The late Bonnie Jenne to be honored during the races
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On paper, the eighth race on a special Thursday night card at Emerald Downs looks like a pedestrian affair: nine hard-knocking fillies and mares looking for an elusive trip to the winner’s circle after duking it out over six furlongs for a claiming price of $10,000.
But the race is notable due to the presence of Rockit a Day, a 4-year-old filly who was just transferred to Debbie Peery’s barn after the death of Bonnie Jenne, who succumbed to lymphoma on June 26 at the age of 76. Jenne was one of the most beloved trainers in the history of both Washington racing and Emerald Downs, and her death has been met with extraordinarily heavy hearts in all quarters of the Auburn track.
“Before Bonnie passed away, she told her daughter, Kandie, to talk to owners, and she referred some of them to me,” Peery, who worked for Jenne’s Friendship Stable before branching out on her own, said Sunday. “I just took the horse over yesterday. I worked for her a lot and learned a lot from her, and she knew that I’d try to do the job she did. I don’t know if I can fill those shoes, but I’m going to give it my best shot. That’s a huge honor.”
As a 3-year-old, Rockit a Day won an allowance in her second career start and finished a respectable fifth in the Washington Cup Filly and Mare Stakes. In three races this year, however, she’s regressed, with her best finish a well-beaten sixth in a $10,000 starter allowance on June 14.
But Peery said Rockit a Day has been training well, adding, “However she does, it will be all Bonnie.”
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Trainer Kay Cooper, who, like Peery, was extremely close with Jenne, has entered the 5-year-old Nation’s Belle. She ran her best race a year ago to the day of this one, winning a $25,000 claiming race by three lengths and posting a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 60. She, too, ran in September’s Washington Cup Filly and Mare Stakes, where she finished seventh, beaten by 20 lengths. Her two 2025 starts have yielded a pair of distant sixth-place finishes.
Nation’s Belle has been training well, however, posting a string of bullet or near-bullet five-furlong works throughout the spring, and Cooper is banking on a drop to the $10,000 starter level serving as a winning remedy.
“That’s what we’re hoping, obviously,” Cooper said. “She’s been a disappointment this year. She works and trains so hard in the morning but hasn’t delivered in the afternoons.”
Candi Cryderman runs 4-year-old filly Greatful Attitude, who’s on an upward trajectory. She won an $8,000 claiming race on June 7 by 1 3/4 lengths while posting a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 68. Cryderman, who claimed the horse out of that race from the barn of Victor Trujillo for owner John Parker, has a first-time strike rate with claimed horses of 23 percent.
It’s appropriate that these three women will have the opportunity to compete against each other, as it shines a spotlight on a certain sisterhood on the Emerald backstretch as it grapples with how to fill Jenne’s void.
“We all kind of look out for each other,” Peery said. “We definitely are competitive. We all want to win. I have the utmost respect for all of them down here. We all help each other. If I have questions, I go to Candi or Kay.
“Last year, I had a horse that was difficult and Candi lent me a bit. I know when Bonnie was sick, Rosie [Simkins] and Kay and myself, anything we could do, we all tried to help.”
Race 3 on Thursday, a 6 1/2-furlong claiming race, has been dubbed the Bonnie and Wally Jenne Memorial Purse.
Emerald Downs observed a moment of silence for Jenne during the races last Friday, and Cooper publicly reminisced about her experiences with her late friend and colleague that evening. Frederickson and Peery are among those who will do the same during the Thursday night card.
The program will begin at 5 p.m. Pacific and be followed by a fireworks show. The track will then be dark for the balance of the holiday weekend, with racing resuming on Friday, July 11.
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