Month: September 2021

Top Executive Named Emerald Downs’ Horse Of The Meeting

Top Executive, undefeated in three starts and the only horse to win three stakes races, was voted 2021 Emerald Downs Horse of the Meeting.

Trained by Blaine Wright and owned by John and Janene Maryanski and Gail and Gerald Schneider, Top Executive swept the 3-year-old colts and geldings division with victories in the Auburn Stakes, Irish Day Stakes and Muckleshoot Derby. The 3-year-old Street Boss gelding won at distances of 6 furlongs, 6 ½ furlongs and 1 1/16 miles, and topped the meet in earnings with $82,800.

In addition to Horse of the Meeting, Top Executive was honored as the meet's Top 3-Year-Old. Coastal Kid, whom Top Executive defeated in the Muckleshoot Derby, won Sunday's Muckleshoot Tribal Classic.

It marks the second Horse of the Meeting in three seasons for Wright, who also trained 2019 winner Anyportinastorm. Wright also nearly won a second straight Longacres Mile, saddling Seamist Racing's 5-year-old gelding Windribbon to a runner-up effort in the Longacres Mile (G3).

Papa's Golden Boy took honors as Top Older Horse, Top Sprinter and Top Washington-bred. Trained by Vince Gibson and owned by Gary Lusk, Deborah Lusk, Jeff Lusk, and Peyton Lusk, the 5-year-old Harbor the Gold gelding won three races including the Budweiser Stakes and Governor's Stakes and ran meet-fastest times at 5 ½ furlongs (1:02.11) and 6 ½ furlongs (1:14.50).

Daffodil Sweet won four races including the Washington State Legislators Stakes and was voted Top Older Filly or Mare. Trained by the retiring Chris Stenslie and owned by One Horse Will Do Corporation and Steve Shimizu, Daffodil Sweet was Top 3-Year-Old Filly of 2020 and is the only horse to win Emerald Downs titles in 2020 and 2021.

Nite and Day Stables and Joanne Todd's Bayakoas Image was a unanimous choice as Top 3-Year-Old Filly. A British Columbia-bred by Lent, Bayakoas Image was two for two with a 5 ¾-length victory in the Washington Oaks and a neck victory in the Washington Cup Filly & Mare Stakes. Kay Cooper, the meet's leading stakes trainer with five wins, trained Bayakoas Image at Emerald Downs.

A pair of Washington-breds took honors in the juvenile ranks, with Cobra Jet (Curlin to Mischief-Atta Gal Val) the Top-2-Year-Old Male and Koron (Nationhood-Muchas Coronas) Top 2-Year-Old Filly.

Owned by REV Racing, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trainer Frank Lucarelli, Cobra Jet compiled a 3-1-0 record in four starts including blowout victories in the King County Express and Washington Cup Juvenile Colt & Gelding.

Owned by Blue Ribbon Racing Ladies and trained by Cooper, Koron was 3 for 3 and swept the Barbara Shinpoch Stakes and Washington Cup Juvenile Fillies in convincing fashion.

Float On was voted Top Claimer, compiling a 4-1-2 record in eight starts while winning two races apiece for trainers Charles Essex and Candi Cryderman. A 3-year-old Bluegrass Cat gelding, Float On was one of six horses to win four races at the meet: Bella's Back, Daffodil Sweet, Float On, Judicial, Mean Sharon, Queen Breezy.

Alex Cruz won a second consecutive riding title, edging out Julien Couton 75-74 for the crown while Juan Gutierrez finished a close third with 72 wins. Cruz also won Top Riding Achievement for his amazing Aug. 19 triumph without irons aboard 2-year-old filly Akasi, and the Lindy Award for accomplishment and sportsmanship as voted by the Emerald Downs' jockeys.

Joe Toye won his first Emerald Downs' training title by a 29-26 margin over seven-time champion Frank Lucarelli. Toye, who has trained at Emerald Downs since the track opened in 1996, also was voted Top Training Achievement for his season-long excellence and 23.5 win percentage.

McKenna Anderson was the top apprentice rider with 12 victories, finishing the meet strongly after a 0 for 17 start.

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Background's dramatic victory with Rocco Bowen aboard in the $100,000 Longacres Mile (G3) was voted Race of the Meeting. Trained by Mike Puhich and owned by Bob and Molly Rondeau, the 4-year-old Khozan gelding tagged Windribbon in the final strides to capture the 86th running of the region's most famous race.

Trainers Bob Bean and Bonnie Jenne received the Martin Durkan Award for leadership, cooperation, and sportsmanship throughout the meeting. Bean was a popular new addition to the training roster and won with 8 of 81 starters and was accompanied during morning workouts by sidekick canine Brownie.

Harbor the Gold was the leading stallion for the eighth straight year and 11th in the last 12, siring 22 winners to edge Abraaj (21) and Coast Guard (20) for the title.

Cm Once Ina Bluemoon captured the meet's top event for Quarter Horses, scoring a $46.40 upset in the $48,994 Bank of America Emerald Downs Championship Challenge Stakes.

Emerald Downs 2021 Season Honors
Horse of the Meeting: Top Executive
Top Washington-bred : Papa's Golden Boy
Top Older Horse: Papa's Golden Boy
Top Sprinter: Papa's Golden Boy
Top Older Filly or Mare: Daffodil Sweet
Top 3-Year-Old Male: Top Executive
Top 3-Year-Old Filly: Bayakoas Image
Top 2-Year-Old Male: Cobra Jet
Top 2-Year-Old Filly: Koron
Top Claimer: Float On
Race of Meeting: Longacres Mile
Leading Jockey Wins: Alex Cruz (75)
Leading Jockey Stakes Wins: Kevin Orozco (5)
Leading Trainer: Joe Toye (29)
Leading Trainer Stakes Wins: Kay Cooper (5)
Leading Owner: John Parker (19)
Leading Horse Wins: Bella's Back (4), Daffodil Sweet (4), Float On (4), Judicial (4), Mean Sharon (4), Queen Breezy (4)
Leading Horse Stakes Wins: Top Executive (3)
Leading QH Trainer Wins: Jose Rosales Gomez (2)
Top Riding Achievement: Alex Cruz wins without irons on Akasi
Top Training Achievement: Joe Toye 1st title
Leading Apprentice: McKenna Anderson (12)
Durkan Award: Robert Bean, Bonnie Jenne
Lindy Award: Alex Cruz
Jockeys Valet of the Year: Dan Brock
Leading Sire Wins: Harbor the Gold (22)

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‘I See Both Sides’: Trainer Keri Brion Talks Realities Of Steeplechase Racing

Trainer Keri Brion was a guest on Steve Byk's “At The Races” radio show last week, following her rollercoaster of an opening day at Belmont Park on Sept. 16.

In the first race, the William Entenmann Memorial Hurdle Stakes, the Brion-trained Grade 1 winner Baltimore Bucko fell at fence three and suffered a fatal injury. In the second race, she saddled The Mean Queen to win her second Grade 1 of the year in the Lonesome Glory.

Baltimore Bucko's fatality sparked significant social media discussion about jumps racing, and Brion took the opportunity on Byk's show to speak out.

“Whenever a horse falls in jump racing, our sport gets absolutely crucified,” Brion said. “I understand it looks horrible, and it was, it was heartbreaking for all of us to watch. Not just us close to the horse, but obviously everyone else. The one thing I just want to say about that is, you know, our sport is dangerous, but so is flat racing. You see these horses that suffer catastrophic injuries on the flat, and it happens more on the flat than it even does over jumps, to be honest with you. It's very, very rare that we have a fall like that where they don't actually get back up.

“I don't want to cast this off as 'just one of those things,' because we do need to do better, and the NSA is currently and always trying to find better options. I think we're gonna switch to a different type of a fence. I think by the time we are up there again next year, there's gonna be a safer model of hurdle up there that we'll be running over, which is something to look forward to.”

Brion carries a strong social media presence, and extended an offer to talk about the realities of her sport with anyone willing to listen.

“I see both sides and I understand how uneducated people right away are like, 'I hate watching these races and I hate seeing them,' but do you really think we're going to force a 1200-lb animal to go jump over fences if they don't want to?” she asked. “I mean, honest to God, do you think we're capable of doing that? No, we're not. I'd love to take a group of people that wanna say they're being forced and they don't like it, I'd love to take them to watch these horses school in the mornings. When they realize they're going to the schooling field, their whole demeanor changes. They get so excited that they get to go jumping.”

Baltimore Bucko is Brion's first Grade 1 winner, capturing the G1 A. P. Smithwick Memorial on July 22, 2021. She talked about what the horse meant to her personally.

“He was very, very special to me,” the trainer said. “Obviously I talked to you at some stage, maybe after his Smithwick win, and he was just kind of the gift that just kept on giving for his owners and for me. What he might have lacked a little bit in ability, he made up in heart. I can assure everyone he was 100 percent going out there, and it was unfortunately just, it was one of those things. We'll never have him back, and it's hard to see his stall here in the barn in the morning – we haven't filled it yet. It was tough, but he did go out doing what he loved to do. There was nothing more in the world that that horse loved to do than to run and jump.”

Listen to the entire interview with Byk here.

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Grade 1 Winner Valiance Retired, To Be Offered At Fasig-Tipton November Sale

Valiance, a Grade 1 winning daughter of multiple leading sire Tapit, has been retired from racing and will be offered at Fasig-Tipton's upcoming November Sale on Nov. 9 in Lexington, Ky. Bluewater Sales will consign the 5-year-old mare for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin S. Schwartz, and CHC Inc.

Valiance took last year's Grade 1 Spinster Stakes in tremendous style, defeating a top-class field that included two other Grade 1 winners.  She followed up that victory with a game second in the Breeders' Cup Distaff to multiple champion Monomoy Girl, finishing ahead of another four Grade 1 winners.

In addition to being a Grade 1 winner on dirt, Valiance won her first three career starts on turf, including Monmouth's Open Mind Stakes as a 3-year-old. Trained throughout her career by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, she has career earnings of $809,575.

“Valiance is a top-class race mare and a terrific individual,” commented Pletcher.  “She's always been a true professional to train in the morning and was so versatile on the racetrack in the afternoon.  She's a good one.”

A $650,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling, Valiance carries an elite pedigree to complement her outstanding race record and conformation.  Her first dam Last Full Measure, by Empire Maker, captured the  G1 Madison Stakes. Her second dam, Lazy Slusan, is a multiple Grade 1 winning distaffer and millionaire.

“Valiance was a stunning yearling with a royal pedigree and she followed through on the racetrack,” said Aron Wellman, President of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. “She trained with brilliance, ran with brilliance on turf and dirt at the highest level and provided our partners with huge thrills. She's a rare filly who had impeccable breeding, gorgeous looks, immeasurable talent and that intangible killer instinct to win her races.  She is an elite mare who offers the complete package and she is cut out to be an exceptional broodmare.”

Added Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning: “Valiance is a rare commodity- she's a Grade 1 winner, her dam is a Grade 1 winner, and her granddam is a Grade 1 winner! In addition, she's by Tapit and a beautiful individual.  Her potential as a broodmare is unlimited.”

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Woodbine Community Mourns Loss Of Trainer Ashlee Brnjas

Woodbine Entertainment and the entire Woodbine racing community is saddened to learn of the passing of Thoroughbred trainer Ashlee Brnjas.

Brnjas' final entry, Hit This Town, won the seventh race on Monday at Fort Erie.

After starting her equine career with hunters and jumpers, Brnjas took the advice of her father, John, and moved over to training Thoroughbreds for his Colebrook Farms. Brnjas made her official training debut in 2007, earned her first of 11 stakes victory in 2009 and conditioned the winners of 317 races and $10.6 million during her career.

Brnjas notably campaigned two-time Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes winner Johnny Bear.

Woodbine would like to extend its sincerest condolences to all the family and friends of Ashlee Brnjas.

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