The first stakes races of the Hastings season, the Emerald Downs and the George Royal, will be run over 6 1/2 furlongs on Saturday. The Emerald Downs will mark a return to stakes competition for Infinite Patience, the four-time defending British Columbia horse of the year who is a perfect 18 for 18 in stakes races run on dirt. The proverbial elephant in the room is that Infinite Patience retreated to finish fourth, 5 1/4 lengths behind Air Force, in a May 18 allowance race run over a sloppy track. Air Force was last year’s 3-year-old filly champion in British Columbia. Now more mature, she will again be Infinite Patience’s chief rival. Both horses were making their yearly debuts May 18. The final time of 1:15.77 was the fastest 6 1/2 furlongs run at Hastings by a filly or mare since Strawberry Morn in 1997. It also was the fastest time recorded at the distance over a sloppy surface at Hastings by any horse since Equibase began recording such data in 1991. Handicappers will have to decide whether to forgive the 7-year-old mare for her allowance loss under the circumstances – a wet track, her first start of the year, and a day when those who got the early lead won most of the races. The alternative is to accept that race at face value while recognizing the impressive accomplishment of Air Force. “Mentally, the race woke her up,” trainer Barbara Heads said of Infinite Patience. “Now that she’s older, she gets easily uninterested in spring training.” :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Set to face the top pair in the Emerald Downs is Viva La Vino, who also is trained by Heads and finished a close second in the May 18 allowance. The trainer reported that Viva La Vino “came out of her race good and worked great since.” Miss Union is a Steve Henson trainee who was third in the May 18 allowance. She was a steady check-earner in California and Arizona over the winter. Others set to start include Above Average, trained by Mark Cloutier, and We B Three, also trained by Henson. George Royal The George Royal drew a field of nine and figures to be a very competitive affair, headlined by the top trio of finishers from a May 18 allowance. Soaringforthesun, trained by Edgar Mendoza, was the winner that day, finishing a head in front of Sunbird, a Terry Jordan trainee who lost by the same margin in last year’s B.C. Derby. It merits mention that there were two allowance races at 6 1/2 furlongs on May 18 at Hastings. There was an open allowance with fractions of 22.82 seconds, 46.02, and a final time of 1:16.21, and there was the contest restricted to fillies and mares with fractions of 21.97, 44.86, and a final time of 1:15.77. Defending George Royal champ Big Union, trained by Nicole Rycroft, finished a close third in the open allowance. Another noteworthy participant in the George Royal is 2022 B.C. Derby winner Regal Riot, trained by Robert Anderson. Regal Riot has not started since October 2022 and figures to have his work cut out for him Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.