$50,000 Coca-Cola ‘Cap tests sophs around two turns | Emerald Downs

A balanced field of nine 3-year-old colts and geldings race one mile Sunday in the $50,000 Coca-Cola Handicap at Emerald Downs.

For the Reporter

A balanced field of nine 3-year-old colts and geldings race one mile Sunday in the $50,000 Coca-Cola Handicap at Emerald Downs.

Fooled Again, undefeated in two starts including a 1¼-length victory in the Auburn Handicap, is the probable favorite for trainer Howard Belvoir. A $43,000 colt by Scat Daddy, Fooled Again ran 6½ furlongs in 1:16.22 in the Auburn, defeating several of the horses he’ll meet again Sunday.

Gloria’s Angelo, second in the Auburn, is ready for another crack at Fooled Again, as are third-place finisher Senna, fourth-place O B Harbor and sixth-place Prime Engine. Making their stakes debuts are Betrbegone, Awesome Indian, Thetrailerguy and Percy Fawcett.

Prime Engine is the only two-turn stakes winner in the field. The Northern Afleet colt dusted Trackattacker and four others in the 1 1/16-mile Gottsetin Futurity last fall, but was cooked after an early pace duel with Daytona Beach in the Auburn.

The :44.01 half-mile was perfect for Fooled Again, as he swamped the tired leaders into the lane and held off a wall of closers for the victory.

Senna, third at 54-to-1 in the Auburn, and Percy Fawcett, in from Golden Gate Fields, also have produced mile victories in their careers, albeit vs. far softer competition.

Thetrailerguy could give trainer Monique Snowden her first career stakes winner. A Kentucky-bred by Henny Hughes-Unbridled Glory, Thetrailerguy has run three strong races at the meet, most recently a head win over Awesome Indian in 1:16.78 for 6½ furlongs in a May 31 allowance.

“All along we felt that he was going to be a distance horse,” Snowden said. “We hoped that he would be successful running shorter, but since day one we always felt a mile was his distance. He gets stronger and better the farther he goes.

“What makes him such a nice horse is his ability to relax,” Snowden added. “He can be in the middle of the pack, get dirt kicked in his face or get bumped around and he thinks its fun. He thinks racing is the best game we ever invented for him.”

Thetrailerguy drew post No. 7 with Julien Couton, the meet’s leading rider, taking the mount.

The Coca-Cola Handicap is Race 9 at 6:09 p.m.

Sunday’s weather forecast is for clear & 78 degrees.

Average field size thru seven stakes is 9.2 horses. Average $2 win payoff is $22.40.

Sunday’s 10th race is a $25,000 allowance for 3-year-olds at one mile and features four horses nominated to the Coca-Cola: Fire the Trainer, Cash N Dash, Daytona Beach and Arrom Bear.

The field for the 20th running of the Coca-Cola Handicap: Gloria’s Angelo, Joe Steiner, 118 pounds; Prime Engine, Leslie Mawing, 119; Betrbegone, Javier Matias, 117; Awesome Indian, Rocco Bowen, 115; Senna, Francisco Duran ,116; Fooled Again, Juan Gutierrez, 119; Thetrailerguy, Julien Couton, 117; Percy Fawcett, Gallyn Mitchell, 115; O B Harbor, Jake Barton, 117.

Washington-breds show plenty of talent in Bud

In case it escaped notice, Sunday’s $50,000 Budweiser Handicap was a showcase of the highest order for Washington-bred talent.

The top three finishers – Stryker Phd, Noosito and Absolutely Cool — are all Washington-bred, and the trio couldn’t have picked a better time to strut their stuff.

The Budweiser Handicap, after all, is part of the track’s glamour division—older handicap horses—and an important prep for the $200,000 Longacres Mile (Grade 3) on Sunday, Aug. 16.

Before Sunday, Washington-breds were pitching a shutout in stakes at the meeting—0-for-5—as Kentucky-breds Fleet Eagle, Fooled Again and Kikisoblu (twice) all scored stakes wins, as did California-bred Deb’s Wildcard.

Stryker Phd bucked the trend, scoring a hard-earned neck victory over Noosito, running one mile in 1:35.57, with Absolutely Cool 2½ lengths back in third. Stryker Phd, Noosito and Absolutely Cool earned Beyers of 97, 97 and 92—the three largest figures of the 25-day-old meeting.

Incidentally, Stryker Phd (6 years old), Noosito (4), and Absolutely Cool (8) are all Washington champions, and their combined record is 19-16-18 in 66 starts and earnings of $801,072. Stryker Phd is defending Horse of the Meeting and defending Longacres Mile champ, and now has five straight wins at Emerald Downs.

Penney doing OK after breaking pelvis

Washington Racing’s Hall of Fame trainer Jim Penney was in good spirits and resting comfortably at Auburn’s Valley Regional Hospital on Thursday, according to his daughter and assistant trainer Kay Cooper.

Penney, who turns 81 on July 4, suffered a fractured pelvis Monday after falling from his trailer while loading horses. Cooper said the doctors are also concerned that Penney may have injured his shoulder, which will be further evaluated this week.

“He’s in some pain, but he’s still acting like his old stubborn self over there,” Cooper said jokingly. “The good news is that he won’t have to have surgery. It’ll just take some time to heal.”

Finish lines

Weekly Honors #9 – Trainer – Candi Tollett; Jockey – Diego Sanchez; Owner – Michael Pollowitz; Groom – Jose Espinoza (Larry Ross); WTBOA Washington-bred – Among the Stars; Exercise Rider – Brian Allen. … Saturday’s first race features Trackattacker’s half-brother, En Avant, vs. five others in a $20,500 maiden special weight at 4½ furlongs … Speaking of 2-year-olds, Hey Ez Money earned a respectable 65 Beyer for his 7¾-length victory in the meet’s first maiden special weight for juveniles. An Arizona-bred by Ez Dreamer, Hey Ez Money ran five furlongs in :58.07. … Diego Sanchez, eighth in the jockeys’ standings with 10 wins, has an average $2 win payoff of $33.50, including a track record $153 on Making Fire and a season stakes-high of $81.40 on Fleet Eagle in the Governor’s Handicap. … Through six stakes, average field size is 9.2 horses and average $2 win payoff is $22.40. That’s a marked increase over last year, when the season stakes average was 6.8 horses and the average $2 win payoff was $8.40. … 123racing continues to offer guaranteed pools of $1,000 on Fridays and $2,000 Saturdays and Sundays. The wager is on the final six races on each Emerald Downs card. … 2-year-old colt Iwo and 2-year-old filly Jima both worked two furlongs Thursday for trainer and WWII veteran Don Munger. Both runners are by Nacheezmo and were born on April 15 and 16, 2013. … 2014 Longacres Mile nominee Floating Feather improved to 14-for-48 lifetime with a nose victory over He’s Very Rare in Wednesday’s $12,000 Ron Yanke Memorial at Les Bois Park. Leslie Mawing, who rides Wednesdays in Boise, finished fourth on Wups and is 2-2-4 in 21 mounts. He’s Very Rare , incidentally, is entered right back in Saturday’s $8,000 Inaugural on opening day at Wyoming Downs. … Trainer Larry Ross celebrates his 63rd birthday Sunday. … Deb’s Wildcard returns to action Sunday in the $50,000 Pleasanton Oaks at six furlongs. The California-bred filly edged Ethan’s Baby by a nose in the May 31 Seattle Handicap at Emerald Downs. … The Tollett family is on a roll at Emerald Downs. Trainer Bill Tollett has won with five of his last 13 starters, while daughter-in-law Candi Tollett has won with three of her last six starters including a two-win day last Saturday. … Emerald Downs offers its traditional Father’s Day giveaway Sunday, with the first 7,000 paid admissions receiving a custom-ordered blue & white Emerald Downs baseball cap.