Noosa Beach Sets Emerald Downs Record

Noosa Beach etched his name into the record books Sunday at Emerald Downs with a hard-earned half-length victory over Winning Machine in the $50,000 Mt. Rainier Handicap.

Carrying a record 126 lbs, the 5-year-old Washington-bred ran one mile and one-sixteenth in 1:41.13 on a fast track and paid $2.60, $2.10 and $2.10. Gallyn Mitchell had riding honors for trainer Doris Harwood and owner Jeff Harwood of Kent, Wash.

With the victory, Noosa Beach moved past Handy N Bold into sole possession of first place all-time in Emerald Downs' stakes wins with 11. The defending Horse of the Meeting also joined Flamethrowintexan and Poker Brad as repeat winners of the Mt. Rainier, and stamped himself squarely as the horse to beat in the $200,000 Longacres Mile (G3) on Sunday, Aug. 21.

Noosa Beach has won 10 of his last 11 starts, at distances ranging 5-½ furlongs to 1-1/8 miles, and the defending Longacres Mile champion is undefeated in four career starts at one mile. By Harbor the Gold-Julia Rose, Noosa Beach has a lifetime mark of 14-3-2 in 20 starts with earnings of $480,722. At Emerald Downs his record is 13-3-1 in 18 starts with $421,555 in earnings.