Although Saturday’s $40,000 Emerald Downs, a 6 1/2-furlong affair for fillies and mares age 3 and up, will mark just Avana’s second outing against older company, the 4-year-old Barbara Heads trainee looks to be the clear class of the field.
With six wins in as many starts at Hastings, last year’s British Columbia Oaks champ started her 2025 campaign with a 2 1/2-length allowance victory over Bunny and Air Force, who should be her two closest rivals this Saturday.
“Avana’s pretty impressive,” said Heads. “One thing about her running style is she stays out of trouble and doesn’t depend on a good pace. If it’s a little slow, she’s managed to overcome it.”
That being said, Heads cautioned, “Any horse can pop up and run a big race.”
David Milburn concurs – his Emerald Downs entrant, Baby I’m a Star, is the other 4-year-old in the six-horse field. A closer who’s won once in seven tries at Hastings, she finished sixth, 19 1/4 lengths behind Avana, in the BC Oaks, and hasn’t run much better in her two starts this year against more pedestrian rivals.
“She’s a horse who’s developing and she’s still a little on the green side even though she’s had a number of races, so we’re gonna do the usual come from behind and maybe there’ll be a speed duel,” said Milburn. “Nobody’s going to worry about Baby I’m a Star. She might slip through. It’s horse racing.”
George Royal Stakes
In the George Royal, the male stakes counterpart to the Emerald Downs on Saturday, Milburn starts the defending champ in Settecento.
“Last year, we got a perfect trip. The rail opened up and we just prevailed,” said Milburn of Settecento’s 17-1 win.
As for this year’s renewal, Milburn said, “In order to win, we’ll need a good trip. It’ll be tough. However, he’s really looking great, he’s training wonderfully, and he’s ready for a top effort. That being said, he’s racing August Rain, last year’s champion 3-year-old.”
August Rain is another 4-year-old trained by Heads, who, like Avana, won a 6 1/2-furlong allowance in his debut against older horses in mid-May. Only unlike with Avana, that effort, for which August Rain earned a career-best 83 Beyer – second in the George Royal field behind Bold Arch’s 87 – “totally surprised” Heads.
The stablemates’ differences don’t end there.
“He’s a different kind of horse altogether in a sense that he likes a dogfight,” Heads said. “The more it’s like that, the better he is. He’s not a very big horse, but he continues to surprise me. He’s just so competitive.”
The seven-horse George Royal features some other stout sprinters, including Bold Arch, an 8-year-old gelding who Milburn calls “maybe the best sprinter on the track.” He was beaten a head by August Rain in that mid-May allowance and will vie for the lead with Soaringforthesun.
Sunbird, who was third in that allowance, has beaten Bold Arch, Settecento, and another Royal rival, Space, before, just as he’s been beaten by all three. As Milburn says, it’s horse racing.
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