High Flyer

Lady Rosberg Wayne Nagai Photo

  Since her last appearance at Emerald Downs - in a fourth place finish in a maiden/$30,000 optional claiming (N) race on August 18, 2013 - Lady Rosberg has become quite an accomplished runner. In her ten starts at Turf Paradise, while under the tutelage of trainer Valorie Lund, she has won or placed in five stakes and had three other wins. She was also lauded as Washington's champion turf runner for 2014.

  Now back in Tom Wenzel's barn, Karl Krieg's homebred mare came flying home by 5 1/2 lengths to take the mile Boeing Handicap on July 5.

  A field of eight talented older distaffers left the gate in the $50,000 race, the third race in the series leading up to the $65,000 Emerald Distaff, which will be contested on the August 16 Longacres Mile card.

   Lady of the Nile took the early lead with both Lady Rosberg and .90-to-one race favorite Kikisoblu (Kodiak Kowboy-Horse B With You), at her throatlatch for the first six furlongs. As the field neared the three-sixteenths pole, rider Gallyn Mitchell had Lady Rosberg poised and ready to make her move, and move she did, opening up by five lengths in the stretch to finish the race in 1:35.92. Mark Dedomenico LLC, Jerry Hollendorfer and Dr. George Todaro's Sarahline (Northern Afleet-Hold the Sugar) finished second, a length the better of Todaro's Kikisoblu. The favorite - who is also trained by Wenzel and had won the Hastings Handicap and Washington State Legislators Stakes in her previous two starts - had her most recent run comprised after she broke a bit slowly from the gate and then clipped heels a few strides later.

  "This filly has been freshened up," said Mitchell, whose victory gave him a record-breaking 78 stakes wins at Emerald. "I got to work her the last couple of times and I told Tom (Wenzel) that this filly was really sharp and on her game." Mitchell had also been aboard Lady Rosberg for her win in the Sun City Handicap on Valentine's Day, though Rocco Bowen (Kikisoblu's regular rider) had ridden the five-year-old mare to her victory in the March 28 Mesa Handicap.

  Lady Rosberg, the third in a trio of recent state champions for Krieg and his wife Darlyne of Oak Harbor, improved her record to 7-2-2 from 14 starts and the daughter of Rosberg-Enter Laughing, by Distorted Humor, has now earned $134,272.

  It should be noted that Wenzel has now won the last seven stakes in the Emerald older filly division, starting with Emerald champion Stopshoppingdebbie's four stakes win streak that began with the 2013 Hastings Handicap. Wenzel sits in third place among Emerald stakes conditioners with 34 wins.

  2013 Longacres Mile (G3) winner Herbie D, a seven-year-old British Columbia-bred who races for George Robbins and Darcia Doman, returned to Emerald Downs from his Hastings Racecourse headquarters to score a solid gate-to-wire victory in a mile allowance on July 4. The son of Orchid's Devil, who is trained by Robert Gikler and was ridden to his one-length score by Amadeo Perez, has a record of 11-1-1 in 16 starts and has earned $353,331. His connections are pointing him for the Mt. Rainier Handicap on July 19 and then on to the $200,000 Mile. Herbie D had been sidelined since that August 2013 Mile win with an ankle chip and later a torn suspensory. He made the first of his two 2015 starts at Hastings on April 24.

  The first annual Emerald Downs Jockeys' Foot Race, a charitable venture in support of the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund that was run on Independence Day, was taken by Diego Sanchez in :15.33. Apprentice rider Osvaldo Gonzalez finished second in the eighth of a mile sprint with Julien Couton coming in third in the field of ten riders competing.

  Also on the Fourth, Emerald Racing Club's Tribal Waters, by Tribal Chief was upgraded to fourth place in a $12,500 claiming race after stewards disqualified third place finisher My Chief for bumping the ERC runner.

  John Parker's homebred Gold Rush Dancer made an impressive debut on the Saturday card when the California-bred juvenile son of El Dorado Farms LLC's Private Gold-Dances on Water, by In Excess (Ire), took a five-furlong maiden special weight race by three lengths. The Bill Tollett trainee was ridden by Julien Couton.

  The other maiden special weight race on the card, a six-furlong race or three and up older fillies and mares, was taken by 2-6-10 Stables' Wickedizawickedduz, a three-year-old filly, also sired by Private Gold, bred by Richard T. Beal Jr. El Dorado Farms has consigned her half-sister by Council Member to the 2015 WTBOA summer sale. Both fillies are out of the winning Chilean-bred mare Crème.

    On Sunday, Coal Creek Farm homebred filly My Heart Goes On became the initial winner from the first crop of Donn Handicap (G1) winner Albertus Maximus when she won her first start, a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race, in gate-to-wire fashion. Trained by David Martinez and ridden by Javier Matias, My Heart Goes On is the first foal out of My Untamed Heart, by Value Plus, a $64,072 winning half-sister to $70,850 stakes-placed For You my Heart and $51,689 stakes-placed Somewhere With You.

  2013-14 Emerald Downs leading trainer Jeff Metz sent out six runners during the three-day Fourth of July weekend and saw each return to the winner's circle for the 48-year-old conditioner. His win strike rate at the Auburn meet is 28.4 percent. One of those runners, Sea Side Story, became the meet's seventh three-race winner (and Metz conditions three of the others) at the 2015 stand. Metz currently leads second place trainer Howard Belvoir 31 to 15.

  Through July 5 - the first dozen weeks of the meet - Julien Couton continues to lead all riders with 50 wins and $529,212 in mount earnings. Juan Gutierrez ranks second in wins with 41 and third in earnings with $415,931. Leslie Mawing is third in wins with 36 and second in earnings with $501,412.

  Following Metz, who also ranks first in earnings with $247,40, and Belvoir, whose runners' $198,297 places him third in earnings, are Frank Lucarelli and Blaine Wright, who are tied with 14 wins apiece. Lucarelli ranks second in money won with $202,702.

Not the Trailer

Thetrailerguy Wayne Nagai Photo

  The $50,000 Coca-Cola Handicap brought together a field of nine sophomore-aged colts and geldings for the mile June 21 stakes. The previously unbeaten Fooled Again went off as the $2.10-to-one betting choice and held the lead for the first three-quarters of a mile. Meanwhile, Julien Couton allowed Thetrailerguy to sit mid-pack before making a move as the sixteenth pole approached to defeat Mark Dedomenico LLC's 2014 Gottstein Futurity winner Prime Engine (Northern Afleet-Gravy Train's Song) - the fans' second favorite -  by a half-length. Glyn C. Kelly and Anne MacLennan's Senna (Tale of Ekati-Perfect Paula) was another half-length further back in third. Final race time was 1:36.80.

  "I had a lot of horse," said Couton. "I finally found the hole and the horse did the rest. I'll tell you what; he showed me a lot of heart today. He's got a lot of talent."

  It marked the first stakes win for trainer Monique Snowden, who conditions the runner for Heidi Nelson's Nelson Family Racing. The Bothell resident had purchased the son of Vosburgh Stakes (G1) winner Henny Hughes for $75,000 at the 2014 Ocala Sales Company's June Horses of Racing Age Sale. He is one of seven winners, which includes Norfolk Stakes (G2) second Boston Glory, out of 100 percent producer Unbridled Glory. The daughter of Unbridled is a half-sister to stakes winner and classic sire Lucky Pulpit. This is also the female family of Grade 1 stakes winners Unbridled's Song and Seattle Song. Nelson, who was second in the 2011 Coca-Cola with Zayda, has now had four stakes wins at Emerald Downs.

  Unraced at two, Thetrailerguy has made four starts at Emerald Downs this spring. After finishing second by a length behind Betsy's Gold in his initial outing on May 2, Thetrailerguy rolled to a 1 1/2-length win in a maiden special weight race on May 16. He next added a head tally in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance on May 31 before making his stakes debut in the Cocoa-Cola Handicap. The new stakes winner has earned $54,425.

La Belle Erin

Belle Hill Wayne Nagai Photo

  Emerald Downs annual celebration of Irish culture, held on June 28, culminated with the running of the $50,000 Irish Day Handicap, a mile tour for sophomore fillies. John and Janene Maryanski's Seeking the Light (Heatseeker [Ire]-Brightest) and Gary Barber's Suva Harbor (Rockport Harbor-Queen Dido) dueled for the early lead before Seeking the Light drew off to lead the field thorough the first six furlongs. As the runners reached the three-sixteenths pole, Belle Hill - ridden by Leslie Mawing - made a strong move and pulled away to take her first stakes win by four lengths. Seeking the Light finished two lengths the better of third place Suva Harbor in a race run in 1:36.67.

  Belle Hill is raced by the Aithon Stable LLC of James Perkins and Mary Holt-Perkins. The Issaquah residents had purchased their well-bred filly for $250,000 as an unraced two-year-old from her breeder Eugene Melnyk's dispersal of racing stock, which was held at Fasig-Tipton in Kentucky last July. Belle Hill is the 49th stakes winner - and one of five this year - sired by Sky Mesa, a Grade 1-winning son of Pulpit. She is the third foal and winner produced out of 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill, a daughter of Point Given who won the Canadian Filly Triple Crown and earned $1,747,081. Since her purchase, both of Belle Hill's half-sisters have added to their earnings and Hillaby won the 2014 Bessarabian Stakes (G2-Can). Hillaby, who was purchased by Stonerstreet Stables LLC for $500,000 out of the same Kentucky sale, pushed her earnings to $279,524 after she ran second by three-quarters of a length to Endless Light (GB) in the Sweet Briar Stakes held at Woodbine on July 1.

  Belle Hill began her race career at Golden Gate Fields in April with a third place finish in a maiden special weight race (beaten a half-length and a neck). She scored a 3 1/2-length win in her next start, a six-furlong maiden allowance at the Albany track. Sent north to Emerald Downs, Belle Hill made her stakes debut in the Seattle Handicap on May 31, finishing a competitive fourth and about three lengths behind winner Deb's Wildcard. Belle Hill, who has been trained by Larry Ross throughout her four-race career, has earned $49,970.

  "She's looks like she'll do anything" said Ross. "Her family is spectacular."

  "Speed was pretty tough today . . . I knew she was capable if lying off the pace because I've worked with this horse since day one, and this horse has sheer talent," said Mawing, who was celebrating his 34th Emerald stakes victory. "Larry and I were on the same page; lay off the pace and make one run. When I moved at the three-eighths, I knew I had a lot of horse."

  Where We At's Ain't Tellin' became the sixth three-peat winner at the 2015 meet when the Jim Penny trainee took a mile $7,500 claiming race by 5 3/4 lengths on the Sunday card.

   Week ten Washington-bred honors went to Barbara Schmid and Pamela Gibson's now 13-race winner Buds a Flyin, an eight-year-old gelded son of Waiting Game, an unraced son of Carson City. Buds a Flyin, who was bred by Norman Clem, has won his last two races, both at Emerald Downs, in gate-to-wire fashion. After taking a six-furlong $2,500 claimer by 4 1/4 lengths on June 15, he returned to the races six days later with a 1 3/4-length tally on June 21 in a 6 1/2-furlong $3,500 claiming race while ridden by Leonel Camacho-Flores.

  In 2015, Buds a Flyin has made five starts with a 2-0-3 record. Lifetime, the chestnut gelding has racked up $71,300 with a 13-7-10 record in 47 starts.

  Buds a Flyin is one of four winners from four starters and six foals produced out of Flying Patsy, a daughter of Peterhof. Her dam, Filly Will Fly, produced eight winners, led by $207,531 stakes winner Big Paz and stakes-placed Sooper Night. This is the same female line as 2015 Seattle Handicap winner Deb's Wildcard.

  Mark Hughes was chosen as owner of the week for the June 19-21 period with Monique Snowden being named top trainer and Camacho-Flores earned the title of rider of the week. Shelly Crowe was chosen as top exercise rider and April Davis, who works for Candi Tollett, was named best groom.

  The final weekend of racing in June - week 11 - saw Dean and Anne Essex's homebred Hugs and Kisses - ridden by Joe Steiner - earn Washington-bred horse honors. The three-year-old filly had begun her race career last November at Turf Paradise where she had made a trio of starts, placing in two, before the end of the year. Her sophomore campaign began at Emerald Downs, where after finishing fifth in her first outing, Hugs and Kisses, by Harbor the Gold,  finished second to her paternal half-sister and week four top Washington-bred Boss Lori in a maiden $15,000 claimer. Returned to the same level on June 26, Hugs and Kisses bested another Harbor the Gold offspring - G's Gold - by 1 1/4 lengths to record her first win.

  Hugs and Kisses is conditioned by the Essexes' son Charles Essex, who also trained the family's homebred stakes winner Kissntheboysgoodby, a daughter of Tropic Lightning who counted tallies in the 2005 Hastings Park Stakes at Emerald and the 2007 Ocean Bay Stakes at Turf Paradise among her seven wins and $138,618 earnings. Hugs and Kisses is one of two foals and winners out of Kissntheboysgoodby.

  Trainer of the week honors went to Howard Belvoir, and Gallyn Mitchell was lauded as top jockey. James Perkins and Mary Holt-Perkins' Aithon Stables LLC, who had their first stakes winner when Belle Hill won the Irish Day Handicap, were named the week's top owners. Oscar Rodriguez, who works for Joe Toye, was awarded groom honors, and exercise rider Alfonso Velador, who works for Tim McCanna, topped that category.

    Three days after saddling Acapulco to win the Queen Mary Stakes (G2), Wesley Ward had his second Group winner at the 2014 British meet with Undrafted as he galloped to a half-length win in the £525,000 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (G1) at 14-to-one odds. The five-year-old gelding by Purim-French Jeannette, by French Deputy, took the six-furlong turf stakes in 1:12.69. Finishing second in the 15-horse field was Brazen Beau from Australia with Irish-bred Astaire another 1 3/4 lengths back in third. Frankie Dettori rode Undrafted, who has now earned $1,042,178, for owners Wes Welker (a NFL star wide receiver) and Sol Kumin.

  "I am elated to win such a big, big race," said Ward, a native of Selah and former Eclipse Award winning apprentice jockey. "This is the biggest race I've ever won, bigger than the Breeders' Cups and everything else. The horse had been training unbelievable, firing bullets every week at Keeneland and Frankie has the touch and is a magical guy - he's a cool sitter and a go-getter."

  It marked the sixth stakes win at the posh English meet for Ward, who is now based in Florida.

  "We're going to sit down and talk about the July Cup (July 11), but no decision has been made," Ward added.

   El Dorado Farms LLC's first crop stallion Coast Guard officially became a sire when his first starter, Kiss My Lulu, went gate-to-wire to win her debut by six lengths in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race run at Emerald Downs on June 27. Kiss My Lulu also earned both a $1,000 Sales Incentive Program and an Emerald Buy Here/Win Here bonus for the win.

  Bred by Dr. Duane and Susan Hopp at their Castlegate Farm, Kiss My Lulu is the eighth winner, which includes stakes winners Sweetheart Deal and Sweet Madeleine and 2009 Washington most improved plater Blackcomb Run, out of the winning Runaway Groom mare Runaway Lulu.

  Kiss My Lulu was purchased from the Hopps' consignment to the 2014 WTBOA summer sale for $7,500 by winning trainer Howard Belvoir for winning owner Pegasus Too. Javier Mathias rode the bay filly to her :51.25 clocking.

   Runaway Lulu has a filly from the first crop of multiple Washington champion and Grade 2 stakes winner Atta Boy Roy consigned to the WTBOA's 2015 August sale.

  Kiss Mu Lulu is one of 14 juveniles in Coast Guard's first crop. A handsome son of leading national sire Stormy Atlantic, Coast Guard placed in the both the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) after winning a mile maiden special weight race at Santa Anita Park at two. A full or half-brother to three other stakes horses, including stakes winner and Grade 3-placed Shimmering Moment, Coast Guard earned $182,180 in his seven lifetime starts. His 2015 stud fee was $1,000.

  On June 18,  Caminetto, a full brother to Coast Guard and Grade 3-placed 2014 juvenile Stormy Liberal and half-brother to stakes winner Shimmering Moment and stakes-placed Garifine, took an allowance/$62,500 optional claiming (N) sprint over Santa Anita's turf course. The gelded son of Stormy Atlantic-Vassar, by Royal Academy, has earned $150,550 in eight starts with a record of 3-3-1. He is owned by Kaleem Shah Inc. and is trained by Bob Baffert.

  Coast Guard's first-time starter Marqula finished fourth in the $50,000 Everett Nevin Stakes held at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet on July 5. Bred by Jean and Ed Welch and sold through their Tall Cedars Farm LLC at the 2014 WTBOA Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale, the colt out of Marquet Formula - a daughter of Marquetry and Washington champion sprinter Spite and Malice - is raced by the partnership of Alan P. Klein, Philip Lebherz and Richard Meister and is trained by Jeff Bonde. Klein, Lebherz and Bonde had joined forces a few years back to buy and race WTBOA poster boy and three-time Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger.

  The 2015 WTBOA Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale catalog is now available through the Equineline Sales Catalog App for iPad. The free app is available through iTunes or the App Store (search for "Equine Sales Catalog").

  The app enables the download of sales catalogs, to which you will be able to not only view the catalog pages, but will also give you the ability to assign ratings, record conformation notes and veterinary information, hand write notes, highlight pages, perform customized searches, create short lists and more.

   Salty Le Mousee made it three wins in a row when he took the second division of the $3,200 claiming stakes at Les Bois Park on June 24.  It marked the 2008 WTBOA sales graduate's ninth win and upped his earnings to $54,540 for the son of Salt Lake bred in California by Dale Mahlum out of his multiple stakes producer Chasseur Dame, by French Legionaire.

  Thirteengoldhearts, a nine-year-old multiple stakes-winning son of West Coast Training Center's Liberty Gold-Macarena Girl, by Cryptoclearance, bred by Bo and Linda Weeks, finished second in the $9,400 Inaugural Handicap run at Wyoming Downs on June 20. It was the multiple stakes winner's first outing since September 2014. He has a record of 10-29-9 from 56 starts and has earned $68,027.

  2012 Washington champion two-year-old distaffer Finding More took her second consecutive race for Blue Ribbon Racing #12 at Emerald Downs when she won a 6 1/2-furlong allowance/$25,000 optional claiming race by 2 3/4 lengths on June 20. It was the sixth win for the five-year-old mare who was bred by Rick and Debbie Pabst, is trained by Jim Penney and was ridden by Eliska Kubinova. The daughter of Allaire Farms' stallion Trickey Trevor-Greenmountain Girl, by Green Dancer, has earned $170,796.

  Two-year-old Raise a Dancer went gate-to-wire to annex his first start, a 3 1/2-furlong maiden $20,000 claiming race at Northlands Park, by 3 1/4 lengths on June 20. The son of El Dorado Farms LLC's Raise the Bluff out of Crowning Camilla, by Formal Dinner, was bred in Washington by Ron McCormack and Ron Hagen, is trained by Greg Tracy, and races for Derby Quest Farms Ltd and Shot in the Dark Racing Corp. A day later, Raise the Bluff's three-year-old John's Not Bluffin won an allowance race at Emerald Downs by a length. Out of the Majesterian mare Dark Diva, John's Not Bluffin races for Ron Crockett Inc. and was bred by Crocket and Carnation Racing Stables. The Frank Lucarelli trainee, who defeated stakes winners Daytona Beach and  Cash N Dash in the mile race, has won half his four starts and earned $28,191.

   Stirling Bridge, a former WTBOA sale yearling, $179,890 stakes winner and multiple stakes producer, foaled a filly by Bellamy Road on May 4 and was bred back to Majesticperfection. The 20-year-old daughter of Prized is owned by Brereton C. Jones.

  Rusty G. Warlick's Hoodslide won a mile maiden special weight race by 2 1/4 lengths at Emerald Downs on July 3. Trained by Mary Pirone and ridden by Jose Zunino, the son of Blue Ribbon Farm stallion Nationhood is the sixth winner from the first six foals of racing age for the Country Light mare La Mariah, a half-sister to Washington champions Makors Mark and Clair Annette. The new winner was bred in Washington by Tom and Becky Birklid of Enumclaw, who have his half-sister by Atta Boy Roy consigned to the 2015 WTBOA Sale.

  Sue and Tim Spooner's Raspberry Road, a three-year-old gelding by Bellamy Road out of Washington champion racemare Marva Jean, by West by West, bred in Washington by Brewer Thoroughbreds LLC and Griffin Place LLC, scored his second win in four outings when he came home by 2 3/4 lengths in an allowance/$40,000 optional (N) claiming race at Emerald Downs on July 4. Ridden by Jake Barton, the Dan Markle trainee has earned $21,142.

  Three-year-old Snow Bunny ran third in the $40,000 George Wafer Memorial Stakes at Arapahoe Park on July 5. The daughter of Pulse Ranches' Preachinatthebar-Snowbound in Rio, by Snowbound, was bred in Washington by Robert F. Pulse and has a 2-2-1 record from eight starts and earnings of $21,716. The day before at Grants Pass, Donald Young's Oregon-bred Rockinatthebar became yet another winning member of Preachinatthebar's first Pacific Northwest crop when he won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race by 5 1/4 lengths. The new winner is out of the Rock Band mare Rock's El Dorado.

  To those of you who might appreciate a little trivia: the second dams of each of the past two years Queen's Plate (G1-Can) winners were WTBOA sales graduates and stakes winners. In 2014, it was Lexie Lou, by Sligo Bay (Ire) - who was later named 2014 Canadian Horse of the Year - whose champion and Grade 2 stakes-winning second dam was 1993 WTBOA RNA Favored One, who was bred in Washington by William and Barbara Nelsons' Gunshy Manor. On July 5, 2015, Shamam Ghost, by Ghostzapper, won the 156th renewal of the Canadian classic. His second dam was $122,694 earner and 1996 WTBOA Winter Sale yearling Shay, who won two stakes in 1998: the Arches of Gold Handicap at Golden Gate Fields and the King County Handicap over three-time Emerald Downs champion and 2015 Washington Racing Hall of Fame finalist Ropersandwranglers. A daughter of Incinderator, Shay was bred in Kentucky by Tom Caldwell out of his Alki Breeders' Cup Stakes winner Lookin Like a Lady, a full sister to Mexican and Oregon two-year-old filly champion Cinefila. Shaman Ghost, who races for Stronach Stables and was bred his Adena Springs, has won four of seven starts and earned $611,611.

   Among the veterinary scholarships awarded at the recent scholarship luncheon held at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, was the annual Washington Thoroughbred Foundation (WTF) and WTBOA Equine Veterinary Scholarship, which this year was awarded to Sarah P. Jarvis.

  In her thank you letter, Jarvis writes: "Thank you so very much for the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association and Washington Thoroughbred Foundation Scholarship. The generosity of the Association and Foundation means so much to me.

  "Veterinary school has afforded me the opportunity to work with horses and students in a leadership position. I will forever be thankful for that, as it has made me grow in the realm of both professional and equine leadership.

 "I am about to start my fourth and final year of my veterinary education, and I look forward to expanding these skills even further.

  "Thank you again so much. I am excited to work in the equine sector of veterinary medicine."

     Breakfast at the Wire - at which fans can enjoy a leisurely breakfast while watching horses in morning workouts - returns for a second season on Saturday, July 18.   Held 8-10 a.m. each Saturday through August 29, Breakfast at the Wire is located adjacent to the finish line directly in front of the Trackside Deli, allowing fans magnificent sight lines of the hundreds of Thoroughbreds training for upcoming races at Emerald Downs.   Priced at only $6, the breakfast features a choice of scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns, or scrambled eggs with biscuits and gravy, along with giant cinnamon rolls from Alki Bakery and gourmet coffee from Rad Roasting Company. The cost includes free parking and entry through the Paddock Gate from 8 to 9 a.m.   Hosted by Dean Mazzuca, Breakfast at the Wire also features prominent guests from all facets of the Thoroughbred community, a veritable who's who of local equine stars. Last year, Frank Lucarelli, Howard Belvoir, Jim Penney, Rocco Bowen, Leslie Mawing and Jennifer Whitaker were among dozens of horsemen interviewed. Several behind-the-scenes people also paid visits to Breakfast at the Wire - including veterinarians, stewards, assistant starters, association clockers, farriers and many others.   Impromptu visitors - like Larry Ross pointing out Longacres Mile winner Stryker Phd on the track - also are regular features of Breakfast at the Wire.   The brainchild of Vicki Potter, who works in Emerald Downs Group Sales, Potter said the idea was to pattern the program like the successful ones at Del Mar and Santa Anita.

 "The idea was to provide a leisurely atmosphere at a good location," she said. "One where attendees would be 'wowed' by surprise, drop-in appearances by our celebrities - jockeys, trainers, gallop people, agents, gate crew and more." 

  TripAdvisor has awarded Emerald Downs a 2015 Certificate of Excellence - a prestigious award that can only be earned through consistently great reviews on the world's largest travel site.

  "For five years, TripAdvisor has shared this award on behalf of travelers across the globe," said Marc Charron, president of TripAdvisor for Business. "We hope you're proud to see Emerald Downs recognized by customers as one of the very best in the business."
  In TripAdvisor reviews, Emerald Downs averaged 4 1/2 out of a possible 5 stars, with over 80 percent of reviewers rating their experience either excellent or very good. Emerald Downs also is rated #1 of 15 things to do in Auburn.
  TripAdvisor reviews for Emerald Downs included visitors from around the state, as well as California, Montana, Vermont, Alaska, Canada and the United Kingdom.

   During the annual American Horse Council (AHC) June meeting in Washington, DC, the AHC board of trustees voted unanimously to oppose legislation introduced by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA) to repeal the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 (IHA).

  "The industry is united in its opposition to these bills. The Interstate Horse Racing Act is the framework on which the present-day $26 billion horse racing industry is built," said AHC president Jay Hickey. "Repealing it would be devastating."  

  In 1978, Congress enacted the IHA to regulate interstate and off-track pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing. Tens of millions of fans enjoy horse racing and wagering on it. Pari-mutuel racing and the money wagered on it are the economic engines that drive and support the horse racing industry.

  While the sponsors of the legislation suggest in releases accompanying the introduction of the bills that they will encourage the industry to develop uniform rules and penalties regarding drugs and medications in racing, unlike other bills introduced by Senator Udall and Congressman Pitts, the only effect of these bills would be to repeal the IHA and racing's exemption from the prohibitions of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which regulates interstate wagering on the Internet. By doing this the bills would return racing to the way it operated in the 1950s and 1960s and cause great economic damage to the industry. 

  "The American Horse Council opposes both bills because they would have devastating consequences for the horse racing industry and the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose jobs are supported by the industry," said Hickey.  

  The AHC represents all segments of the horse industry, including all major national horse racing organizations.

  Keeneland has announced that they have made a few alterations for their upcoming yearling sale which will run from September 14 to September 26 this year. The sale will open with a three-day Book 1, spanning Monday-Wednesday, September 14-16, one day less than previously announced. The sale's traditional "dark day," when no sales are conducted, will move from Friday of opening week to Thursday, September 17. The Book 2 sale will be conducted Friday-Saturday, September 18-19, followed by Books 3-6 beginning Sunday, September 20.

  WTBOA member and sales consignor Dr. Rodney Orr will join Washington TOBA recipients Todd and Shawn Hansen as Oregon's 2014 TOBA winner at the 30th annual TOBA National Awards Dinner on September 11 in Lexington, Kentucky.

  Horseplayers Racing Club, Milan McFedritch and breeder Mersad Metanovic's three-year-old Papa G won a six-furlong starter allowance at Oak Tree at Pleasanton on June 19. The California-bred son of Papa Clem-Charlie's Princess, who is trained by Tim McCanna, improved his record to 3-2-2 from 12 starts and has earned $35,895.

  Two geldings with Washington connections won on the June 20 Santa Anita card. In the third race, five-year-old Buckleberry Grey, a Kentucky-bred son of Unbridled's Song out of Elusive Diva, a graded stakes-winning daughter of Washington broodmare of the year Taj Aire, took a $25,000 claiming race by three lengths, It was the second win in a row for the gray/roan gelding who has earned $77,750. He was claimed out of the race by trainer Doug F. O'Neil. In race six, four-year-old George's Main Man, who was unraced at two and three, took his second win. The son of Henny Hughes out of Washington-bred stakes winner Ippodamia, by Petersburg, is a half-brother to Grade 1 stakes winner Georgie Boy.

  Buckleberry Grey returned to the races on July 5 with a win in a 5 1/2-furlong starter allowance at the Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos and is now three-for-three in 2015 with total earnings of $93,950.

  Five-year-old Get Happy Mister, Colorado's top earning runner of all time and graded stakes winner, was named 2014 Colorado-bred horse of the year. By First Samurai, Get Happy Mister earned $151,565 of his $384,928 total last year. His fourth dam was 1978 Washington broodmare of the year Yang, dam of Washington champion and leading sire Knights Choice.

  Rozamund Barclay's homebred two-year-old Algenon, a Kentucky-bred son of Aragorn (Ire)-Alpine Yodel, by Swiss Yodeler, went gate-to-wire to take his first outing - a five-furlong maiden special weight race at Oak Tree at Pleasanton - by 2 1/2 lengths on June 26. The new winner, who went off at 12.60-to-one odds, is trained by Len Kasmerski.

  Nine days later Algenon added $6,000 to his totals when he ran third in the $64,910 Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton.

  Barclay also had another homebred juvenile winner on July 5 when Swiss Affair - a filly by Swiss Yodeler-Hollywood Affair, by Bertrando, trained by Mikel Harrington - went gate-to-wire to win a maiden $50,000 claimer by 1 1/12 lengths at Los Alamitos Thoroughbred meet.

   Hard Aces, the five-year-old son of Hard Spun who took his first stakes victory in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (G1) on June 27, is out of $162,675 winner All in With Aces, by Quiet American. Her dam, $107,608 stakes winner Aces, by Housebuster, is one of eight winners produced out of the Secretariat mare Sweetbreads, who produced a trio of Washington-bred winners for Pam Nelson's Foothills Farm.

  Owner/breeder Karl C. Krieg and trainer Valorie Lund's Makinmymark won a 5 1/2-furlong allowance/$35,000 optional claiming race by 3 1/2 lengths at Canterbury Park on June 18. The six-year-old Washington-bred mare is a daughter of pensioned Washington champion Makors Mark and the last foal and one of three winners for the unraced Crimson Slew mare Cranberry Slough. In 13 starts, Makinmymark has won three races at Canterbury and one at Turf Paradise. She has earned $75,444 in 13 total starts.

  Bent On Bourbon, the three-year-old son of Arch who took the $250,000 Iowa Derby (G3) at Prairie Meadows by three lengths on June 27, was bred in Kentucky by Northwest Farms LLC. His dam, Little Luxury, by Seeking the Gold, was also bred by NWF, who raced her dam, seven-time stakes winner - including five stakes at Emerald Downs - and $187,870 earner Lasting Code. A $90,000 2013 Keeneland September sale yearling, Bent On Bourbon has a record of 3-1-0 from five starts and has earned $230,400.

  The following day, Northwest Farms LLC-bred Rocket Dash, a five-year-old horse by Bluegrass Cat-Unfinished Dream, by Silver Deputy, took his third win in a five-furlong plate race at Hakodate in Japan. The $125,000 2011 Keeneland September Sale graduate has earned $230,894.

  Five-year-old They Call Me Mr. P, a California-bred son of Dream Star Farm's Council Member out of Drop a Dime, by Phone Track, took a mile allowance/$15,000 optional claiming (N) race by three lengths at Assiniboia Downs on June 19 to push his earnings to $45,162.

  $344,701 multiple stakes winner Shrug, a handsome son of Medaglia d'Oro out of Washington horse of the year Delicate Vine's stakes-placed daughter Babeinthewoods, by Woodman, was lost to colic in mid-June. He had just stood his first season at Emerald Acres in Aldergrove, British Columbia.

  Quatre Cat, a three-year-old multiple stakes-winning daughter of El Dorado Farms LLC's Abraaj-Four Girls, by Foxhound, added her sixth stakes placement in her eight total starts when she finished second in the $40,020 Supernaturel Handicap run on the Canada Day card at Hastings Racecourse to up her earning to $117,367. On the same card, Mark Dedomenico LLC and North American Thoroughbred Horse Company had two winners. The partnership's Mr. Bowling earned his sixth stakes victory in the Lieutenant Governor's Handicap. The six-year-old son of Istan-Goldilock's Bear, by Irish Tower, has now earned $418,057. Juvenile runner Ebony Warrior, a Kentucky-bred gelding by Majestic Warrior out of millionaire stakes winner Ebony Breeze, by Belong to Me, defeated fellow first-time starter Fear of the Cat, also by Abraaj, by three-quarters of a length in the six-panel maiden special weight race.

  Also on the Hastings' card, WTBOA member I. Melvin Gorasht and E. M. and M. Braithewaite's homebred stakes winner Locket, a five-year-old British Columbia-bred daughter of Rosberg, finished second in the Monashee Handicap. One of five stakes winners out of the Ascot Knight mare La Belle Creole, Locket has earned $130,882.

  Holy Nola, the stakes-winning dam of Pulse Ranches' Grade 2 stakes winner and sire Preachinatthebar, produced a colt by Harbour Watch (Ire) on April 27 and was bred back to Equiano (Fr). The 20-year-old daughter of Silver Deputy, who currently resides at Newsells Park Stud in England, is also the dam of stakes winner Royal Revival (GB)  and stakes-placed Nolas Lofty (Ire).

  Temperence Gift, 17, an unraced daughter of Kingmambo and the dam of Grade 1 stakes winner and $814,194 earner Gozzip Girl, foaled a colt by Giant's Causeway on May 2 and was bred back to More Than Ready. Her dam, $133,110 stakes winner Shapiro's Mistress - a half-sister to millionaire and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Brocco - is also the dam of $275,955 stakes winner Kodema, $147,578 stakes winner Mistress S and stakes-placed Viz. Shapiro's Mistress is out of Anytime Ms., a daughter of *Aurelius II and Washington broodmare of the year Hold Hands, who produced three Washington champions, including two horses of the year.

  Three-year-old Big Hat Charlie, a gelding by Indian Charlie, became the eighth winner for French classic winner Macoumba when he took a $20,000 maiden claiming race by 3 1/2 lengths at the Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos on July 2. The daughter of Mr. Prospector is also the dam of  multiple leading Washington sire Parker's Storm Cat - who stands at Gibson Thoroughbred Farm - and leading national sire Malibu Moon.

  Oregon-bred Mamoo's Gold, who races for his breeder James Craig, took a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Grants Pass on July 3. The new winner is a son Parker's Storm Cat and out of the Slewdledo mare Franny Girl.
  Dr. George Todaro and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's Prodicious Facts, a three-year-old half-sister to $305,483 stakes winner Mr Palmer, took her second win in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet on July 3. A $100,000 Keeneland September Sale purchase in 2013, the chestnut filly is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Giant's Causeway-In Truth, by Quiet American.

  The late Washington sire Katowice had two Washington-bred winners on the July 2 Lethbridge card. Top Kat Miss, a five-year-old mare out of Czechmate Miss, by He's Tops, bred by Elwin and Patti Gibson, won the first race; and five-year-old gelding Everdayimhustlin, who was bred by Howard E. Belvoir out of the Personable Joe matron Placer Creek, won the allowance feature by 1 1/2 lengths. 

 Three-year-old Waady, an Irish-bred son of Approve out of Anne Bonney, by Jade Robbery, won the Coral Charge (Registered as the Print S.)-G3 at Sandown in England on July 4 for his fifth win in seven starts for the John Gosden trainee. His third dam, 1986 Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1-Ire) winner Flamenco Wave - who produced five stakes winners, including three Grade or Group 1 winners - was sired by former Washington (St. Hillarie Thoroughbreds) sire Desert Wine and was co-bred by Dan J. Agnew, who also raced her classic-placed and Grade 1-winning sire.