Wasserman, all-time money earner ($514,722) at Emerald Downs, could bolster his earnings Sunday with a top-five finish in the $21,000 allowance race for older horses at six furlongs.

To keep his stablemate at bay, the 9-year-old Wasserman must finish ahead of Assessment, who is second in the respective standings with $399,105. Trainer Howard Belvoir said both Wasserman and Assessment have been training great in the mornings.

“There’s something different about Wasserman this season,” Belvoir said. “He’s always happy, but he seems more happy this year. Assessment is feeling well, too. I expect a good try from both horses.”

One noticeable difference will be Wasserman’s pilot. Javier Matias has the assignment after Wasserman’s regular rider Jennifer Whitaker broke her collarbone before the season. Prior to Sunday, Whitaker rode Wasserman 32 consecutive races*including a victory in the 2008 Longacres Mile Grade 3. The last jockey aboard Wasserman’s was Leslie Mawing, who rode the son of Cahill Road to a second-place finish in the 2008 Seattle Slew Handicap.

Despite a winless 2010 season, Wasserman looks to prove that he belongs with the track’s top older horses. The bay gelding finished last season with a runner-up effort to Washington Horse of the Year Noosa Beach in the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic on Washington Cup Day. A similar try this weekend could give Wasserman his 11th career victory.

The task could be daunting for the Washington-bred as more than half the field has accumulated 18 career stakes victories. Wasserman leads the way (6), followed by Margo’s Gift (5), Assessment (4), Winning Machine (2) and California invader Our Minesweeper (1).

He’s All Heart, owned by Vic-Tory Stables IV and Boundtogetbusy, owned by K J Star Stable and Brad Case, could make noise in the stakes division this season, as both have great speed and have trained exceptionally well in the a.m.

The field for Sunday’s eighth and feature race: He’s All Heart, Gallyn Mitchell, 120 lbs.; Our Minesweeper, Joe Crispin, 122; Wasserman, Matias, 120; Assessment, Juan Gutierrez, 120; Winning Machine, Leslie Mawing, 120; Margo’s Gift, Pedro Terrero, 120; Boundtogetbusy, Robert Skelly, 120.

 

THOROUGBREDS & QUARTER HORSES SQUARE OFF IN SUNDAY’S OPENER AT 870 YARDS

Emerald Downs, which has added quarter horse racing in 2011, unveils its new breed in Sunday’s first race at 2 p.m. The 870-yard event is an allowance race for 3-year-olds and up which have never won four races.

The 870-yard distance equates to four furlongs and is a fairly common distance in quarter horse racing. Winning times generally are in the 46-to-49 second range, with the world record of :43.029 set by Snowbound Superstar at Sunland Park in 2009.

Sunday’s six-horse field includes two thoroughbreds, a common occurrence in the longer quarter horse races involving at least one turn. Los Alamitos in California, for example, commonly offers mixed races at 870 yards.

Ed Burgart, veteran race-caller at Los Alamitos said mixed 870-yard races generally favor quarter horses at his track, but added that might not necessarily be true at Emerald Downs.

“Los Alamitos is a five-eighths mile oval with a short (558-foot) stretch,” Burgart said. “It’s tough for Thoroughbreds to rally under those conditions. But at Emerald Downs, where you have a one-mile track with a longer (990-foot) stretch run, the Thoroughbreds should have a better chance.”

An 870-yard race at Emerald Downs will mean a short run into the first turn, and Burgart said handicappers might want to look for speed horses complemented by an inside post-position. Horses with outside post-position stand to lose ground around the turn.

The field for Sunday’s first race: Cosmic Clash, Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo; Carry On Cappy, Javier Matias; Revoluta (Tb), Matt Hagerty; Major Role (Tb), Leonel Camacho-Flores; Eyes Movin, Jorge Rosales, and Juno Dat Magic, Joe Crispin.

 

TRAINER JUNIOR COFFEY TO BE INDUCTED INTO PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

 

Veteran trainer Junior Coffey, a star running back at the University of Washington and later a pro player with Green Bay, Atlanta and the New York Giants in the NFL, is scheduled to be inducted into the Pacific Northwest Football Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 28.

The luncheon ceremony is noon to 2 p.m. at the Ballard Elks, located at 6411 Seaview Avenue NW.

Other honorees include Damon Huard, Ralph Winters, Ron Siegel, Tom Parry, Sid Otton and Mike Huard. Steve Raible will serve as MC, and Washington State University Athletic Director Bill Moos is the featured speaker.

Coffey, 69, played for the Huskies from 1960-65 and was an All-Pac 8 Fullback and Honorable Mention All-America. Born in Kyle, Texas, Coffey was a sensational high school player in the Lone Star State, and in 1997 was inducted into the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame.

At Emerald Downs, Coffey oversees one of the track’s top percentage barns (18.73 percent) and saddled Raise the Bluff to a runner-up finish in the 2007 Longacres Mile.

NATIONAL LEADER RICH DEBUT RUNS FRIDAY

The calendar year isn’t even a third over yet Rich Debut, a 7-year-old California-bred, has already won seven races in 2011. The chestnut mare has a 7-0-1 record in eights starts in 2011, all at Portland Meadows, and goes for win No. 8 in the third race Friday at Emerald Downs.

Rich Debut is tied with Rapid Redux for most wins this year in North America. And those two are far ahead of the pack, as there are no horses with six wins and only one with five wins.

In her most recent start on April 5, Rich Debut scored a 2 ¼-length victory for a $2,000 tag and was claimed by trainer Rigoberto Velasquez and owner Rancho Viejo and Jerry Carmody. Overall, Rich Debut has won 15-of-54 starts including a 3-for-9 mark at Emerald Downs.

Rapid Redux, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Pleasantly Perfect, has won nine straight overall, including seven straight in 2011 at Laurel, Charles Town, Parx and Penn National.

NOTES: Week 1 Honors:

• Jockey-Juan Gutierrez (5-for-23); Trainer-Charles Essex (3-for-4); Owner-James & Zola Proffitt (Sweet Nellie Brown wins $21,000 allowance); Groom-William Diaz (Bill Tollett).
• Noosa Beach is the 3-to-1 morning line favorite in Friday’s $50,000 George Royal Stakes at Hastings Racecourse. Almost Time, fourth to Noosa Beach in last year’s Longacres Mile, is the 7-2 second choice, followed by Teide at 9-2 and Sassou at 5-1. It goes as Race 7 at 4:20 p.m.
• Harwood vanned Noosa Beach to Vancouver on Wednesday along with Feels Like Rain, a 4-year-old filly that runs in Race 5 Friday at Hastings.
• Gallyn Mitchell will ride both Noosa Beach and Feels Like Rain.
• Jockey Chad Hoverson, who rode Kimmyv to a 10-1 upset in the 2010 Emerald Distaff, celebrated his 57th birthday Thursday. Hoverson rides Teide in the George Royal.
• Soul Custody, third in the 2010 Washington Oaks, finished third in a $33,000 allowance race Thursday at Golden Gate Fields for trainer Tim McCanna and owner Al Hodge.
• Jockey Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo, who was injured after Sunday’s seventh race, received a doctor’s release Wednesday to resume riding this weekend. The 44-year-old Hoonan-Trujillo is 3-2-2 in 14 starts this season.
• Blame the Jockey, a triple winner at Emerald Downs last year, runs in the sixth race Thursday at Hollywood Park for trainer Frank Lucarelli and owners Chris Randall and Nick Rossi.
• Hats off to 87-year-old trainer Don Munger, busy this weekend with four horses entered Friday and two more Saturday.
• Trainer Howard Belvoir saddled a winner on each of the opening three cards last week, but needs a victory by Libby Creek in Friday’s third to extend the streak.
• Elusive Noise earned a 70 Beyer for her six-length debut victory in last Sunday’s first race. The $110,000 3-year-old Elusive Quality filly ran five furlongs in :56.80.
• Olympic Lights earned an 84 Beyer for her 5-¼ length victory in Saturday’s feature race for fillies and mares. The 7-year-old Washington-bred ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:02.63.
• According part-owner Jack Hodge, Willcox Inn, eighth in the Blue Grass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland, came out of Saturday’s race feeling well. The Emerald Downs’ vice president said that his 3-year-old by Harlan’s Holiday would make his next start in the $100,000 Arlington Classic Stakes. The first leg of the “Mid-America Triple” May 28, on the Arlington turf course. Hodge also co-owns 2009 Arlington Oaks (GIII) winner Upperline, who comes off back-to-back stakes wins. The 4-year-old by Maria’s Mon is pointed for the $200,000 Churchill Distaff, a one-mile turf race set for May 7.
• Undefeated Avram will headline Saturday’s feature race, a $14,800 allowance race at 5 ½ furlongs for owner Heidi Nelson and confident trainer Vann Belvoir. “We’re going wire-to-wire, man,” Belvoir said.
• Hollywood Harbor, the Top 2-Year-Old of 2009, breezed five panels Thursday in :59.80 (5/21).
• Bar Room Gal. A four-race winner at Emerald Downs last year and finalist for Top Claimer, makes her 2011 debut in Sunday’s second race. The 5-year-old California-bred mare is owned by handicapper John Lindley, who publishes Parker’s Race Selections every racing day at Emerald Downs.
• Broulee Beach, sixth as the 8-5 favorite in the 2010 Dennis Dodge Stakes won by Mack’s Gold Bullet, makes his 2011 debut for trainer Blaine Wright in an $18,000 starter allowance for 3-year-olds Sunday at Golden Gate Fields.
• Also Sunday at Golden Gate, the Washington-bred, Frank Lucarelli-trained Point of Reference faces five rivals in the $50,000 Work The Crowd for fillies and mares at one mile on turf.