Getaway Day Stakes, Gottstein Futurity help close meeting

Emerald Downs finishes off its 2018 meet Sunday with a strong 11-race card headed by the $100,000 Getaway Day Stakes for 3-year-olds.

The 1 1/16-mile race is part of an all-stakes pick four that begins with the $25,000 Fan Appreciation Day overnight stakes for fillies and mares (race 5) and concludes with the $50,000 Gottstein Futurity. The $25,000 Pete Pedersen overnight stakes for 3-year-olds and up is also part of a tough sequence of races where there are no standout singles.

Post time for the first race is 2 p. m. Pacific.

Sippin Fire, trained by Steve Bullock, will be favored in the eight-horse Getaway Day. The Washington-bred son of Harbor the Gold is going for his fifth straight win – all stakes – and is coming off an easy victory over Boundary Bay in the $50,000 Washington Cup Sophomore on Aug. 26. He went into the Sophomore off a thrilling win over Weekend Wizard in the $50,000 Muckleshoot Derby on July 29.

Sippin Fire was eligible for a $100,000 bonus available for sweeping the Northwest Triple, which consists of the Muckleshoot, the British Columbia Derby, and the Getaway Day. But his connections chose to bypass the B.C. Derby for the easier spot in the Sophomore.

Sippin Fire is owned by How We Roll 4 and trained by Steve Bullock. Joe Withee, director of publicity and broadcasting at Emerald, is part of the stable.

“It was a tough decision to skip the B.C. Derby, but it was probably best for the horse,” said Withee. “He would have had to come back in two weeks if he ran at Hastings. It has been really cool to be involved with the hot horse at the track. Steve was high on him from the start, and nicknamed him the champ when he first came to the track.”

Sippin Fire came from well back to win the 1 1/8-mile Muckleshoot, and with plenty of potential speed in the Getaway Day he could get a similar trip with leading rider Rocco Bowen riding. He will break from post 2.

Weekend Wizard will take another shot at Sippin Fire in the Getaway Day. Weekend Wizard was game in defeat in the Muckleshoot and came back with another strong effort in the B.C. Derby. He looked like the winner midstretch, but was overwhelmed in the 1 1/8-mile race by Sky Promise in the final yards.

Trained by Craig MacPherson, Weekend Wizard has good speed and will likely be in the mix early after he breaks from the outside post with Rico Walcott aboard for the first time. He is eligible for the $10,000 bonus that goes to a horse that finishes third or better in all three races of the Northwest Triple.

Yulong Warrior, a Dubai import trained by Doug O’Neill, ships in from Del Mar where he finished a troubled fourth in the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes on Aug. 25, his first start in North America. In his final two starts in Dubai he took them all the way when won the $250,000 Al Bastakiya at Meydan Racecourse by 11 1/2 lengths March 10, but couldn’t keep up to Mendelssohn when he finished seventh in the Grade 2 UAE Derby on March 31.

“He acts like a nice horse,” said O’Neill. “I expect him to be one-two-three early.”

Yulong Warrior will appreciate the easier company he is facing on Sunday. He breaks from post 4 with Evin Roman retaining the mount.

The Paul Reddam-owned Canadian Game was also trained by O’Neill prior to his third-place finish for trainer Glen Todd in the B.C. Derby. Sandi Gann is the trainer of record for Canadian Game in the Getaway. The son of Curlin will be ridden by Mario Gutierrez.

According to Emerald Downs, the purse for the Getaway Day came from an anonymous donation.

12 go long in the Gottstein

There is no obvious favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Gottstein, which drew 12 2-year-olds, all stretching out to a middle distance for the first time.

Palladium, trained by O’Neill, will receive support. He is coming off a runner-up finish in a starter race with a $50,000 claiming option at Del Mar Sept. 2. Roman rides.

Fuzzy Dolphin, the winner of the Washington Cup Juvenile Colts and Geldings, and Mr. Frank, who owns the best Beyer Speed Figure, 64, in the field, give trainer Frank Lucarelli two solid chances.

If there is a single in the pick four it is Oh Marvelous Me in the Pete Pedersen, which drew 12 horses. Trained by Blaine Wright, Oh Marvelous Me is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Longacres Mile on Aug. 12, and he should get a nice trip stalking a fast and contested pace.

One of the horses who will be involved in the early going of the Pete Pedersen is the Jeff Metz-trained Kaabraaj, who beat Oh Marvelous Me by 2 1/2 lengths winning an optional-claiming race July 8. Going into the weekend Metz was three wins in front of Wright in the race for leading trainer.

Wright has a good shot of winning the 11-horse Fan Appreciation with Fly Far Away, who rallied to win the $50,000 Washington Cup Filly and Mare on Sept. 9.