AUBURN, Wash. – Two of Emerald Downs's most accomplished older horses, Slew's Tiz Whiz and Aloha Breeze, won $50,000 stakes at 1 1/16 miles on closing day to clinch their divisional titles Sunday.
The stakes victories, along with another in the Gottstein Futurity, catapulted trainer Tom Wenzel into a tie with Doris Harwood for all-time stakes wins at Emerald with 67.
Slew's Tiz Whiz, a 7-year-old gelding, looked cooked at the eighth pole before finding a narrow opening along the rail to defeat Bearings by a neck in a battle of closers in the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic.
"He's just a fun horse to watch," said Roy Brewer, co-owner of Slew's Tiz Whiz, in the winner's circle. "He gets your heart up in your throat every time. At the eighth pole, we were like, 'Is he gonna get through?' And he found a way."
Slew's Tiz Whiz overcame mellow fractions of 23.39 seconds for the quarter-mile and 47.16 for the half to win in a final time of 1:42.55. He paid $7.64 to win for Wenzel with Julien Couton in the irons. Clovisconnection finished third by a mere neck after being forwardly placed throughout the race.
Slew's Tiz Whiz is now 12 for 29 in his career, racing exclusively at Emerald. He won the Tribal Classic in 2023 and finished second by a neck in 2022.
Wenzel was also the winning trainer in the Muckleshoot Tribal Distaff for older fillies and mares, as Aloha Breeze held on to win by a head over Ima Margarita Girl in a photo finish.
Aloha Breeze opened a huge early lead, cruising through a quarter-mile in 22.82 seconds and the half in 45.44. With Carlos Montalvo aboard, she swung way wide at the top of the stretch as Ima Margarita Girl stormed up the rail. Aloha Breeze, who's mainly a sprinter, held on for her 10th win in 15 career starts at Emerald and covered the 1 1/16 miles in a time of 1:45.80, paying $4.02 to win.
Wenzel made it three stakes wins on the day with the Gottstein Futurity. There, the 2-year-old Robin Racer, a stakes-placed maiden entering his third career race, flashed some impressive late speed to finish 2 3/4 lengths ahead of stablemate Vino Viking, who edged out Lead the Charge for second. Robin Racer covered the 1 mile, 70 yards in 1:43.00 and paid $6.76 to win.
Wenzel didn't have a horse entered in the fourth stakes of the day, the Muckleshoot Juvenile Filly Stakes. In that 6 1/2 furlong contest, the Frank Lucarelli-trained Bewitching Joy seized control at the top of the stretch and clinched the 2-year-old filly division with a two-length win over Bobs Honey, paying $3.20 and covering the distance in 1:18.17.
"She's got a great mind if you watch her in the paddock," Lucarelli said of Bewitching Joy, who was coming off a win in the WTBOA Lassies Stakes on August. 17. "She makes it easy for me."
Sunday's closing-day program was the first 12-race card in Emerald Downs history, as a regulation that previously limited cards to 11 races was recently scrapped.
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