For the Reporter
O B Harbor blazed to a spectacular victory Sunday at Emerald Downs, racing to a two-length triumph over Kaabraaj in a sparkling 1:00.97 for 5½ furlongs.
The winning time was just one-tenth of a second off the world record of 1:00.87 set by Hollywood Harbor on April 22, 2012.
Ridden by Jose Zunino for trainer Chris Stenslie and owner Jody Peetz – the same connections that teamed up with Hollywood Harbor four years ago – O B Harbor paid $11.80, $6 and $4.60.
O B Harbor held a clear lead while setting fractions of :21.60, :43.75 and :55.02, and had energy in reserve to repel Kaabraaj through the stretch. The Oregon-bred improved to 3-1-2 in eight career starts with earnings of $50,691 including $11,550 for Sunday’s win, which stamps the gelding a favorite for next month’s $50,000 Governor’s Stakes at 6½ furlongs.
Kaabraaj, ridden by Juan Gutierrez, chased the winner from flag-fall to finish, but settled for second place and paid $4.40 and $3.60.Solemnly Swear, ridden by Joe Steiner, came off a 20-month layoff to finish third and paid $7.
Arrom Bear, the 2-1 betting favorite, finished fourth and Westley, Awesome Indian and Scat Daddybaby rounded out the order of finish.
Notes
Sunday’s $0.50 Pick 5 – capped by a $51 upset by first-time starter Miss Fogcutter – returned a track record $22,700.95 to one winning ticket. … Meanwhile, there were no winning tickets in the $0.20 Pick 7, and a two-day carryover of $6,418 is up for grabs when racing resumes Saturday. … Newcomer Erick Lopez made a big splash Sunday with three wins on the 10-race card. The 28-year-old jockey arrived here with 146 career wins including 12 this winter at Turf Paradise. … Back after a six-year absence, trainer Len Kasmerski and owner Roz Barclay were two-for-two Sunday with wins by Northern Causeway ($5.80) in the opener and Queen’s Rush ($10.20) in the fourth. … Three-time defending training champion Jeff Metz picked up his first win of the meet with Pecos Breeze ($8.20) in Sunday’s third race. … Trainer Tony Michael Gattellaro saddled his first Emerald Downs winner as Night Train Lane ($8.80) collared Legion of Boom to capture race five. Gattellaro’s six previous wins all came at Portland Meadows. … Rocco Bowen rode two winners Sunday and leads the standings with five wins in the first two days. … Trainer Rosie Simkins is off to a great start with wins Saturday by Kalakala ($11.60) and Sunday by Miss Fogcutter. … Blaine Wright also had a win both days – Classic Grand ($4.40) on Saturday and Love Cautionary ($8.40) Sunday. … Mister Breeze (10.40) continued his winning ways with a hard earned triumph over 6-5 favorite Where’s My Voucher in race eight. A 5-year-old Washington-bred trained by Alan Bozell, Mister Breeze has three straight wins dating to last year and is 7-18 lifetime. … Live racing resumes Saturday with first post 2 p.m. Friday racing begins April 22 at 6:30 p.m.
