Gold Rush Dancer is the one to catch in WTBOA Lads
AUBURN, Wash. – A pair of $50,000 stakes races for 2-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs headlines Saturday’s 10-race card at Emerald Downs. Gold Rush Dancer tops the WTBOA Lads for colts and geldings, the eighth race on the program. One race later, My Heart Goes On, Princess Kennedy, and Kiss My Lulu are hard to separate in the Barbara Shinpoch Stakes for fillies.
Gold Rush Dancer followed a snappy maiden victory with a runner-up effort in the $49,500 Emerald Express in his second outing July 19. Trained by Bill Tollett for owner John Parker, the speedy Gold Rush Dancer has had the lead turning for home in each of his two starts and looms the one to catch in the Lads. Julien Couton, comfortably atop the jockey standings in his first season at Emerald Downs, has the riding assignment.
Gold Rush Dancer will tackle seven foes in the Lads, including three trained by Frank Lucarelli. Mach One Rules, who posted a Beyer Speed Figure of 65 in his lone start, might be the best of the trio, though Noble Nick, a speedy gray by Zensational, also boasts a quick turn of foot. Wando Cat, Lucarelli’s third entrant, was a distant third in the Emerald Express and is likely to be a longshot.
Others in the Lads include Endangered, a $75,000 Keeneland yearling by Bernardini who rallied to finish second behind Mach One Rules in his only start; Huya, a recent maiden winner in a relatively slow race; Cross Creek, a likely longshot; and first-time starter Viewingthegold.
Emerald’s best 2-year-old fillies have been just as fast as the males this summer, as four of the nine entrants in the Shinpoch have posted Beyers of 63 or higher. My Heart Goes On, unbeaten in two starts, could start as a lukewarm favorite. In her most recent outing July 26, she held on to win the six-furlong Angie C. by a head over the fast-closing Princess Kennedy. Kiss My Lulu was two lengths back in third.
My Heart Goes On, trained by David Martinez for Coal Creek Farm, will break from post No. 8, putting her on the outside of pace rivals Kiss My Lulu and Freaky Kiki in the early stages. Others in the field include Jerre to Carrie, still a maiden after three starts; recent maiden winners Cape Grace and Two Pt Conversion; longshot It’s My Knight; and Say It Slow, a first-time starter.