Dutton the one to catch in first start against elders
Dutton will try to reboot the start to his 3-year-old campaign when he runs in a conditioned allowance race with a $40,000 claiming option on Wednesday at Emerald Downs. The six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up drew seven horses and goes as the seventh race on an eight-race card that begins at 6 p.m. Pacific.
It also is a bit of a reboot for Emerald after Sunday’s card was canceled due to excessive heat. Temperatures at the Auburn, Wash., oval were supposed to reach as high as 113 degrees on Monday and then cool off into the 80s by Wednesday.
Dutton, trained by Howard Belvoir, was favored to win the $50,000 Auburn Stakes for 3-year-olds on June 20, but he flipped in the gate and was scratched. Considering how the race developed, the Washington-bred son of Noosito probably would have won the six-furlong dash. After all, he was undefeated in three starts as a juvenile, and comparing his races to the Auburn, he set quicker interior fractions in his two sprints as well as posting a faster time in his only race going six furlongs.
The task is a lot tougher in Wednesday’s feature. He will be facing older horses for the first time, and it is a solid group headed by Oh Marvelous Me, an 11-time winner with $236,703 in earnings. Oh Marvelous Me finished third in the Grade 3 Longacres Mile in 2018.
Belvoir is just happy to get a race into Dutton before the $50,000 Irish Day Stakes on July 25. He is hoping the high-strung gelding will handle the situation in a calmer manner.
“We put him on a crash course at the gate and he was fine every time,” Belvoir said. “Partly what got him going was having people around when he was walking to the paddock. He has a bit of a temper, and he went a bit berserk walking to the paddock. Last year there were no fans at the track, so it was a new experience having people around and everyone was pretty excited.”
Dutton will break from post 5 with his usual rider, Jennifer Whitaker, aboard. Catch him if you can.
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Oh Marvelous Me figures to move forward in his second start of the year and second for trainer Sharon Ross. He closed the 2020 meet with back-to-back wins in $40,000 optional-claiming races for trainer Blaine Wright.
A 9-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Bluegrass Cat, Oh Marvelous Me can stalk, and with plenty of speed in the field, he could get the right trip. He will break from post 2 with Julien Couton riding.
The Jorge Rosales-trained Take Charge Deputy will appreciate the class relief after finishing third in the $50,000 Budweiser on June 17. The last time he ran in a non-stakes race, he won a conditioned allowance race with a $50,000 claiming option in his first start last year.
Windribbon, second to Oh Marvelous Me in his final two starts of 2020, makes his seasonal debut for Wright.