Tom Wenzel became Emerald Downs’ all-time leading stakes-winning trainer on Sunday after Aloha Breeze dominated the $50,000 Hastings Stakes at the Auburn, Washington track.
The victory moved Wenzel into sole possession of first place on the track’s stakes list, breaking his 67-all tie with retired trainer Doris Harwood.
Aloha Breeze, ridden by Carlos Montalvo for owner George Todaro, made all the running and scored by six-and-a-quarter lengths over Stay Sassy, covering six furlongs in 1:08.80.
It was Aloha Breeze’s eighth stakes win at Emerald Downs and another marker for one of the defining trainer-horse partnerships on the Washington circuit.
The six-year-old mare, last year’s Horse of the Meeting, is now 14-4-1 from 21 starts and has earned $361,400.
Trainer Tom Wenzel breaks recordhttps://t.co/DGA9iErVWv pic.twitter.com/Vs0SWsW1Qc
— Emerald Downs (@EmeraldDowns) June 22, 2026
Wenzel passes Harwood on Emerald Downs list
The record matters because it shifts a long-standing local benchmark.
Harwood, who retired in 2022, was at Emerald Downs to congratulate Wenzel, while Todaro’s own stakes total at the track rose to 21, third on the all-time owners’ list.
Wenzel told Montalvo to use Aloha Breeze’s speed from the gate, and the mare did exactly that, carving out sharp fractions before drawing right away.
Emerald Downs said the $50,000 Washington State Legislators Stakes over six-and-a-half furlongs on July 19 is next for the older fillies and mares division in its official Sunday wrap.
