Heavily favored Destinys Roar chalked up another victory for the red-hot Gallyn Mitchell/Vann Belvoir combination Saturday at Emerald Downs.
With Mitchell in the irons, Destinys Roar led all the way for a four-length victory in the $15,100 allowance feature for older horses at 5-½ furlongs. The winning time of 1:01 minutes 4/5 seconds equaled the fastest time at the distance at the entire 2009 meeting.
Destinys Roar paid $2.80, $2.20 and $2.20.
Vann Belvoir trains Destinys Roar for owner C. Dean Street and Associates Inc. The 5-year-old California-bred by Roar has compiled a 4-1-0 record in 13 starts with earnings of $36,585. The full horse thrives at 5-½ furlongs with three wins in four starts at the distance.
Mitchell and Belvoir are thriving at all distances. They have already combined for four victories in the first two days of the meeting, including both feature races.
“Vann has got his horses ready to run,” said Mitchell, No. 1 all-time with 1,177 wins at Emerald Downs. “It just makes my job so much easier.”
The race was basically a parade as the top three finishers ran one, two, three the whole way around. Destinys Roar set fractions of 22 and 44 2/5 while enjoying a one-length lead over Enumerator. The advantage was three lengths at the eighth pole, and the outcome was never in doubt.
Enumerator, ridden by Inoel Beato, held the place by a neck, and the Herman Sarkowsky homebred returned $2.80 and $2.20. Roy’s Tops, also trained by Belvoir, finished third and paid $5 to show.
Fast Tacticts rallied for fourth and was followed by Passion Lives Here and Scots Pine.
NOTES: Ricky Frazier was off his mounts and planned to have an MRI on a sore hip sustained Friday in the second race. Frazier told Emerald Downs’ Joe Withee that Teasha, the 3-year-old filly that unseated him, grazed Frazier’s hip after he hit the ground…Trainer Junior Coffey and owners Mike and Amy Feuerborn are 2-for-2 at the young meet after veteran gelding Honour the West ($9.80) notched a snappy win in the $13,100 fifth race for $17,500 claimers. Ridden by Beato, the 6-year-old Kentucky-bred also ran 5-½ furlongs in 1:01 4/5 … David P. Lopez notched his first Emerald Downs win with a resounding 4 ½-length score aboard Little Cookie ($9.40) in the second race…Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo has ridden winner of the first race on both days….Week one wraps up Sunday with first post at 2 p.m.
