Absolutely Cool is smoking hot, wins Cascade Coffee purse on Sunday | Emerald Downs

Absolutely Cool is smoking hot, wins Cascade Coffee purse on Sunday | Emerald Downs

August 1, 2011 2:12 pm
Absolutely Cool and jockey Juan Gutierrez were the winning team in the $17
Absolutely Cool and jockey Juan Gutierrez were the winning team in the $17

Trainer Tom Wenzel pulled another rabbit out of his hat Sunday afternoon at Emerald Downs. Saddling his ninth feature race winner of the meeting to go along with one stakes victory, Wenzel brought Absolute Cool off a two-month freshening for a 1-½-length victory in the $17,600 Cascade Coffee Purse for 3-year-olds and up.Ridden by Juan Gutierrez, Absolutely Cool ran 6-½ furlongs in 1:14.64 on a fast track and paid $7.20, $3.80 and $2.40. Karl Krieg III of Oak Harbor, Wash. is the owner-breeder.A 4-year-old Washington-bred by Absolute Harmony, Absolutely Cool has a 4-3-1 record in 12 starts lifetime with earnings of $47,892, including $9,680 for Sunday’s triumph.A two-time winner at the 2010-11 Turf Paradise meeting, Absolutely Cool most recently finished eighth in the May 22 Governor’s Handicap won by Noosa Beach.The respite worked wonders as Absolutely Cool pressed the pace while even-money betting favorite Newfound Man led through a quarter-mile in a relatively slow :23.19 seconds.  Attacking from the outside, Absolutely Cool took command on the turn, running the half-mile in :45.14, opened a clear lead into the lane and held off He’s All Heart late for the victory.He’s all Heart, ridden by Gallyn Mitchell, finished well for second place and paid $4.40 and $2.10. It was three-quarters-of-a-length back to Newfound Man, Leslie Mawing riding, and a $2.10 show payoff.Go With Gusto and Noble Juan completed the order of finish.

McCanna notches 800th win
More Wine Won ($4) as the winner in the 10th race finale under Joe Crispin as trainer Tim McCanna became the first trainer in Emerald Downs’ history with 800 wins. A 10-time leading trainer at Emerald Downs, McCanna ranks second with 30 wins at the current meeting and has won the last four training titles here.McCanna, 49, recently was voted into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame and the official induction ceremony is Saturday, Aug. 20.The top five winning trainers in Emerald Downs history (through July 31): McCanna, 800; Frank Lucarelli, 651; Howard Belvoir, 546; Jim Penney, 525; Doris Harwood, 411.

Hayjax too fast for his foes, prevails in $17,600 Saturday feature
Hayjax sprinted clear early and held off 4-to-5 betting favorite Showme Yourfriends for a 1-½ length victory Saturday in the $17,600 AAA Washington Purse for 3-year-olds at Emerald Downs. Ridden by A. L. Gutierrez, Hayjax – pictured above – ran 6-½ furlongs in 1:15.22 and paid $19, $7.40 and $3.60. Tim McCanna is the trainer for owner Luigi DiPietro of Auburn and the Estate of Victor DiPietro.Hustled by Gutierrez to the lead, Hayjax set fractions of :22.66, :45.22 and 1:08.83. He led by three lengths in mid-stretch, and held Showme Yourfriends safe to the wire. A 3-year-old California-bred by Souvenir Copy, Hayjax has a 3-1-1 record in nine starts lifetime with earnings of $34,904.McCanna, whose official induction into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame is Aug. 20, needs just one win to become the first trainer with 800 wins at Emerald Downs. He nearly achieved the milestone in the final race, but Our Soulja Boy finished second after leading in deep stretch.Showme Yourfriends, the 50-to-1 here in the May 30 Auburn Handicap, rallied strongly in the stretch, but had to settle for second place. Ridden by Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo, Showme Yourfriends paid $2.80 and $2.10.It was three-quarters of a length back to Vegas Flyer, ridden by apprentice Lance Bullock, and a $2.40 show payoff. It was the first career loss for the Henny Hughes gelding after scoring back-to-back 14-to-1 victories.Kooky Saluki and Avalon Beach dead-heated for fourth place, and Memo to Mya finished sixth.

NOTES: Onepartuclrharbor ($6.80) scored her third gate-to-wire victory of the season in race seven to give trainer Chris Stenslie a career-high 20 wins at the 2011 meeting. Stenslie is 20-for-78 (25.6 percent) and a contender for Top Training Achievement at the conclusion of the season…The Stenslie-trained Hollywood Harbor, coming off a meet-fastest 1:13.80 for 6-½ furlongs, breezed one mile in 1:40 Sunday morning and is considered a possible starter in the $200,000 Longacres Mile (G3) on Sunday, Aug. 21…Happy Birthday to track announcer Robert Geller, 52-years-old Sunday!…Skinny Genes pulled off a tough feat in the second race—winning her career debut in a route race. The 3-year-old Pleasant Tap filly gave the crowd a thrill, balking at the starting gate, and then rallying from last to win going away in 1:39.47 for one mile. Ridden by Pedro Terrero, trained by Howard Belvoir and owned and bred by Todd and Shawn Hansen. Skinny Genes paid $11.40…Terrero and leading rider Leslie Mawing rode two winners each on the 10-race card, and Mawing finished Week No. 16 with a 75-66 lead over Juan Gutierrez in the Thoroughbred jockeys’ standings…Joe Crispin also rode two winners, one Thoroughbred and one Quarter Horse, and is third with 63 wins in the Thoroughbred standings…Belvoir led the trainers with two wins and owns a 37-30 lead over Tim McCanna in the Thoroughbred trainers’ standings…2010 Longacres Mile runner-up Jersey Town made a strong 2011 debut with a second-place finish in the $100,000 Teddy Drone Stakes at Monmouth Park. Force Freeze, a 16-to-1 long shot won the race, in a near record 1:07 3/5 for six furlongs…Live racing resumes Thursday with first post at 6:15 p.m….Pasta Time ($23.40) ridden by Jorge Rosales and trained by Dinos Apostolou captured the George Sedlock Appreciation Purse named in honor of the very successful Thoroughbred owner and original Emerald Downs investor…Olympic Lights ($10.20) temporarily ran the fastest six furlongs of the meeting—1:08.65—while defeating stablemate Tequila Gold by three-quarters of a length in the second race. It was the 11th Emerald Downs victory for the 7-year-old Tropic Lightning gelding…However, four races later 3-year-old Seattle Sniper ($3.20) ran six furlongs in 1:08.32 to take over the top spot. By Strong Hope-Taste the Passion, Seattle Sniper is 3-4-2 in 11 lifetime starts including a second in the 2010 Gottstein Futurity and third in the May 30 Auburn Handicap. Saturday marked his first start in a claiming race, and trainer Tom Wenzel, as he earlier did with both Rossi Reserve and Tasya, managed to win the race and avoid the claim…Private Fortune, stakes placed twice last year including runner-up honors at 45-to-1 in the Washington Oaks, collected her second career victory in the fifth race. Ridden by Gallyn Mitchell, the 4-year-old Private Gold filly ran 1-1/16-mile in 1:43.71 and paid $9.40…Jockey Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo was uninjured after Armed Service stumbled and unseated the rider at the start of the first race…Jockey Leonel Camacho-Flores posted his second straight riding double, including a $39.80 victory aboard J.T. Rocks in the nightcap…Mitchell also rode two winners on the eight-race card…Jim Penney led the trainers with two wins…The $0.50 Pick 5 (6-4-2-2-10) paid $4,648.65—the second highest payout since the wager was introduced June 17…Live racing continues Sunday with first post 2:15 p.m. The opener is for Quarter horses at 300 yards; the ninth race Thoroughbred feature is a $17,600 purse for 3-year-olds and up at 6-½ furlongs. Vic-Tory Stables’ He’s All Heart is the 2-to-1 morning line favorite.