For the Reporter
It’s officially championship season at Emerald Downs.
The $75,000 Washington Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles, to be run Sunday, July 24, is the first of several championship events to be run here the next several weeks.
On Sunday, July 31, 3-year-old colts or geldings take their turn in the $75,000 Emerald Downs Derby at 1 1/8 miles, and on Sunday, August 14, Emerald Downs presents a stakes double-header featuring the $200,000 Longacres Mile (Grade 3) for 3-year-olds and up, and the $65,000 Emerald Distaff for older fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles.
In a new twist, the winner of this year’s Washington Oaks is eligible for a $25,000 (Cdn) bonus if she also wins the $100,000 B.C. Oaks at Hastings Racecourse on Saturday, Sept. 10.
The 3-year-old filly division has been topsy-turvy this season with three different winners in as many races, and Either Princess Katie or Find Joy would likely clinch a division title with a victory in the Oaks.
Shipping in from Vancouver, Princess Katie (pictured with blue silks) rallied from 14 lengths back to edge My Heart Goes On in the one-mile Irish Day Stakes on May 29. Find Joy regrouped from a sixth-place finish in the Irish Day to register a $31.40 in the 1 1/16-mile Kent Stakes on June 26.
Invested Prospect, winner of the 6½-furlong Seattle Stakes, is strictly a sprinter and isn’t nominated to the Oaks. The division has proven to have some quality, however, as Invested Prospect defeated older fillies and mares in a six-furlong allowance race last week, and B C Z Middleton, runner-up to Invested Prospect in the Seattle Stakes, defeated older fillies and mares in the $50,000 Washington State Legislators Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs last month.
$75,000 Washington Oaks, Saturday, July 24
3-Year-Old Fillies, 1 1/8 Miles
Horse, owner, trainer
Brookys Star (3-KY) Jethorse LLC, Tim McCanna
Find Joy (3-KY) David P. Taylor Jr., Frank Lucarelli
Hit List (3-KY) Ten Broeck Farm, Mike Puhich
Indy Black (3-BC) North American Tbred Racing Co., Troy Taylor
Jerre to Carrie (3-KY) Ron Crockett Inc., Tom Wenzel
Listo (3-WA) Horse Haven Creek Farm & C Lumley, Rosie Simkins
Mara’s Warlock (3-WA) Warlock Stables, A Floyd & W Edwards, Roddina Barrett
My Heart Goes On (3-WA) Coal Creek Farm, David Martinez
Princess Katie (3-BC) Ernest Chu, Robert Gilker
Princess Kennedy (3-KY) David Thorner, Tom Wenzel
Say It Slow (3-KY) Mark Dedomenico LLC, Mike Puhich
Sunrise Glow (3-KY) Ten Broeck Farm, Tom Wenzel
Three Forks Gold (3-WA) David L. Greenshields, Rosie Simkins
