Emerald Downs: Finallygotabentley, Music of My Soul meet again in Gottstein Futurity

Reed Palmer/Emerald Downs

Music of My Soul earned a 72 Beyer Speed Figure for his win in the Dennis Dodge Stakes.

AUBURN, Wash. – Finallygotabentley and Music of My Soul will renew what promises to be a long and heated rivalry when they start Sunday in the $65,000 Gottstein Futurity on closing day at Emerald Downs.

Six horses were entered to compete in Washington’s traditional championship for 2-year-olds, but bettors are certain to zero in on the two division leaders with the flashy pedigrees and fast recent victories. Finallygotabentley, by Bernardini, is a homebred for leading Northwest breeder Jerre Paxton and the first foal from champion 2-year-old filly Smarty Deb, who beat males in the Gottstein Futurity in 2007 and lost just once – in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Monmouth Park. Music of My Soul, owned by Ken Alhadeff, is a full brother to two-time Washington horse of the year Noosa Beach.

Both horses are coming off smashing victories. Finallygotabentley rolled to a 6 3/4-length victory in a maiden race early this month, running six furlongs in 1:08.87. Music of My Soul led all the way to take the restricted Dennis Dodge Stakes by nearly four lengths Sept. 9. He covered six furlongs in 1:09.25 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 72 – the best Beyer by a 2-year-old at the meeting.

Those breakthrough victories were preceded by a series of narrow misses for both horses. Finallygotabentley lost his first four outings, including narrow defeats in a pair of stakes races. Music of My Soul was 0 for 3 after missing by a head in the WTBOA Lads Stakes in mid-August. Both horses are bred to appreciate the Gottstein distance, shortened this year from a 1 1/16 miles to a mile. Music of My Soul, the likely pacesetter with jockey Leslie Mawing, will start from post 5 for trainer Doris Harwood. Finallygotabentley, trained by Tom Wenzel, drew the rail and will be handled by Juan Gutierrez, Emerald Downs’s leading rider.

Also in the Gottstein field: Mike Man’s Gold, a two-time stakes winner at the meeting but third behind Music of My Soul in the Dennis Dodge; Dontmesswithkitten, a maiden whose owners paid $7,000 for a supplemental nomination; recent maiden winner Raised a Secret; and likely longshot More Strawberries, who finished fourth in his only start.

In addition to the Gottstein, which will go as the 10th race on an 11-race program, claiming horses will get their chance to compete for pumped-up purses on closing day in the Ashbaugh Beal Claiming Challenge, a set of six starter allowances for horses who’ve started for claiming prices of $3,500, $7,500, or $15,000 at the meeting. A total of 56 horses were entered for the six races, and they’ll compete for $76,000 in purses.