Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Baja Sur, Coco Bee give Wright strong hand in both stakes
Baja Sur, who spent the spring at Golden Gate Fields, returns to Emerald Downs on Thursday and will try to run down the speedy Papa’s Golden Boy in the $50,000 Budweiser Stakes. The six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up shares the spotlight Thursday with the $50,000 Hastings for fillies and mares at the same distance.
The Budweiser, race 7, drew eight horses. It is immediately preceded by the Hastings, which also drew eight horses.
Baja Sur, trained by Blaine Wright, is perfect at Emerald and he dominated his opponents each time, having won four races by a combined 22 1/2 lengths there.
His last win at Emerald came in the $50,000 Coca-Cola as a 3-year-old in 2019. Since then he has been a solid sprinter running against tough company in California, highlighted by a couple of stakes wins on the synthetic main track at Golden Gate. He also finished second going five furlongs on turf in the Grade 3 Green Flash on Aug. 20 at Del Mar.
In his latest start, he was the runner-up to Anyportinastorm in the $75,000 Lost in the Fog on April 24 at Golden Gate. The Peter Miller-trained Anyportinastorm finished second in the 2019 Longacres Mile when trained by Wright.
Baja Sur has never gone around two turns in his 14-race career, but Wright is pointing him to the Longacres Mile and is hoping the Washington-bred son of Smiling Tiger will give him his second win in the race. He got his first win in the Mile last year with Anothertwistafate.
“We were planning to stretch him out in the All American at Golden Gate, but when they added this race to the stakes schedule it made sense to come up here,” Wright said.
“He’s locally owned, loves the surface, and with two sprint stakes and two routes here, he should be set for the summer.”
Baja Sur’s Beyer Speed Figures stand out in the Budweiser, especially the 99 and 100 he received for his stakes wins at Golden Gate. He should be tough to handle if he posts his usual number. However, Wright is very aware of Papa’s Golden Boy, who has speed to burn and will be the one they have to run down. Papa’s Golden Boy breaks from the rail, with Baja Sur in post 2.
“My horse is doing really well, but that is a fast horse breaking next to him, so we’ll just have to see how the race develops,” Wright said.
Baja Sur also has plenty of speed and figures to be in close pursuit with Frank Ceballos riding.
Papa’s Golden Boy received a career-best Beyer Figure of 84 for his easy victory in an allowance race on June 2, the top figure at Emerald this year. A 5-year-old gelding by Harbor the Gold, Papa’s Golden Boy set wicked interior fractions of 21.43 seconds and 43.57 in his six-length romp in the 5 1/2-furlong dash.
Still, Papa’s Golden Boy will need to improve that Beyer Figure to beat Baja Sur in the Budweiser. Trained by Vince Gibson, Papa’s Golden Boy will be making his second start of the year and has a right to improve with a race behind him.
Papa’s Golden Boy led from start to finish in his three wins last year, and he almost took them all the way in the $50,000 Mt. Rainier at Emerald in August. After holding a six-length advantage at the eighth pole, he came up a halflength short to Elliott Bay in the 6 1/2-furlong race. Julien Couton, aboard for his last start, retains the mount on Papa’s Golden Boy.
Hastings Stakes
Wright also has an excellent chance of winning the Hastings with Coco Bee, who is coming off a third-place finish in an allowance race May 20 at Golden Gate. She went into the race off back-to-back wins in second-level allowance races that each carried a $62,500 claiming option on Jan. 29 and Feb. 19.
“We want to try and keep her fresh, so we backed off of her after her second win,” Wright said. “She’s coming into the race in excellent shape.”
The California-bred 6-yearold daughter of Richard’s Kid has won seven races running exclusively at Golden Gate, with all but one of her 14 starts coming on Tapeta.
“She’s sure been a good synthetic horse,” Wright said. “She had a good work here, so hopefully she’ll run as well on dirt.”
Coco Bee will break from post 5 with Irving Orozco riding.
Wright said that if all goes well, Coco Bee would run in the $50,000 Washington State Legislators on July 11 before heading south.
“I am hoping to get 10 or 12 stalls at Del Mar, and she is one of the horses I plan to take there if my application is accepted,” he said.
The Chris Stenslie-trained Daffodil Sweet is the horse Coco Bee will have to beat in the Hastings.
The 4-year-old Californiabred daughter of Ministers Wild Cat has yet to lose sprinting, with her only loss a runner-up finish behind Princess of Cairo going 1 1/16 miles in the $40,000 Washington Oaks last year. The combined margin of victory in her four wins is 25 1/2 lengths.
Daffodil Sweet was very impressive winning an allowance at Emerald by three lengths in her first start of the year on May 20.
With a bullet five-furlong move in 58.60 on June 9, Daffodil Sweet looks primed for another strong performance. She will break from post 6 with her usual rider, Juan Gutierrez, aboard.