Starter allowances draw big fields on closing day

Two starter allowances with enhanced purses headline an eight-race Labor Day card that will close the 30th year of racing at Emerald Downs.

The starter allowances, both run at 1 1/16 miles and restricted to 3-year-olds and up who have started for a claiming price of $10,000 or less since April 27, 2025, each feature a purse of $30,000 thanks to a donation from former horse owner Jody Peetz. Races 6 and 7 have attracted refreshingly large fields of nine and 10 for a meet that’s seen far too many small fields, compromised by a horse population shortage that has afflicted racetracks nationwide.

“It’s the end of the meet and this is a bigger pot,” said trainer Charlie Essex, who has a pair of mares entered in race 6 and the 5-year-old gelding Jullian in Paris starting in race 7.

With 14 wins from 64 starts heading into Saturday, Essex has enjoyed his usual solid meet. Jullian in Paris is not among Essex’s 2026 winners, but after being claimed for $5,000 out of a third-place finish on May 10, he’s finished second four times and third twice in six starts, missing by a half-length or less on three different occasions.

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On Aug. 16, Jullian in Paris finished third at this level behind Creative Om and Brother o’ Brien, both of whom he’ll face again Monday. Creative Om, from the barn of leading trainer Howie Gibson, is a pure front-runner, while Brother o’ Brien, like Jullian in Paris, typically comes with a late run.

Unfortunately for Essex and Tim McCanna, who trains Brother o’ Brien, it’s unclear who in the 10-horse field might be able to apply the requisite pressure on Creative Om to leave him vulnerable to a late-race meltdown.

“I don’t think we can go get him,” Essex conceded. “I gotta hope somebody else will. It’s a bigger field. Maybe somebody will show something.”

Jullian in Paris will break from the far outside, while Brother o’ Brien has drawn the rail – a post McCanna is actually excited about.

“He’s a gamer,” said McCanna, who said he’d been targeting this pair of starter allowances for a while. “The inside can help him. He had a wide trip the other day.”

The wide-open female-restricted starter allowance sees McCanna’s Princess Hekawi dropping back down in class after finishing a distant fifth in the $50,000 Emerald Distaff on Aug. 16.

“We just took a shot trying to get some black type, which turned out to be a poor decision, but she should be tough in here,” McCanna said.

Of the Essex pair, Bangie Go is a mirror image of Jullian in Paris, having finished second four times and third once in six starts this meet.

“I think this fuller field might help Bangie Go a little more,” Essex said. “She kind of gets to wanting to run off when she sees daylight, so covering her up helps her settle a little better.”

Gi Gis Map, meanwhile, has been bang-on since Essex claimed her for $8,000 on May 30. She’s posted three straight wins, all at distances of a mile or longer, heading into Monday’s contest.

“She’s put on a lot of weight,” Essex said. “She’s only got one eye. She’s just a trier. We just got her going long again. You look way back, she showed some distance form then. She’s just a real happy horse right now.”

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