$75,000 Washington Oaks-nominations

$75,000 WASHINGTON OAKS DECIDES DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP, BONUS POSSIBLE FOR WINNER OF NINE-FURLONG STAKES

It’s officially championship season at Emerald Downs.

The $75,000 Washington Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles, to be run Sunday, July 24, is the first of several championship events to be run here the next several weeks.

On Sunday, July 31, 3-year-old colts or geldings take their turn in the $75,000 Emerald Downs Derby at 1 1/8 miles, and on Sunday, August 14, Emerald Downs presents a stakes double-header featuring the $200,000 Longacres Mile (G3) for 3-year-olds and up, and the $65,000 Emerald Distaff for older fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles.

In a new twist, the winner of this year’s Washington Oaks is eligible for a $25,000 (Cdn) bonus if she also wins the $100,000 B.C. Oaks at Hastings Racecourse on Saturday, September 10.

The 3-year-old filly division has been topsy-turvy this season with three different winners in as many races, and Either Princess Katie or Find Joy would likely clinch a division title with a victory in the Oaks.

Shipping in from Vancouver, Princess Katie (pictured with blue silks) rallied from 14 lengths back to edge My Heart Goes On in the one-mile Irish Day Stakes on May 29. Find Joy regrouped from a sixth-place finish in the Irish Day to register a $31.40 in the 1 1/16-mile Kent Stakes on June 26.

Invested Prospect, winner of the 6 ½-furlong Seattle Stakes, is strictly a sprinter and isn’t nominated to the Oaks. The division has proven to have some quality, however, as Invested Prospect defeated older fillies and mares in a six-furlong allowance race last week, and B C Z Middleton, runner-up to Invested Prospect in the Seattle Stakes, defeated older fillies and mares in the $50,000 Washington State Legislators Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs last month.