Chase breaks through with Auburn Stakes win at Emerald Downs

Chase turned the Auburn Stakes into a legitimate Emerald Downs sprint statement, winning the six-furlong Race 8 in 1:09.45 on a fast track and keeping 9/5 favorite Robin Racer behind him all the way to the wire. The 3-year-old gelding broke through by three-quarters of a length over Robin Racer, with Crossbone another 1 1/4 lengths back in third.

The June 21 race carried a $50,000 guaranteed purse, was restricted to 3-year-old colts and geldings, and went off at 5:20 p.m. PT as part of one of the meet’s deeper stakes Sundays. The chart showed all eight starters carrying 119 pounds, even though the written conditions listed top weights at 123 pounds and allowances for non-winners of $22,000 and $15,000 in 2026. Chase, who was 6/1 in the entries and appeared to go off at 4.15-1, paid $10.30 to win.

What made the victory matter was not just the margin, but the way Chase earned it. Silvio Amador had him forwardly placed early, helping set or share the pace through fractions of 22.42, 44.87 and 56.76 before he stayed on to the finish. That is not the profile of a fluke closer sweeping past tired rivals. It was a controlled, speed-sustained sprint against a field that had enough depth to give the result weight.

The clock also puts the win in proper context. Emerald Downs’ six-furlong track record is 1:06.86, set by Kaabraaj on April 23, 2016, so Chase finished 2.59 seconds off the mark. That gap shows this was not a record chase, but it was a solid local stakes performance on a day when the track also staged the Budweiser Stakes and Hastings Stakes at the same distance and purse level. In other words, Chase won in a race that mattered within the meeting’s sprint hierarchy.

For trainer Steve Henson and owner Gary Williamson, the larger value is trajectory. Chase had made two starts as a 2-year-old without winning and earned just $1,821, but in 2026 he had already won twice in three starts, added a stakes placing and pushed his lifetime bankroll to $41,316. Henson brought a proven record into the race, with 586 career wins and more than $6.8 million in earnings, and Chase now looks like the kind of horse that can keep showing up in these six-furlong stakes instead of flashing once and fading from the picture.

His pedigree gives that hope some backing. Chase is by Pop Artist, a winner of 12 of 24 starts who earned $179,226 and finished second in the Western Canada H., out of Finality’s Charmer, winner of the Sadie Diamond Futurity and the CTHS Sales Stakes. The family record lists four named foals from Finality’s Charmer, with three winners and one stakes winner, a line that suggests Chase may still have another level to reach if Emerald Downs keeps offering him the right spots.