Distance looms large in stakes

There is not one route winner among those entered for Thursday’s 1 1/16-mile Muckleshoot Derby and Washington Oaks at Emerald Downs. Few of the 17 in the two $40,000 stakes have tried.

So to pick the winner of each race, handicappers must figure out who will handle the distance.

Daffodil Sweet is the star of the show, with three blowout wins in three starts. She will be a short price in the Oaks, which drew eight horses. Nine were entered for the derby. Each horse in the derby, for 3-yearolds, will carry 123 pounds, with the Oaks fillies each carrying 121.

The Muckleshoot Derby shapes up as a battle between Unmachable and Gold Crusher.

They have completely different running styles, and if the track is favoring speed, the Frank Lucarelli-trained Gold Crusher will have the advantage.

Unmachable, trained by Jack McCartney will likely be favored, though. With Javier Matias aboard, he came from last to edge Gold Crusher by a half-length in the $40,000 Seattle Slew. A Washington-bred son of Macho Uno, Unmachable should have ample speed to run at in the Muckleshoot Derby. The Seattle Slew was just his second race as a 3-year-old, so he could be coming up to a peak performance in the third start of his form cycle. Unmachable’s five-furlong bullet move in 59 seconds on Aug. 27 suggests McCartney has him primed for a big effort.

The only time Unmachable tried a middle distance he made up a lot of ground when he finished second in the $100,000 Gottstein Futurity last Sept. 22. It was a huge effort, considering he went into the 1 1/16mile race off a winning debut in the $50,000 Washington Cup

Colts and Geldings Juvenile on Sept. 8.

He will break from post 6 with Matias riding.

Gold Crusher looked like he was home and cooled out when he opened up a clear lead in the stretch of the 6 1/2-furlong Seattle Slew. However, he hung late and could not hold off Unmachable, who finished full of run.

This will be Gold Crusher’s first race going longer than 6 1/2 furlongs. Among his dam and four siblings, there are 16 sprint wins and none going long, so he is a bit questionable going around two turns for the first time. Nonetheless, there is stamina going further back in his family as reflected by his strong 415 Tomlinson Figure for the distance.

Gold Crusher will break from post 3 and should get a nice trip from a forward position with Eddie Martinez riding.

Muncey, third in the Seattle Slew, is trending in the right direction for trainer Howard Belvoir.

The Muckleshoot Derby goes as race 8 and is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. Pacific.

Washington Oaks

Daffodil Sweet, trained by Chris Stenslie, has dominated her rivals in her three starts, all at Emerald. Despite breaking a step slowly from the inside post, she was well in hand when she won the $40,000 Coca-Cola by six lengths over For You Only on Aug. 6. She trailed the field briefly, and without much urging from Juan Gutierrez, she held a narrow lead after a quartermile in the 6 1/2-furlong dash.

Her total margin of victory from her three wins is 22 1/2 lengths.

A California-bred daughter of Ministers Wild Cat, Daffodil Sweet will break from post 2 with Gutierrez retaining the mount.

Daffodil Sweet appears to be too much for the local contingent. If there is going to be an upset, it will likely come from Princess of Cairo, who is coming off a third-place finish going 1 1/16 miles in the $50,000 Hong Kong Jockey Club at Hastings.

Trained by Glen Todd, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Cairo Prince appeared ready to pounce when she clipped heels at the five-sixteenth pole. With Efrain Hernandez riding, she finished well after the incident but could not catch her stablemate Miss Prospector, who led from start to finish.

“She was going to win the race for sure,” Todd said. “She is better horse than Miss Prospector and she was moving easily without any urging from Efrain when she clipped heels. She has been training well, so I expect her to run a big race.”

Princess of Cairo will break from the inside post with Gary Wales picking up the mount.

22 nominated to Mile

Anyportinastorm heads a list of 22 horses nominated to the Grade 3, $100,000 Longacres Mile, to be run Sept. 10.

Trained by Blaine Wright, Anyportinastorm was the runner-up in last year’s Mile. Wright also nominated Anothertwistafate, who has not raced since he finished 10th in the 2019 Preakness. Both horses race for Peter Redekop.