Cooper holds strong hand in maiden sprint
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Trainer Kay Cooper got her first win of the young Emerald Downs meet last Saturday when the 4-year-old filly Kir Royale went gate to wire for a three-quarter-length win in an $8,000 claiming race, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 63.
But it was a second-place finish five days earlier by another 4-year-old Cooper filly, Precise Timing, that has the trainer particularly excited – not only about that horse, but about an unraced 3-year-old entered in Saturday’s fourth race, a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight that’s drawn a robust field of 10 fillies and mares ranging in age from 3 to 5.
Precise Timing won her first three races, all of them stakes, as a 2-year-old at Emerald. As a 3-year-old, she crossed the wire first in another Emerald stakes, only to be disqualified from purse money. Last October, she ran third in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss at Santa Anita in October while temporarily stabled with John Sadler.
Back at Emerald with Cooper, Precise Timing, now 4, resurfaced in a 5 1/2-furlong allowance against the track’s reigning horse of the year, Aloha Breeze. That one did her thing, winning by 2 1/4 lengths, but Precise Timing held second, earning a career-high 80 Beyer.
Precise Timing’s half-sister, by way of their shared dam, Peaceful Nation, is Cross the Country, who drew the outside post for Saturday’s maiden special weight.
“I love her,” Cooper said of Cross the Country. “We liked her last year, but she was a bigger, immature type of filly.”
Precociousness reigns on the male side of Cross the Country’s family as well. Her sire, Conveyance, won his first four races, including the Grade 3 San Rafael and Southwest Stakes. Her grandsire Indian Charlie did the same before finishing third in the Kentucky Derby.
But debut efforts are about as big an uncertainty as the sport offers. Cooper should know: The 3-year-old Magic Jewel, her second of three entrants in Saturday’s race, finished seventh of eight in her May 17 debut, earning a paltry Beyer of 7.
“She stumbled out of the gate and kind of got body-slammed. As a first-time starter, it was a great learning experience,” Cooper said. “She’s a very nice filly. I took her back to the gate. She was a little anxious and excited, and she’s settled now. She’s a very smart filly.”
Cooper’s third horse, Empirical, should vie for favoritism with the 5-year-old Mocktails Anyone. With three seconds from four starts, 4-year-old Empirical is among the most seasoned and accomplished in the field and has ample early speed.
“I do not care to run all three of them, but they’re all three ready to run and races aren’t going for straight 3-year-olds,” Cooper lamented.
While winless in 14 starts, Mocktails Anyone was stakes-placed at 2, has the highest career Beyer (62) in the field, and has finished second in five consecutive races and 10 all time.
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