Wright starts pair of California maidens off long layoffs
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Go west, young man – or so it’s been said. But when a western man heads east, to the Rust Belt in particular, he’s liable to get looks that equate to “just what are you doing here?”
This reaction could be applied to Blaine Wright’s two starters, Appreciate Today and Ario, in Sunday’s fifth race at Emerald Downs, a $23,000 maiden special weight at six furlongs for horses 3 years old and up. Wright’s shippers aren’t going east, obviously, what with Emerald Downs existing in the severe northwesterly corner of the United States racing ecosystem. Rather, they’re shipping north from Santa Anita. Compared to that majestic, sun-kissed track, Emerald Downs might as well be Cleveland.
The two Kentucky-breds, owned by Peter Redekop, were transferred from Peter Miller to Blaine Wright’s barn in December when Wright was still in California. Five-year-old Appreciate Today hasn’t raced since February 2024, and 4-year-old Ario has been out of action since December 2023. When asked why they’d been off so long, Wright said he wasn’t quite sure but that he “got a decent foundation in them” in California before rallying northward.
Both geldings showed considerable promise at Santa Anita. Both raced in maiden special weight company with purses in the $60,000 range at Santa Anita, with Ario mostly routing and Appreciate Today sprinting. Ario’s best finish was second in a one-mile affair at Santa Anita, for which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 65, while Appreciate Today finished third in his only two races, at six and seven furlongs, respectively.
Appreciate Today earned Beyers of 81 and 83 for those efforts. Those are, by a comically large measure, the best in Sunday’s 11-horse field.
“These horses are coming off long layoffs and it just so happens they’re ready at the same time,” Wright said. “It’s unfortunate they have to run together, but we’re just hoping to get some races in them. The one horse looks like his better races came going long. The other horse looks like he’s an avid sprinter. They’ve worked pretty forward.”
That’s true, and Ario, the less-accomplished of the pair, has been a little speedier in those works, indicating that his lost 3-year-old year might have given him room to grow.
The only credible argument against either of Wright’s horses is that they might need a race in them before they first taste victory. Either way, the question of what they’re doing here will be answered Sunday.
“It’d be nice to win with one of them,” Wright said. “It’s still a horse race. Anything can happen.”
That’s for sure.
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