Sir Argento, a rare white Thoroughbred, making progress
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Sunday’s 11-race card at Emerald Downs features a pair of equine gentlemen who have made significant leaps at age 5.
With his stunning white coat, Sir Argento is the rare older male based at the Auburn, Wash., racetrack who is yet to be gelded.
“We’ve kept him a stud colt just because of the rare whiteness in him,” said trainer Candi Cryderman, whose four-horse stable is winless in 12 starts at the current Emerald meet. “He probably will have some value as a stallion for people who like to mix with Thoroughbreds for color and breed.”
A steady runner, Sir Argento got his maiden win in his 11th start to close out his 2025 season at Emerald Downs, posting a Beyer Speed Figure of 49. After a 10-month freshening, that number skyrocketed to 70 in a third-place finish at six furlongs on June 21. Another third in a six-furlong sprint on July 19 yielded a 68 Beyer. He’ll travel the same distance in Sunday’s ninth race, a $25,000 claiming affair for nonwinners of two or 3-year-olds.
“He’s super lightly raced,” said Cryderman. “He’s had every summer off. He’s had some bumps along the way. We baby him quite a bit. It takes him a while to get fit. Whenever we’ve thought he’s been sitting on his next best race, we’ve had to stop on him. We’d like more distance, but we would have had to get it at the higher level, and we don’t want to do that to him yet.”
Sir Argento is the lone non-3-year-old in the well-matched field of seven. The clear speed in the race is Now Cato, a 2-for-8 gelding who has come up short in two stakes attempts this year and will break from the inside post. Cryderman thinks Sir Argento, breaking from post 4, has what it takes to prevent Now Cato from getting too loose on the lead.
“I’d like to see him [Sir Argento] maybe four [lengths] off at the most. He’s been breaking really, really well. He’ll probably just hold pace for the whole race and come with a run.”
Trainer Jim Gilmour starts another evenly paced late bloomer, Prince of Memphis, in race 8, an $8,000 claiming event for nonwinners of three at six furlongs.
After a winless winter and early spring at Turf Paradise, Prince of Memphis has a win and two seconds at the Emerald meet, steadily improving his Beyers to a career-best 64 last out on July 12.
“What I have done different is I haven’t rushed him back to the racetrack. He’s been very well-spaced in his races since we left Phoenix and he’s kind of starting to mature and relax,” said Gilmour, whose Emerald trainees are winning at a 20 percent clip. “I’ve had three of them do nothing but advance as 8-year-olds. You never know what’s gonna happen in this game, and that’s what keeps it fun.”
The veteran jockey Frank Alvarado has the call on both Sir Argento and Prince of Memphis.
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