Two sons of Danjur top threats

AUBURN, Wash. - Danjur officially becomes a hot young stallion on Sunday, when two members of his first crop head a field of seven in the $40,000 Auburn Stakes for 3-year-olds at Emerald Downs.

Danjur, a son of Dayjur who stands at Oakhurst Thoroughbreds in Oregon, is the sire of both One Special Hoss and Typhoon Aaron, who figure to vie for favoritism in the six-furlong Auburn. Both will be making their Emerald Downs debuts after compiling impressive records in Canada and Oregon, respectively.

One Special Hoss, a winner of three of his five outings at 2, hails from trainer Ed Thompson's barn at Hastings, but his most noteworthy score came in the $50,000 Birdcatcher Stakes at Northlands Park. One Special Hoss broke slowly in the Birdcatcher, but he recovered to post a length score in 1:19.60 for 6 1/2 furlongs. He will be making his season debut.

Typhoon Aaron began his career at Portland Meadows in October and ran off four straight wins, three of them in stakes, before yielding to stablemate J D's Date in the 1 1/8-mile Oregon Derby on April 2. Typhoon Aaron, trained by Jim Fergason, contested extremely fast fractions before tiring in the Oregon Derby, his first start in more than two months.

Fergason has also entered J D's Date, who also won the 1 1/16-mile Preview Stakes at Portland Meadows, but he will not race coupled with Typhoon Aaron because of separate ownership.