AUBURN, Wash. – Business is booming at Emerald Downs. The midpoint of the 70-day meeting came and went Friday, and both average field size – spurred by a 20 percent increase in overnight purses – and betting handle have jumped dramatically from the corresponding date in 2014.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Nancy Betts is considering the $100,000 Redekop Classic on Aug. 3 at Hastings as the next start for Brackendale. Acting on behalf of owner Rick Hunter, Betts claimed Brackendale out of an $8,000 conditional-claiming race June 6. In his two starts for Betts, he won a $25,000 optional-claiming race June 21 and came back with another front-running win in a $25,000 claiming race July 5. He earned 83 Beyer Speed Figures in both races, which isn’t that far off the 89 Beyer that Mr. Bowling received for winning the $50,000 Lieutenant Governor’s on July 5.

DEL MAR, Calif – Eddie Truman is always one of the first trainers to arrive here at Del Mar every summer, and he couldn’t wait for Friday, when horses were allowed on the track for the first time after being allowed into the stable area Thursday. So eager was Truman that he joked, “I brought bolt cutters just in case” he couldn’t get in.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Morning Coffee moved to the top of the local 3-year-old filly division with an impressive win in the $50,000 Supernaturel Handicap on July 1. She was ridden by Pedro Alvarado, who said she just dragged him around the three turns.

What was impressive was the way she went three wide around the first turn while dueling with horses to her inside and outside. After emerging with the lead, she set quick fractions and kept rolling to a 2 3/4-length win in the 1 1/16-mile race.

“I really didn’t want to be on the lead, but she did,” said Alvarado.

Finnegans Wake, the leading turf runner in California this year with three graded stakes wins, is a candidate for the $400,000 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf July 18 at Del Mar.

Finnegans Wake was fourth of 11 in the $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on dirt June 27 but will go back to turf for the start of the Del Mar summer meeting, trainer Peter Miller said.

Three-time stakes winner Kobe’s Back worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 on Friday at Santa Anita and will start in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs July 26 at Del Mar.

Trainer Peter Eurton said the Grade 1 Crosby has appeal since it is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth in the BC Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Earlier this year, Kobe’s Back won the Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes at seven furlongs at Keeneland but was sixth in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Belmont Park on June 6.

CYPRESS, Calif. – California horse racing had its lowest number of major drug violations in the last 40 years for the fiscal year ending June 30, according to a statement released Thursday by the California Horse Racing Board.

During that time, there were four violations for medications in classes 1, 2, or 3 compared with 28 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. Violations for medications in those classes result in an automatic forfeiture of a purse and frequently a fine or suspension for the trainers whose horses test positive.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Brian Lynch had a huge weekend, capped by Shaman Ghost’s victory Sunday at Woodbine in the Queen’s Plate. Last Saturday, Lynch sent out Coffee Clique to capture the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap at Parx, and Clearly Now to finish second behind the odds-on Private Zone in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint.

The victory was the first for Coffee Clique since she won the Grade 1 Just a Game at Belmont in June 2014.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Shug McGaughey was all smiles Thursday while looking back on Ironicus’s impressive performance on Wednesday. Ironicus cruised to a 1 1/4-length decision in a high-priced optional-claiming race. The margin of victory was a bit deceptive, as he was being geared down at the end by jockey Javier Castellano.

The start was the first for Ironicus since his 2 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 2 Dixie at Pimlico nearly eight weeks earlier. Ironicus was scheduled to run in the Poker Stakes on June 14 but had to skip the race because of a cough.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Waltzing Matilda officially toted 115 pounds when she upset the Grade 2 New York in her U.S. debut here June 5. But the daughter of Danehill actually carried a bit more weight than that in the New York, running the race while in foal, said her new trainer, Tom Albertrani.

Waltzing Matilda, who was bred to the sire Australia, was trained to victory in the New York by Tommy Stack. She was subsequently sold privately to St. Elias Stable and transferred to Albertrani, who is pointing her for the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga on July 24.