While the Northern California invasion at Emerald Downs has been good for field sizes and the level of competition, it’s been hard on trainers like Vince Gibson who only race their horses at the Auburn, Wash., track.
Gibson, who has been saddling horses at various Washington racetracks since 1987, hails from a prominent Pacific Northwest training family. His nephew Howie Gibson is among the leading trainers at the current Emerald meet. Vince, with five wins from 59 starts, is not.
“It makes it tougher,” Gibson said of the migration of horsemen wrought by the recent disbanding of the Northern California circuit. “You’ve only got four months to get it done and everybody’s playing hardball. It’s hard to catch up with the ones that have been running. A lot of my horses are just now getting ready and the meet’s gonna be over. They’re running good. I’m just not getting wins. Hopefully, this last month will change a little.”
Gibson will have a prime opportunity to visit the winner’s circle with the 3-year-old Star Travel in Saturday’s fifth race, a $23,000 maiden special weight for horses ages 3 and up that will be run at six furlongs. The seven-horse field features four first-time starters, a stakes-placed 3-year-old in Impassable who has failed to find another gear, and a 4-year-old grinder in Sir Argento, who lacks the upside of her younger rivals.
As for Star Travel, he dawdled through his first two races, finishing a distant seventh and ninth in May and June, respectively. He then took a huge step forward with a game second-place finish July 19, setting the pace in a six-furlong maiden special weight before giving way to Angier in the final 100 yards. For the effort, Star Travel earned a career-best 67 Beyer Speed Figure, the best in Saturday’s field by six points.
“He got a sore shin. Now he’s over it,” Gibson said when asked to explain his gelding’s rapid improvement. “He’s a real nice horse, I think. He’s in top shape now, so hopefully he is what I think he is. I like this gray horse. I hope he wins for me.”
After competing exclusively in stakes company in the first four races of his career, Impassable, trained by Gibson’s longtime friend Howard Belvoir, dropped down to this level July 19 and finished 6 3/4 lengths behind Star Travel in third. Gibson described Impassable as “a nice horse” before playfully adding, “I’m gonna outrun him.”
Star Travel is almost certain to vie for the early lead, while Impassable and Sir Argento – fifth in that same July 19 race – should be inclined to sit off the pace. Of the first-time runners, Walk Off Homer was purchased at the 2023 Keeneland September sale for $200,000, a price almost never seen in this corner of the country outside of the occasional late-summer stakes shipper. That alone should attract the attention of bettors.
Tame the Tiger has turned in several bullet works in the run-up to her debut and is by leading local sire Smiling Tiger, while Raven Rendezvous also has turned in a few bullet works and is by multiple Grade 1 winner Mor Spirit.
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