Blazing work has Aloha Breeze ready for Hastings Stakes

Last year’s local 3-year-old filly champion Aloha Breeze will face older mares in her 2024 debut on Saturday in the $50,000 Hastings Stakes at Emerald Downs.

Aloha Breeze is a daughter of The Factor, just like recent Emerald stakes winner Appeal Factor. The Tom Wenzel trainee has been working lights-out for her return and will face off yet again with steady pace foe Miss Dynamic along with six others.

On paper, Aloha Breeze appears to be as well prepared for her seasonal bow as most any horse here in recent years. Her preparations were capped by an eye-catching half-mile move in 45.60 seconds on Sunday, a day when the second-best half-mile move was in 47.60.

The six-furlong Hastings Stakes is loaded with local stakes winners, including Blazingbellablu, who won the Hastings last year and finished second, beaten a neck, in the 2022 Hastings Stakes.

The Charles Essex trainee will race for the first time since September and has been very strong off the bench. The 6-year-old daughter of Grazen was returning from a five-month layoff when winning this event a year ago and did little wrong in her 2023 campaign.

Jamies Inheritance won last year’s Washington Oaks. She parlayed that win into a score in the Century Casino Oaks at Century Mile in Edmonton 13 days later. The 4-year-old daughter of Carpe Diem, also trained by Essex, probably wants more ground for her best showing.

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Our Lyla Grace upset the Washington State Legislators Stakes last July when a neck better than Blazingbellablu. The mare was claimed from her last start for $25,000 by John Parker and trainer Candice Cryderman.

“We’ve been watching Lyla from the start of her career,” Cryderman said. “The speed in the race is plentiful and should go nicely with her running style.”

The daughter of Cinco Charlie has “adjusted well [to her new barn] and seems very ready to go,” the trainer added.

Another past Emerald stakes winner in the field is Daffodil Sweet, trained by Marshall Allen. The 7-year-old mare has been very good in the past when fresh and will be making her first start since August. Daffodil Sweet was a stakes winner at Emerald in 2020 and 2021.

Miss Dynamic managed to win the Angie C Stakes in 2022 at the direct expense of Aloha Breeze but has finished behind that foe in three subsequent meetings. Rigoberto Velasquez trains the daughter of Dynamic Impact.

Rounding out the field are the one-two finishers in a May 19 allowance race, Young Life Laura and Silvery Orb. A daughter of Mr. Rancho Vista, Young Life Laura is trained by Alexis Silva-Martinez. Silvery Orb is another trained by Wenzel.

The eight-race card commences at 1:30 p.m. Pacific with warm weather expected.

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