Blaine Wright could have been forgiven if his mind had been 2,000 miles away in Kentucky, where his headline horse, Anothertwistafate, was in peaceful repose at Churchill Downs.The second-generation Washington trainer and his 3-year-old son of Scat Daddy have made a mark this season by defying the usual lowered expectations that come with horses emerging from Northern California. “Twist,” as he is mercifully called for those of us counting keystrokes, parlayed a one-sided score in the El Camino Real Derby over the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields into a close second in New Mexico’s Sunland Derby and a troubled second in the Lexington last weekend at Keeneland.Being as the Sunland Derby and Lexington were both Grade 3 events, affording chump change in terms of Kentucky Derby entry points to all but the winners, Twist is on the outside looking in. If this bothers Wright, who trains Anothertwistafate for Peter Redekop, he is hiding it well. It helps to have a guaranteed berth in the Preakness, courtesy of a Stronach Group promotion between the company’s Golden Gate and Pimlico properties.“He’s traveled a long ways and run his butt off,” Wright said. “Maybe we’ll go in the Derby if we get in. We’ll let him dictate the terms. We do feel blessed to be able to run in the Preakness should he take us there.”In that spirit, Wright was wrapping up matters at Golden Gate on Wednesday and getting ready to head home to his native Northwest, where on Saturday afternoon Emerald Downs opens its 24th season, running until Sept. 22. Temperatures should be mild, and if the clouds cooperate, Mt. Rainier could be on glorious display.“I realize where we are up there is seasonal, but I’ve never seen more owners anywhere come out in the morning to watch their horses,” Wright said. “Sally and Joe Steiner’s Horseshoe Café is packed every weekend. It’s all what makes it a great place to call home.”Wright, 44, lives with his wife and daughter in nearby Enumclaw, Wash. Before Anothertwistafate came along, he was known outside his Northwest comfort zone for his work with the admirable gelding Alert Bay. The son of City Zip won stakes in five straight seasons, picking up two Grade 2 scores at Santa Anita among his 15 wins from 36 starts. Now 8, Alert Bay appears to be in the twilight of his career, although Wright is willing to give the old pro one last hurrah.“He aggravated an old injury last year, so I just now brought him back to the barn,” Wright said. “He’s still going to need 60, maybe 90 days. If he can compete in the allowance races and maybe the stakes at Golden Gate, we could try him in a few races. He just such a neat horse to be around.”Alert Bay ran the best dirt race of his life to finish second in the 2018 Longacres Mile, contributing to one of those meets that cause other trainers to lie awake nights wondering, “Why not me?”Although he fell just shy of beating Jeff Metz for the title, 43-41, Wright won nine stakes, while his purse total for the meet of $787,191 was a cool quarter million more than the next trainer in that category, which happened to be Frank Lucarelli, Emerald’s all-time leader.Riser, a son of Mizzen Mast, would have bagged three sweet pots all by himself if he hadn’t been disqualified from the win in the Budweiser Stakes. Wright also won six stakes in the filly and mare division with six different runners, including 1-2 finishes in the Emerald Distaff and the Boeing.“I don’t do anything special, nothing anyone else doesn’t do,” Wright said. “It’s a matter of really good clients bringing really good horses into our barn and allowing me to succeed with them.”There is no question that the health of regional tracks like Emerald Downs is vital to the national industry. Now that Portland Meadows has been shuttered by The Stronach Group, Emerald is the last Northwestern racing outpost operating in anything resembling a metropolitan setting. Yakima Meadows closed in 1998, while Spokane’s Playfair ran for the last time in late 2000. There is only Hastings Racecourse across the Canadian border in Vancouver, which runs concurrently with Emerald Downs.“The closure of Portland Meadows is a concern, in terms of keeping horses in the region,” said Vince Bruun, Emerald’s director of media relations. “The good news is that we have 720 horses stabled here as of April 12, up nine from last year.”Emerald Downs was built after Longacres closed in 1992, when the land was sold to Boeing. Wright, son of trainer Richard Wright, was practically raised on the Longacres backstretch.“It was probably the greatest place on Earth, if you ask me,” Wright said. “You can still see pictures or the red, purple, and yellow flowers, the whole ambience.”Many of those roots were successfully transplanted, and Wright contends that what Emerald Downs lacks in purse firepower and national prestige is more than compensated by its place in the community.“Sometimes it’s not about the money,” he said. “It’s about building a loyal fan base. Those people who came as kids when we opened in 1996 are coming back now with their kids. And with that backdrop of Mt. Rainier as a setting, there’s no place better to be.”