Trackattacker, Prime Engine set for Gottstein Futurity showdown
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
AUBURN, Wash. – Emerald Downs will put an exclamation point on its season Sunday with the $65,000 Gottstein Futurity and one of the most anticipated showdowns in recent track history.
Trackattacker and Prime Engine, both unbeaten 2-year-olds, headline the 1 1/16-mile Gottstein, which attracted a field of six when entries were drawn Thursday.
Trackattacker, who has won his four starts by a combined 36 1/4 lengths, had his final major tune-up Sunday, when he worked seven furlongs for trainer Frank Lucarelli. Trackattacker went slow early and fast late as he prepared for his first start around two turns. He was timed in 1:28.40.
A day later, Prime Engine breezed five furlongs in 1:00.40 for Mike Puhich.
The story lines in the Gottstein are predictable: Can either horse get the distance, and if they can, which one is faster? Prime Engine earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 83 for his romping maiden victory earlier this month – the fastest race by a 2-year-old at Emerald in almost six years.
Trackattacker has earned Beyers of 73, 66, 76, and 74 in his victories. The visual evidence suggests that neither horse has been asked for his best. Trackattacker finished under wraps Sept. 7 in the Dennis Dodge Stakes, while jockey Isaias Enriquez scarcely moved a muscle during Prime Engine’s 10 1/4-length maiden victory Sept. 13.
Puhich liked what he saw from Prime Engine in his latest work.
“It was a maintenance work, and I was really happy with it, the way he galloped out and the way he came back,” Puhich said. “Victor Miranda, the exercise rider, has been giving him some long, extended gallops and said that hasn’t fazed him at all. He’s comfortable, and he’s ready to go two turns. It’s asking a lot, coming back two weeks after his first lifetime start and going two turns against stakes company. But I don’t think I’m going to have any excuses, other than just getting outrun.”
Puhich said he’ll discuss strategy with Enriquez and ask the jockey to do as little as possible.
“I don’t want Isaias to have to think too much,” Puhich said. “The horse has a lot of natural speed. I anticipate him being close to the lead, though it wouldn’t surprise me if he made the lead on his own. I don’t want him thinking about Trackattacker or anyone else. I want him thinking about our horse and letting him do his thing.”