For the Reporter
Kikisoblu showed her heels to a strong group of older fillies and mares in Sunday’s $50,000 Hastings Handicap at Emerald Downs.
The lightly raced filly slipped through on the turn and powered home for a 4¼-length victory over City by the Bay before a packed house on Mother’s Day.
Ridden by Rocco Bowen at 116 pounds and trained by Tom Wenzel, Kikisoblu zipped six furlongs in 1:08.69, and paid $19, $7 and $4.40. George Todaro of Seattle and Steve Shimizu of Bellevue are co-owners.
A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred by Kodiak Kowboy, Kikisoblu improved to 3-0-1 in four career starts, with earnings of $44,524. Sunday’s race was her stakes and Emerald Downs debut, following three starts last winter at Turf Paradise.
City by the Bay, the 7-to-5 betting favorite, challenged the winner through the stretch but settled for second. Ridden by Julien Couton at high weight of 120 pounds, City by the Bay paid $3.40 and $2.80.
It was 3½ lengths back to Lady of the Nile, Leslie Mawing riding at 123 pounds, and an $8.20 show payoff. Society Girl, Madame Pele, Guinevere’s Finale, Bee Dees Bid, Tabled With Gold, Mylast Sweet Pea and Tinkerbelle Tops completed the order of finish.
For Bowen and Wenzel, the Hastings Handicap continued their remarkable run of success in stakes at Emerald Downs. They are a combined 11-for-19 in Emerald Downs’ stakes, including an 8-for-8 mark by Stopshoppingdebbie in 2013-14, including her win in last year’s Hastings Handicap.
Bowen said Sunday’s race developed nicely for Kikisoblu.
“She stumbled a little bit at the start, but recovered quickly,” he said. “We had a game plan since Tom (Wenzel) had another horse in the race. We wanted to hug the rail early and hope to get through. Julien (Couton) and I were fighting for the same spot. I had a better shot at it, and I really think that made the difference in the race. I started asking her at the three-sixteenths pole and she really exploded the last eighth of a mile.”
Bee Dees Bid, the other Wenzel runner, led through fractions of :22.17 and :44.92, but Kikisoblu drove through the opening on the rail, kicked two lengths clear past mid-stretch and had plenty left to fend off City by the Bay.
Trackattacker prevails in 2015 debut
It wasn’t easy, but last year’s 2-year-old champion returned to the winner’s circle Sunday at Emerald Downs.
Trackattacker sprinted to an early three-length and held off a late bid by Private Boss for a neck victory in the $20,000 WTBOA Sales Allowance for 3-year-olds sold at the 213 yearling sale. Ridden by Leslie Mawing, Trackattacker ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03.96 and paid $2.80 and $2.10.
Trackattacker set splits of :21.96, :45.05 and :57.39 en route to the victory, which improved his record to 5-0-0 in six starts with earnings of $97,343.
By Harbor the Gold-Eclatante, Trackattacker was the talk of Emerald Downs last year, winning his first four races by 36 ¼ lengths while setting one track record and two stakes records. His only defeat was his lone race around two turns, a sixth in the mile and one-sixteenth Gottstein Futurity.
Notes
Julien Couton and Leslie Mawing rode three winners each on the nine-race program. Couton has 16 wins in the first 10 racing days and has wins on eight straight cards. … Botch ($7.40) romped to a 1¾-length victory in race six for older $40,000 claimers. A 5-year-old Brother Derek gelding trained by Blaine Wright for Luigi and Diana DiPietro, Botch ran six furlongs in 1:09.65. … Frank Lucarelli was the lone trainer with two wins Sunday and moved into third place overall with five wins. … Jeff Metz leads with nine wins while Wright is second with six wins, and sports a nifty 50 percent strike rate. … Trainer Jamie Comber notched his first win of the meet as Say Say ($10.40) led gate-to-wire in race five. A 5-year-old Private Gold mare, Say Say finished runner-up to Madame Pele in the 2013 Comcast SportsNet Stakes. … Live racing resumes Friday with first post 6:45 p.m. … Simulcast wagering features a $129,000 carryover in Thursday’s Pick Six at Santa Anita.
