Condilenios has horses to beat in Emerald Handicap

VANCOUVER, B.C. – It is extremely likely that a horse trained by Dino Condilenios and owned by Swift Thoroughbreds Inc. is going to win the $50,000 Emerald Downs Handicap at Hastings on Sunday. After all, Condilenios and Swift not only have the likely favorite, Snuggles, running in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint that drew five horses, but they also will be represented by Omi and Hippie.

All three will run as separate entities in the wagering.

The race was scheduled for last Sunday, but not enough horses entered, and it was held over. Condilenios would have preferred to run Hippie in a $16,000 claiming race for 3-year-old fillies that filled with eight horses Saturday.

“Actually, I think she has the most talent of the three, but she just doesn’t bring it in the afternoons,” he said. “I wouldn’t completely dismiss her, but she is really in the race to take one for the team.”

Snuggles, who is by the deceased stallion Rosberg, will be a short price to win her third straight stakes race. She closed out her 2-year-old campaign with a win going 1 1/16 miles in the $75,000 Fantasy and didn’t have any trouble handling Princess Katie when she returned in the Ross McLeod on May 8. Princess Katie came back to win the one-mile, $50,000 Irish Day Handicap at Emerald Downs for trainer Rob Gilker on May 29.

Condilenios likes the way Snuggles is coming into the race, but he gives Omi a big chance to upset her.

Omi finished third after setting the pace in the Ross McLeod and was subsequently awarded second money when Princess Katie tested positive for ranitidine, which is commonly known as Zantac. It is used to prevent ulcers in the stomach and intestines.

Condilenios was impressed with the way Omi, who is also by Rosberg, worked a half-mile in 48.20 seconds with exercise rider Christine Amman aboard June 4.

“I think it was her best work ever,” he said. “I caught her the last quarter in 23, and she impressed me when she galloped out. McDove looks like a real threat, too. She ran a big race in her last start, and she looks like an improving filly.”

McDove, trained by Mark Cloutier, is coming off a runner-up finish behind the Condilenios-trained Chianti in an optional $25,000 claiming race for 3-year-old fillies May 29. The Kentucky-bred filly by Proud Citizen won her debut in a maiden special weight race last year; in her only other start, she finished fifth in the McLeod.

Colleen’s Diamond, another daughter of Rosberg, completes the field. Trained by Pat Jarvis, she finished fourth as the favorite in the same race that McDove exits.

“In the end, if Snuggles breaks as well as she did in her last start, they are going to have a hard time beating her,” Condilenios said.