Sir Argento stands out, by color, in King County Express

There is one 2-year-old racing on Sunday at Emerald Downs that will stand out from the rest, and he is first-time starter Sir Argento, who will face eight others in the $50,000 King County Express Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs.

Sir Argento happens to be one of those unique Thoroughbreds who is officially white in color. Although they are not quite as rare anymore as they were the last time one of them raced at Emerald Downs, white Thoroughbreds still automatically catch the eye.

Sir Argento is the sixth successive white Thoroughbred in his family tree dating back to 1963. His name even means silver in Italian.

Trained by Candice Cryderman, Sir Argento was purchased last fall for $60,000 and has been at Emerald Downs all spring. Cryderman said that her horse “has quite the little fan club” in the Emerald Downs barn area, adding, “I think he can run a little bit.”

:: Get ready for summer racing with a DRF Formulator Quarterly PP plan

She also shares that her charge “has little black spots beneath his skin all over and when he gets excited, his skin turns pink” and the little black spots then become much more vivid.

The King County Express drew the winners of both 2-year-old maiden races for colts and geldings run at the stand to date. Bourbon Dancer, trained by Blaine Wright, won a maiden special weight dash on June 18 by three-quarters of a length and will face the second, third, and fifth runners in that earlier race.

Whiskey Harbor was the winner of a maiden $25,000 claiming race on June 25 and will face the runner-up in that spot, Mokki, in Sunday’s stakes.

In addition to Sir Argento, there are two other first-time starters in the King County Express, each by Goldencents, including Golden Affair, trained by Frank Lucarelli, and Digital Soldier, trained by Blaine Wright.

Digital Soldier is out of a daughter of Grade 2 turf stakes winner Skimble, who banked $777,518 during a 25-race career, and he is a half-brother to Grade 3 stakes winner Center Aisle, who has earned $356,533 to date with five wins from 11 starts.

Angie C. Stakes

Co-featured on the Sunday card is the parallel event for 2-year-old fillies, the $50,000 Angie C. Stakes. The race drew seven runners, including the 1-2-4 finishers in the only maiden race run for fillies at the meeting, won by Bourbon Tiger, who also is trained by Wright.

Four debuting fillies fill out the group – Bring a Smile, another trained by Wright; Appeal Factor, trained by David Martinez; and Neissa and Parkers Fifteen, both trained by Cryderman. Parkers Fifteen got her name by virtue of the fact that her owner is one of 15 siblings.

Appeal Factor could be any kind as she is by ultra-quick sire The Factor and out of a mare who won her debut in the Angie C. Stakes by 11 lengths seven years ago.

Sunday’s first post is 2 p.m. Pacific.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.