The 5-year-old gelding overcame a slow start and challenges from all sides to notch his second straight victory in the one-mile Budweiser, and his record-tying 10th stakes victory at Emerald Downs.

Carrying an Emerald Downs’ stakes record 125 lbs., Noosa Beach ran one mile in 1:38.09 under Gallyn Mitchell on a track listed wet-fast, and paid $3.20, $2.80 and $2.40. The Washington-bred by Harbor the Gold-Julia Rose is tied with Handy N Bold for most career stakes wins at Emerald Downs, winning nine of his last 10 races including the 2010 Longacres Mile, grade 3.

Trained by Doris Harwood and owned by Jeff Harwood, Noosa Beach has a 13-3-2 mark in 20 starts with earnings of $435,222. His Emerald Downs record is 17-12-3-10-$394,055.

Noosa Beach missed the break and had to come from a little farther off the pace than normal—about four lengths—but he still managed to make it look easy while repelling bids by Tequila Gold and Saratoga Boot.

“He had to make it a little more interesting, (the start) made my heart jump a little,” Jeff Harwood said. “This is special because I was a big Handy N Bold fan.”

Noosa Beach, of course, figures to break the record. Next up for the older handicap stars is the $50,000 Mt. Rainier Handicap at a mile and one-sixteenth on Sunday, July 24, followed by a title defense of the meet’s marquee event—the $200,000 Longacres Mile (G3) on Sunday, Aug. 21.

Sunday, Noosa Beach tied Kit Katabatic for most wins in the Budweiser Handicap at two apiece, while Harwood became the first trainer to win the race three times. She also is the track’s all-time leader in stakes wins with 50—a full 20 percent by Noosa Beach alone.

“He’s amazing, he really can do it all,” Doris Harwood said in the winner’s circle.

Winning Machine, Noosa Beach’s nemesis in his 3-year-old season of 2009, rallied to finish second, a nose in front of a hard-charging Saratoga Boot. Ridden by Leslie Mawing at 118 lbs., Winning Machine paid $11.20 and $5.20. Saratoga Boot, Joe Crispin riding at 117 lbs., paid $5.40 for show.

Davos finished fourth, followed by Assessment, Tequila Gold, All Saint and Cat On Base. Assessment, the 4-to-1 second choice and the only horse to beat Noosa Beach in the last two seasons, struggled with the track surface, according to jockey Juan Gutierrez, and failed to offer a bid.

Cat On Base and California shipper All Saint dueled for the lead through fractions of :23.28 and :46.37, with Noosa Beach placed third, 3-½ lengths back of the leaders. The duelers wound up last and next to last, giving way as Noosa Beach gained the lead at the five-sixteenths pole.

Tequila Gold would offer a challenge from the outside on the last turn, and Saratoga Boot appeared ready to pounce while rallying into the lane. Noosa Beach, however, turned them both away while galloping off into the record book.

“He broke a little slow today, but it was just one of those situations where the horse wasn’t standing perfectly in the gate,” Mitchell said. “He’s such a talented horse that he just picked up his feet and started running. I told Doris (Harwood) that the two inside horses would be the speed, so I just directed Noosa Beach to the inside right behind them. I was happy to be in the lead on the inside entering the stretch.

“If he’s on the inside, nobody will get by him. He’s running with the best horses on the grounds, and he’s just toying with them. He never switches leads, and he’s still does it effortlessly.”

It would be a remarkable day for Mitchell, who in one afternoon managed to ride both Emerald Downs’ all-time leader in stakes wins and overall wins.

THE OLD BOY STILL HAS IT

The track’s all-time leader in wins added the latest chapter to a remarkable career when 12-year-old West Seattle Boy ($9.60) rallied furiously under Mitchell to win the fourth race in 1:40.75 for one mile on a muddy track.

West Seattle Boy now has 19 wins at Emerald Downs, three better than both Market Master and Bob Stories, who each retired with 16 wins at Emerald Downs. West Seattle Boy also became only the second 12-year-old to win a race at Emerald Downs, joining New Zealand-bred Don’t Ya Lovett, who accomplished the feat May 1.

A Washington-bred by Majesterian-Pancho’s Girl, West Seattle Boy has an Emerald Downs mark of 83-19-12-14 with earnings of $157,355. His overall record, including 16 starts at Portland Meadows, is 98-23-13-18, with earnings of $170,080 for Lisa Baze and Jerry Carmody.

West Seattle Boy’s first race was over a decade ago, June 3, 2001, a 1-¼ length victory under Jennifer Whitaker in a $25,000 maiden-claiming event at 4 ½ furlongs.

Mitchell, Emerald Downs’ all-time leading rider, has been aboard for the last four victories including Sunday’s exciting come-from-behind triumph. Mitchell has five wins total on West Seattle Boy and 1,279 at Emerald Downs. Ricky Frazier is second with 886.

NOTES: Mitchell and Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo each rode three winners on the card. It was the first triple of the meet for Hoonan-Trujillo, fourth overall with 35 wins.

Thru 10 weeks of racing, Mawing leads Crispin 42-40 in the jockeys’ standings, followed by Gutierrez with 36 and Hoonan-Trujillo…The track was listed muddy for the first five races and wet-fast for races six thru 10.

Another Harbor the Gold offspring, 3-year-old filly Carrabelle Harbor, prevailed as the 3-to-5 betting favorite in the $17,600 sub-feature. Mitchell was aboard for Harwood and owners Bar C Racing Stables & Desert Rose Racing LLC.

Owner Gary Hughes and trainer Tim McCanna finished one-two with first-time starters Wild Wings ($9.20) and Mel and Al in Sunday’s opener for 2-year-old colts & geldings…Buddy Dave won his third straight with a $19.20 upset in the fifth under jockey Leonel Camacho-Flores. Vince Gibson is the trainer for Mark Simpson’s Kingsport Syndicate #9 .

Gesche’s Joy, a 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred trained by Frank Lucarelli for Juan & Humberto Huerta, obviously enjoys the cooler weather in the Pacific Northwest. The mare—one-for-40 before arriving at Emerald Downs—has now won two of three here and paid gigantic mutuels of $89.60 and $49. Sunday, she rallied from far back to click in the sixth at 23-1 under Pedro Terrero.

Live racing resumes Friday with first post at 6:15 p.m. Simulcast action includes Washington-bred Atta Boy Roy in the $125,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows.