Aloha Breeze Named Top Horse of Emerald Downs Meeting

George Todaro's ultra-consistent 5-year-old mare Aloha Breeze  was voted Horse of the Meeting at the 30th Emerald Downs season that concluded Sept. 7.

Trained by Tom Wenzel, the Kentucky-bred daughter of The Factor   finished the campaign 3-2-0 in five starts, scoring stakes wins in the Washington State Legislators Stakes and Muckleshoot Tribal Distaff, and topping the meet with $89,820 in earnings. In addition to Horse of the Meeting, Aloha Breeze won Top Older Filly Or Mare honor, becoming the first horse in track history to win four consecutive divisional titles: Top 2-Year-Old Filly (2021), Top 3-Year-old Filly (2022), Top Older Filly or Mare (2024 and 2025).

Aloha Breeze edged stablemate Slew's Tiz Whiz  and Si That Tiger  for the season's top honor. The latter two also received deserved recognition: The Blaine Wright-trained Si That Tiger earning Top Sprinter and Top 3-year-Old Colt or Gelding for owners John and Janene Maryanski and Gerald and Gail Schneider, and the Wenzel-trained 7-year-old Slew's Tiz Whiz recognized as Top Older Horse and Top Washington-Bred for owners Slews Crew Racing.

In the juvenile ranks, double stakes winner Bewitching Joy  was a near unanimous choice as Top 2-Year-old Filly while Gottstein Futurity champion Robin Racer  took honors as Top 2-Year-Old Colt or gelding. Owned by Cinco Vino Stables and trained by Frank Lucarelli, Bewitching Joy won three races overall including dominant victories in the WTBOA Lassies and Muckleshoot Juvenile Fillies. Owned by Todaro and trained by Wenzel, Robin Racer finished runner-up in the WTBOA Lads Stakes and relished added ground in his convincing Gottstein victory.

Top 3-Year-Old Filly went to Steve and Letha Haahr's consistent Ima Margarita Girl . Trained by Scott Tubbs, the Washington-bred daughter of Coast Guard  was awarded first place money in the Kent Stakes and finished runner-up in the Washington Oaks and vs. older fillies and mares in the Tribal Distaff, missing by a desperate nose to Aloha Breeze.

In an unprecedented development, 11-year-old Surprsinglyperfect  won his second straight Top Claimer award, compiling a 4-0-1 mark in six starts for trainer Justin Evans. Owned by Evans and Rakoczy Racing, Surprsinglyperfect is a sparking 8-1-2 in 13 starts here the last two seasons.

Kevin Krigger ended Alex Cruz' run of five straight Emerald Downs riding titles in 2025. A 41-year-old native of St Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Krigger finished first in wins (70), win percentage (23%), and earnings $914,559. Krigger previously won the Emerald Downs' title in 2005.

Jorge Rosales captured his second training title, winning 41 races to dethrone two-time champion Evans, who finished runner-up with 27. Rosales finished the season red-hot, winning with 31 of his final 108 starters (29%). Creative Om  was among his top runners, tying Surprsinglypercet for most wins and capturing the $30,000 Cupcakes and Carrots Starter Allowance on closing weekend.

Wenzel led all trainers with six stakes wins while conditioning three champions (Aloha Breeze, Slew's Tiz Whiz, Robin Racer). Wenzel won three stakes in a day twice, earning the meet's Top Training Achievement.

Smiling Tiger  was the meet's leading sire with 17 wins, followed by Coast Guard, 15, and Stanford  , 14.

Fueled by an influx of Northern California horsemen, California-breds won 162 of 413 races or 39.2 percent, followed by Washington-breds (114/27.6%) and Kentucky-breds (103/24.9%).

Claiming activity was hot and heavy throughout the meet with 224 horses red-tagged for an aggregate $1,466,500.