Lloyds Logic will be tested in Auburn Stakes following layoff

Lloyds Logic, winner of the 2022 Gottstein Futurity, is the horse to beat in the $50,000 Auburn Stakes going six furlongs on Sunday at Emerald Downs. The card also includes the $50,000 Seattle Stakes.

Lloyds Logic races for George Todaro and is trained by Tom Wenzel.

“We wanted to get a prep in him here. They ran two allowance races, but we weren’t eligible for either of them,” Wenzel said in regard to why Lloyds Logic will step into the stakes ranks off a long rest.

Lloyds Logic was training well in California late last fall and was “down there to run a time or two, but it never happened,” added Wenzel, who said that his horse’s training in 2023 has been “good the whole way so far.”

Chief among the opposition on Sunday will be Clovisconnection, trained by Blaine Wright. Clovisconnection most recently finished a close second on turf at Golden Gate Fields in the Silky Sullivan Stakes for California-breds over one mile.

Clovisconnection has raced just once on traditional dirt. In that April 8 race at Santa Anita, he chased a torrid pace shared by a pair of well-meant sprinters who held on to finish one-two. Clovisconnection retreated to finish fifth, beaten 13 3/4 lengths.

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A field of seven is entered in the Auburn Stakes, which will go as race 5 on the 10-race card.

The $50,000 Seattle Stakes, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies, goes as the eighth race.

Aloha Breeze, another trained by Wenzel, will once again face Miss Dynamic, trained by Rigoberto Velasquez. The two fillies traded wins last season.

Aloha Breeze is a daughter of The Factor, an ultra-fast sprinter who shaded 1:07 for six furlongs and 1:20 for seven furlongs during a 13-race career.

Just two fillies have finished in front of Aloha Breeze to date – Miss Dynamic and Beyond Awesome, winner of the Arizona Juvenile Fillies Stakes last December. The Arizona Juvenile Fillies was the first of six consecutive sprint wins by Beyond Awesome.

There are lots of early pace possibilities in the Seattle Stakes, and there could be a meltdown up front, which would suit Jamies Inheritance and Pepper Mill just fine.

In her first local start on May 28, Pepper Mill chased a loose speed horse and finished third, beaten four lengths. The Edward Kereluk trainee will be piloted by Kevin Radke.

The two favorites drew the outside posts in the eight-horse Seattle Stakes and will have to ration their early speed.

Racing begins at 2 p.m. Pacific with a chance of showers and high temperatures in the mid 50s.

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