Renton native wins top trainer honor at Emerald Downs

Renton native Blaine Wright this past week won the top training achievement honor at Emerald Down, his first title.

Renton native Blaine Wright this past week won the top training achievement honor at Emerald Down, his first title.

Wright, 42, had 39 wins, edging Frank Lucarelli and three-time defending champion Jeff Metz for the title, sporting a remarkable 28.6 percent wins. Wright also conditioned Top Claimer He’s Cagey, a 7-year-old Idaho-bred that topped the meeting with six wins.

Also last week, One Horse Will Do Corporation’s O B Harbor was voted Horse of the Meeting, Top Sprinter and Top Handicap Horse as Emerald Downs announced its 2016 season honors Sunday on closing day of the track’s 21st season.

A 4-year-old Oregon-bred gelding by Harbor the Gold-Flying Memo, O B Harbor won four of five starts including three stakes and posted meet-fastest times at 5½ and 6½ furlongs and 1 1/16 miles. Trained by Chris Stenslie, O B Harbor also finished a strong third in the $200,000 Longacres Mile (Grade 3) won by Point Piper in a track and state record 1:32.90.

Trainer Howard Belvoir finished No. 1 in stakes wins with seven, including three apiece by Barkley and So Lucky. A Kentucky-bred by Munnings, Barkley was honored as the meet’s Top 3-Year-Old while So Lucky, a Washington-bred by Coast Guard, was voted Top 2-Year-Old Male and Top Washington-bred.

Jockey Rocco Bowen also captured his first title in 2016. A 27-year-old native of Barbados, Bowen dominated the riders’ standings with 110 wins (21.1 percent) and easily led in earnings with $1,155,544.

Washington Oaks winner Princess Kennedy won her second straight championship. Voted Top 2-Year-Old Filly last year, the Kentucky-bred by Sun King was voted Top 3-Year-Old Filly in 2016, and Darrin Paul’s Blazinbeauty, upset winner over So Lucky in the Gottstein Futurity, earned the crown as Top 2-Year-Old Filly.

Oak Crest Farm’s Guinevere’s Finale, winner of four races—two sprints and two routes—was voted Top Older Filly or Mare.

Amongst owners, Muddy Water Stables (Mike Water, Seattle) and John Parker of Lake Bay tied for top spot with 10 wins apiece.

Trainer Roddina Barrett led the Quarter Horse trainers’ standings with eight wins and Osvaldo Gonzalez was the top QH rider with six wins. Barrett also conditioned the meet’s Top Quarter Horse, Sorelli, a 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly that captured the Bank of America Emerald Downs Championship Challenge for owners Kelly Dougan and Tim Floyd.