No Ordinary Tiger wheels back for 11th start of the year
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No Ordinary Tiger has to be one of the most durable, seasoned horses in North America. He has not had a proper freshening since joining Robbie Baze’s barn in February 2025, racing 14 times that year and 10 times so far this year.
“He’s one of those horses that loves to train,” said Baze. “He gallops strong, so I only train him like every other day. When he trains, he comes back happy. I’ve been very fortunate with his soundness and his mental – just wanting to do it. If he showed me he needed a break, I’d be giving him a break.”
A last-out winner, No Ordinary Tiger wheels back two weeks later on Sunday at the same condition level – a one-mile starter allowance for horses who have started for a claiming price of $5,000 or less since April 27, 2025, and who have not won a starter allowance of $5,000 or less twice at Emerald Downs in 2026.
Prior to his May 31 score, No Ordinary Tiger only had two wins from 26 starts to his credit. In those victories, he went wire to wire, but in his last out, he rated off the lead – by pure chance.
“He sort of bobbled the break and eased up there and was blocked in,” said Baze. “He’s just very hard to ride, especially when you’re rating him. You’ve got to sit patient and just keep sitting. When he moved him out and let him go, he just responded really well. [Jockey] Silvio [Amador] said he learned a lot about the horse.”
That was the first time Amador, the winningest jockey at the current Emerald meet, had ridden No Ordinary Tiger, and Baze said he came out of the race immediately wanting to ride him again.
“It made quite a bit of difference,” Baze said of obtaining the services of Amador, who retains the mount. “The harder you pull, the faster he goes. Silvio realized it when he got in tight and he grabbed him and he started taking off with him.”
Sunday’s race 6, which drew a competitive field of eight, features a variation of running styles. As for whether No Ordinary Tiger will go to the lead or rate again, Baze said “he can do either-or.”
Fast early fractions would stand to benefit Brother o’ Brien, a closer who figures to go off favored from the outside post for Tim McCanna’s barn.
◗ The popular claimer Chuckanut Bay, a stakes winner in November at Turf Paradise who won his 2026 Emerald debut with an 84 Beyer Speed Figure, headlines a field of six older horses in Sunday’s seventh race.
◗ Emerald’s annual Indian Relay events – collectively known as the Muckleshoot Gold Cup and featuring $85,000 in prize money – will be part of the program all weekend. Teams representing various tribes race twice around Emerald’s one-mile oval, with bareback riders exchanging horses every half-mile.
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