Vivacious Tribute goes for second straight stakes in WTBOA Lads

Vivacious Tribute will seek a repeat stakes win in the WTBOA Lads Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs at Emerald Downs on Sunday. Vivacious Tribute will break from the outermost post in a field of eight while seeking to maintain his undefeated record.

In the King County Express Stakes on July 7, Vivacious Tribute blew the race open on the turn while maintaining a decided pace advantage to the wire for a 1 3/4-length win. There isn’t too much visible speed in Emerald’s second stakes for juvenile males. Luckily for Vivacious Tribute, the only other obvious speed is Si That Tiger, his Blaine Wright-trained stablemate.

Si That Tiger was a romping maiden winner in his last start July 13. The win earned him a robust 66 Beyer Speed Figure, tops among Sunday’s cast. In his June 9 debut, Si That Tiger broke poorly and checked in fifth as the favorite in a maiden race won by Vivacious Tribute.

One should assume the two Wright entrants won’t both be sent from the opening bell. Having drawn outside, Vivacious Tribute seems the more likely of the pair to employ stalking tactics.

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“Both horses came out of their respective races in good order and have trained forwardly,” Wright said. “We’ve got our fingers crossed that they can duplicate the races they ran last time.”

Vivacious Tribute is owned by Margaret Root, who also has the Frank Lucarelli-trained Big Bowie in the race. Big Bowie was a strong third in the King County Express while chasing Vivacious Tribute in vain.

Big Bowie won the Turf Paradise Open Spring Futurity on May 4. In the event fate doesn’t keep the speedy Wright trainees apart early, then at least Root has something of an insurance policy.

The only first-time starter in Sunday’s field is Verdi, a Tom Wenzel trainee who is by a Grade 1-winning sire and out of a dual stakes-winning mare. Verdi has worked steadily at Emerald without missing a beat since the middle of May.

Wenzel also has Bodi Zafa in the race. Bodi Zafa turned in a strong performance when debuting in the King County Express. A son of Good Samaritan, Bodi Zafa finished a fast-closing second, beaten 1 3/4 lengths.

If one were to reshuffle the place photo by a pair of heads, the race may have had the top three finishers run 1-2-3 all the way around. That is to say that Bodi Zafa was the only one of the top finishers who made any headway from the back, and Sunday’s feature offers him an extra furlong.

Rounding out the field are a trio of second-time starters. Kiss the Tiger returns after nearly two months for trainer Ryland Harwood. The gelding last raced in the June 9 maiden affair won by Vivacious Tribute.

Impassable, trained by Howard Belvoir, went fairly evenly to be fifth in the King County Express, while He’s Not Talking, trained by Bonnie Jenne, was a length back in sixth in the same race.

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