractors.
  In the mid-1960s, Jay purchased a 110-acre former dairy farm south of Monroe, part of which he converted to Circle M Farm, a Thoroughbred breeding and training center, complete with a six-furlong track, a starting gate and one of the first equine swimming pools in the state. He stood three stallions: Blue Serenade, Count Receivable and Skin Head. About that same time, he became a fulltime racehorse trainer at Longacres. He was the breeder or co-breeder of the "Tike" sisters, stakes winner Issa Tike, who Jay also trained, and her full sister Lotta Tike. Between them the daughters of Skin Head-Black Marlin placed in 19 stakes races at Longacres, Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields from 1974-80, earning nearly $240,000.

  He is remembered as a tough negotiator who was strongly supported during his tenure on the WHBA Board of Directors (1973-78). He served as vice president from 1973-75 and was the association's president during 1977. Mills and co-board member, the late Dr. Robert Penney, were responsible for the negotiations with Washington Jockey Club (Longacres) President M. J. Alhadeff which led to the building of the WTBSC barns at Longacres and the gathering of a significant donation to the University of Washington's The Joseph GottsteinMemorial Cancer Research Laboratory.

  In 1972, Jay and Zelda moved into a home on part of their property overlooking the training center.
  In 1984, Jay built Rax Restaurant in Monroe, which son John managed for several years before it was sold to Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1986, Jay purchased ten acres adjacent to his old training center and built their current home. He later sold the training center, but retained the acreage on which their first house sat. In 1992, Jay built a summer home on the south shore of Lake Chelan for him and Zelda and their family to enjoy.
  Jay was an avid bird hunter and skeet and trap shooter from boyhood into his late 60s. During the 1950s and '60s, besides bird hunting, Jay's major hobby was training and handling bird dogs, especially Weimaraners and English Pointers. He spent numerous weekends each year competing in field trials in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California.

  Jay also enjoyed maintaining his properties and was a jack-of-all-trades, often offering his time, skills and general know-how in helping family and friends. He loved, and was quite adept at, operating cranes, backhoes, bulldozers, road graders and other heavy machinery. He thrived on telling jokes and playing pranks on family, friends and even unsuspecting strangers.
  Jay especially enjoyed spending time with his family and was generous with his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Jay was very proud of his and Zelda's 69-year marriage.

 Jay was preceded in death by his brothers, Harry, Buster, Roy, Hubert and Gene; and sisters, Freda (Havens), Rena (Wilson) and Norma (Crawford). He is survived by his wife Zelda; their two children (and their spouses), Sandra (Craig) and John (Sue); four grandchildren, Kelli, Brianna, Mark and Brigit; two great-grandchildren, Taylor and Ayla; his brother, Pat; and sister, Rita (Portwood).
  Private services will be held by the family at Purdy Walters Floral Hills in Lynnwood. A celebration of Jay's life will be planned for a later date.

  Another recent passing was former longtime industry member Robert "Bob" Kuvara, who had been a WTOBA member since 1988. The Western Washington attorney passed away on March 3, 2015.

Mahaska

  It was learned in mid-May that John and Doris Konecny's homebred 1990 Washington champion three-year-old filly Mahaska, 24, died in her sleep last fall. She had been pensioned at Konecnys' former Czechmate Farm in Enumclaw after producing her final foal in 2009.

  Sired by Grade 1 winner Just the Time, a grandson of the great Round Table, Mahaska was the second foal out of the unraced Messenger of Song mare Whimsical Aire, who the Konecnys had purchased out of the 1983 WTBOA Summer Yearling Sale. She was the first of only two foals out of Washington champion racemare Silky Steel, a daughter of Longacres Mile winner Steel Blade. While Mahaska was Whimsical Aire's only champion, the 1990 Washington broodmare of the year would also produce the stakes-winning and multiple stakes-producing full sisters Zashrany and Taj Aire and stakes-placed Aire of Speed among her 12 winners and 18 foals. Taj Aire, like her dam, would also be honored as Washington broodmare of the year, in 2003.

  Mahaska raced 28 times over four seasons with a 6-5-4 record, $235,253 earnings and a 7.52 SSI. She began her racing career at Santa Anita as a two-year-old by winning her initial outing in November. Her second win, and first stakes victory, followed eight months later at Exhibition Park when she took the Senorita Handicap. It was followed a month later with a tally in the Chapman Handicap at Los Alamitos and another victory in the Bangles and Beads Stakes at Fairplex Park in September. She also placed in the Grade 3 Linda Vista Breeders' Cup Handicap at Santa Anita and the Allez France Handicap at Hollywood Park. Mahaska earned $109,470 with a 3-1-1 record in seven starts during her championship season. At four she added a tally in Santa Anita's B. Thoughtful Stakes and placed in a trio of other California stakes. The Mike Puhich-trained filly ended her career with a three-length tally over fellow Washington champion Money by Choice in the Puget Sound Handicap at Longacres on July 4, 1992.

  Mahaska would produce 13 foals for the Konecny family, which were sired by top Kentucky, California and Washington sires, including Broad Brush, In Excess (Ire), Moscow Ballet, Skywalker and Tribunal. Her first foal, the winning Wolf Power (SAf) mare Seattle Seamstress, produced five winners, led by 2008 Washington champion three-year-old filly Enumclaw Girl, a daughter of Katowice who earned $141,553. Mahaska's second foal was the Broad Brush filly Indian Paintbrush, who ran second in the 1998 Federal Way Handicap at Emerald Downs. Her second stakes horse was the 2003 Skywalker gelding West Walker, who ran for seven seasons and was a stakes winner at Kin Park and Sunflower Downs in British Columbia. Mahaska's final foal was Quizzical, a daughter of Cindago who was named Washington champion three-year-old filly of 2012. She won three races and earned $193,055 while mainly racing on the Southern California circuit. A Santa Anita allowance winner, Quizzical also ran fourth in three California stakes.