Hollywood Harbor, undone by a slow start in his debut, made no mistakes Saturday and led all the way for a five-length victory in the $31,275 Northwest Stallion Series for 2-year-old colts and geldings at Emerald Downs.

A Washington-bred by Harbor the Gold, Hollywood Harbor had early speed, zipped through fractional times of :21 3/5 seconds for a quarter-mile and :44 3/5 for the half. The chestnut gekding opened a commanding six-length length lead into the lane and easily held off Koala Beach for the victory.

Ridden by Jose Zunino and trained by Chris Stenslie from Enumclaw, Hollywood Harbor ran 5-1/2 furlongs in 1:03 3/5 on a fast track and paid $4.20, $2.40 and $2.40. It was the first Emerald Downs stakes victory for both the jockey and trainer.

Koala Beach, the 9-5 second betting choice ridden by Ricky Frazier, took second place and paid $2.80 and $2.60.

Movie Clip, a 14-1 shot ridden by Jose Contreras, finished third and paid $4.20.

Doris Harwood trains the second and third-place finishers meaning female trainers saddled the top three finishers in the race.

In fact, women conditioners have dominated the meet with 11 wins out of 15 stakes run to date. Harwood leads with five wins, followed by Bonnie Jenne with three, and Stenslie, Connie Bouslaugh and Valorie Lund with one apiece.

A $21,000 yearling, Hollywood Harbor has a 1-1-0 record from two starts with earnings of $20,601 for the partnership of Stenslie, Jody Peets of Issaquah and John Holmes of Shoreline. Saturday’s win was worth $17,201.

A 40-year-old native of Argentina, Zunino has been up for both of Hollywood Harbor’s starters—including the June 21 debut in which the gelding overcame a slow start to finish second against the highly regarded Forener.

“The plan today was to break out of the gate and see what happened,” Zunino said. “He broke sharply, so we went to the front. At the top of the stretch, I knew I had plenty of horse left in the tank.”

Next up for juvenile colts and geldings is the $50,000 Premio Esmeralda at six furlongs Aug. 9

NOTES:

It was a big day for the Washington sire Harbor the Gold. Not only did he produce the first two finishers of the Strong Ruler Stakes, the stallion won the co-featured ninth race with the razor-sharp 3-year-old Who’s Your Next Ex ($12.80). Once again expertly rated by Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo, Who’s Your Next Ex won his second straight eight-furlong event in 1:36 4/5.

Trainer Robbie Baze produced an early $76 daily double with victories by Dr. Bob ($6.20) in the first race and My Thistle ($20.20) in the second. It had to be a relief for Baze, who was just 4-for-121 at the meet before Saturday.

Robert Burney was up for the victory on Dr. Bob, the third triumph in the last five racing days for the Idaho native, honored as Jockey of the Week for July 9-12.

The stewards fined Seth Martinez $100 for failure to maintain a straight course on Tenakee Tango in Friday’s eighth race.

Saul Arias also was dinged $100 for failure to maintain a straight course aboard Hoodoo Canyon, winner of Friday’s second race for trainer Junior Coffey.

Terrific Tiffany ($6.40), a $250,000 Northwest Farms purchase, made a successful debut with a gate-to-wire score in the fifth race for maiden special weight fillies. Trained by Doris Harwood and ridden by Ricky Frazier, the Kentucky-bred by Strong Hope ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:05 to defeat a flying Rewritten by a nose.

Vann Belvoir saddled two winners and is just one victory away from tying his father for second place in the trainers’ standings. Howard Belvoir has 33 wins and Vann has 32 wins. Tim McCanna leads with 41 wins…Stenslie also saddled two winners and has a career-high nine wins at the meet.

Zunino, Frazier and Gallyn Mitchell rode two winners each. It was the 3rd multiple-win day for Frazier, and he now leads Mitchell 96-64 in the standings.

A four-win day Sunday would make Frazier the fastest jockey ever to reach 100 wins at Emerald Downs.

Racing continues Sunday with day 51 of the 91-day meet. First post is 2 p.m.