Cat On Base put on another great display of speed Sunday at Emerald Downs.
The 5-year-old Harbor the Gold gelding made it two-for-two at the young season with a 3-¼-length victory under jockey Jennifer Whitaker in the $20,000 Dreyer’s Purse for 3-year-olds and up.
Cat On Base ran six furlongs in 1:08.21 on a fast track and paid $3.80, $2.60 and $2.10. The winner set fractions of :22.21, :44.36 and :55.99 en route to the fastest six furlongs of the nine-day-old meeting.
In his previous win April 14, Cat On Base tied the track record for 5-½ furlongs, a mark since broken by Hollywood Harbor.
Owned by Rising Star Stable V and trained by Howard Belvoir, the consistent Cat On Base has compiled a 5-6-4 record in 20 starts with earnings of $70,640, including $11,000 for Sunday’s triumph.
Slim Pickins, ridden by Debbie Hoonan, flew from 10 lengths off the pace to take second place and paid $3.80 and $2.80. Emancipated, with Jose Zunino riding, finished third and paid $3.80.
Advancement, El Gran Bebe and Our Eagle Boy completed the order of finish.
D’HONORABLE ONE SHARP IN COMEBACK
In the co-feature for 3-year-old allowance runners, Nelson Family Racing’s D’honorable stamped himself as a favorite for the June 3 Auburn Handicap with an impressive 1:08.54 clocking in the six *furlong dash. The son of D’wildcat finished 6-¼ lengths lengths clear of Just Zoom Will Do, a first-time starter from the red-hot Chris Stenslie stable.
D’honorable One ($2.80) is two-for-two in 2012 and 3-0-2 in five starts overall with earnings of $49,065. Leslie Mawing rode the winner for Blaine Wright, capping a big weekend for the trainer, who won Saturday’s Grade 2 San Francisco Mile with Hudson Landing at Golden Gate Fields.
NOTES: Earlier in the day, Allison Ridge became the meet’s first two-time winner with a 4-¾ -length gate-to-wire victory in the Sunday opener. Ridden by Javier Matias, trained by Robbie Baze and owned by Wally Thompson (Crystal Ridge Farm), Allison Ridge ran one mile in 1:38.56 and paid $2.80. The 4-year-old Washington-bred filly is 5-for-15 at Emerald Downs*Whitaker and Belvoir also combined to win the second race with Just Have’n Fun ($6.80)*Belvoir finished Week 3 with an 8-6 lead over Frank Lucarelli in the trainers’ standings*Eliska Kubinova and Leonel Camacho-Flores each rode a winner and remain tied at 9-9 atop the jockeys’ standings*The classy New York-bred Go With Gusto ($20) improved to 7-for-19 at Emerald Downs with a last-to-first victory under a well-timed ride by Joe Crispin in the sixth race. The neck victory denied the 8-year-old gelding Olympic Lights of his 13th career win at Emerald Downs*Live racing resumes Friday with first post 6 p.m. On Saturday, Kentucky Derby Day, live racing at Emerald Downs will begin one hour earlier than normal at 1 p.m.
