8/22/22

(Auburn, WA) Racing resumed this Friday night after the huge Championship Sunday last weekend. This week is one of those catch your breaths from Stakes break but still plenty of great racing plus a hugely popular Promotion returns with the T-Rex races on Sunday. Friday night was set to be one of those run of the mill nights but turned into an incredible night of racing.

First let’s start with what could have been a tragedy that turned out ok. Jockey Kevin Radke was thrown from his ride in the 1st race when his mount Swing First in just her 3rd start suddenly ducked out at about the 1/8th pole. Swing First had been in the mix early on but quickly faded and was far back when Radke tapped her on the left side to keep her from drifting in too much trying to keep her straight and to finish when she suddenly shifted to her right dislodging Radke who hit the ground with his feet but flipped forward slamming his shoulder and neck into the ground.

Radke was quickly attended to by EMT’s and he eventually walked off the track to the jockey’s room and was advised he needed to go to the hospital to get x-rays and as a precaution. He took off the rest of his rides Friday night. ESN chatted with Radke Saturday morning and he said he is ok and says he will be riding today. Just another example of how tough these folks are who ride 1,200 pound running machines for a living never knowing what they may or may not do at any given time. We’re thrilled that Radke is ok and ready to jump back in the saddle.

Swing First was not injured and ran off only to be caught by one of the outstanding outriders, Mike Berry. Berry caught a similar loose horse a few weeks ago and just shows the professionalism of the horsemen and women at Emerald Downs. Simply outstanding work.

Then there was a nearly 30k 50-cent Pick 5 carryover from Championship Sunday which fueled an explosion of interest and betting from all around the country as another $208,000 was bet into the pot pushing it to a total of nearly 237k. It was not an easy Pick 5 to hit either with no favorites winning and only 1 2nd favorite who was at 5-1 behind a 4-5 odds on top choice. More on that in the Betting Window below.

Also a pair of veteran trainers get long awaited wins after grinding it out through the dogdays of the summer campaign and both return a decent amount to their loyal supporters. Let’s get to a very eventful Friday night!

Friday’s Races

Feature Race

A field of 6 went 6 1/2 furlongs and there was quite a 3-way battle on the front end with 8-1 Tig ridden by Clayan Millwood taking a head lead over 8-5 favorite March On Linch with Alex Cruz and 7-2 Book Smart with Leslie Mawing up. Little did they know they were simply setting the table for 2nd longshot Firewalker and Javier Matias who dropped to dead last.

Although last Firewalker was never too far back about 6 maybe 7 lengths at most and kept the Washington bred down on the rail. As the trio turned for home the rail opened up for Firewalker and he certainly took the shortest route cruising up and pulling away for more than a 2 length win. Book Smart held on for 2nd, March On Linch was 3rd and closing late was the 2nd favorite Me B Bubba T with Kevin Orozco. 

Firewalker stopped the clock in 1:16.50 as he picked up his 2nd lifetime win from just 8 starts and also has 3 3rds. He picked up the winner’s share of the purse of $13,750 to push his career earnings to more than $41,000. Firewalker is owned by the Rising Star Stable X and trained by Howard Belvoir. Firewalker is a Washington bred by Daredevil out of Skydeck by Curlin and bred by Howard Belvoir.

The win was Belvoir’s 7th on the season and snaps a slump his barn has been with his last win coming back on July 8th with 2 wins. Larsen Bay and Decimate.  Belvoir has had wins only on 5 race days with 2 on opening day 1 on June 10 and 11, the double on July 8 and last night. Firewalker is his only double winner.

Friday’s other Races

In the 1st race a field of 6 went 6-furlongs and Kevin Orozco on 13-1 Ears to Us went straight to the lead and threatened to steal the race from odds-on choice Justpassinthru with Juan Gutierrez. Ears to Us set sizzling fractions of 21.40 for the quarter and 43.87 for the half and built a 3-length lead heading into the stretch. Justpassinthru and Gutierrez decided early not to engage in a heated front end duel and laid off the pace which was the right move as he had plenty to run down a tiring Ears to Us for the easy win, Ears to Us did well and gutted out 2nd while Whatsthediff with Jake Samuels ran on for 3rd and Igottabooboo with Alex Cruz capped the superfecta.

Justpassinthru ran the 6-furlongs in a time of 1:10.83 and races for Pam Terry and trained by Blaine Wright. Justpassinthru paid just $3.20 on the $2 win and improved to 2-2-1 from 9 lifetime starts.

The 2nd race had a field of 5 3-years-old and up fillies and mares for a claiming price of 20 or 25k. Stalker Time for Gold and speedster Frisco Frills went off at 6-5 with Time for Gold the slight betting choice. Jake Samuels got the last second call to ride Frisco Frills after Kevin Radke took that spill in the 1st. Samuels as expected went to the lead as expected but leading rider Alex Cruz was not going to allow them to set their own pace and pushed Brilliant Bird to challenge Frills from the start. Favorite Time for Gold was in the perfect stalking position and when they turned for home Brilliant Bird surged to the front, Frisco Frills dug in but could not keep pace and Time for Gold loomed up on the outside but Bird had too much left and won by more than a length. Time for Gold was 2nd, Frisco Frills 3rd and Ms Lynn closed from far back to be 4th.

The win was a great relief to trainer Robert Bean who came into Friday night with a 3-11-11 record, cashing a lot of checks but not many 1st place checks. Bean also said he has loved this horse and claimed her back 2 races ago after losing her on July 10th. Bean says he is now pointing her to run in the $50,000 Washington Cup for fillies and mares on closing day September 18. Brilliant Bird is a 7-year-old Washington bred by Einstein out of Clever Bird by Awesome Again and was bred by Bret Christopherson. Brilliant Bird is now 11-11-3 from 45 lifetime starts and added about $12,000 to her lifetime earnings which is now nearly $190,000.

Trainer Bob Bean talks about getting back into the Winner’s Circle

The 3rd race was a field of 7 2-year-olds after 2 late scratches and there was one 1st time starter and a jockey making his 2022 debut at Emerald Downs. Stepup with Francisco Diaz-Lopez went off at 10-1 and broke from the 1 hole in the 5 1/2 furlong sprint going straight to the lead. Starry Beach with Leslie Mawing was the 2-1 favorite then there were 4 horses from 4-1 to 5-1 as the public was pretty well split.

Stepup with Diaz-Lopez stepped on the gas quickly as she shot to the lead by 2 lengths and no one challenged her allowing fractions of 21.84 and 45.35. That 2nd quarter was more than enough of a breather for 1st timer and she never waivered blowing away the experienced runners by 4 1/2 lengths. Stepup is owned by Jimmy and Cleveland Hammonds and trained by Jose Navarro. 

This was Diaz-Lopez’s 1st ride since June 10th of 2021. It was his 1st win since September 23, 2020. In that race he rode Peace Prince to the win at 10-1, Going back to his 1st win ever at Emerald Downs was back in April of 2016 aboard The Canary Lived at the odds of…11-1. 

Stepup paid $22.20 on the $2 win and was the first leg of that massive Pick 5 pot.

In the 4th race Jake Samuels got the call to ride 5-1 Mo Connelly after Radke had taken off his mounts and it was a fortunate pick-up for Samuels who rode a perfect stalking trip sitting in 3rd and then surging past favorite Yes Your Glaze with Alex Cruz to a 3/4’s length win. Yes Your Glazed and 7-1 Miss Monique with Leslie Mawing set the pace but could not resist the winner to finish 2nd and 3rd. Stand in Your Love with Clayan Millwood got up to complete the superfecta.

Mo Connelly runs for Horseplayers Racing Club, Rakoczy Racing and Saratoga West and is trained by Jeff Metz.

In the 5th, Prospera was entered after being scratched from the Emerald Distaff on Championship Sunday by leading owner John Parker and trainer Candy Cryderman. This would have been normally a slam dunk race favorite for Friday night but instead the public could not dismiss Enchanting Way who ended up as the odds-on choice at 4-5. The public would be wrong as Javier Matias had his ride in perfect position in 4th early on and when turning for home rolled up on the outside of Enchanting Way and would not be denied getting the 1/2 length victory and although was the 2nd betting choice still went off at a great 5-1. 11-1 Pearl River Delta with Alex Cruz showed early speed and held on for 3rd while 6-1 In the Vault settled for 4th. Prospera had been waiting for some time to get a race to fit and found it Friday night stopping the clock in 1:09.37 for the 6-furlongs. 

10-1, 5-1, 5-1 and 13-1 were the odds of the winning horses in the 1st 4 legs of that massive Pick 5 and all there was left to see was if there was a chance for a carryover and there was not. All 7 horses had a winner connected with a low pay-out going to #1 and the favorite Lochness of $20,000. The high pay was the who was the longshot in this field of 7 with 2 late scratches at 7-1 paying $94,000+. The betting public virtually had no opinion of this race in the win pool with all 7 entries between 3-1 and 7-1.

In the end, 4-1 Upper Room with Juan Gutiuerrez surged past 6-1 Mamacallmeboo with Jake Samuels to win by a head rewarding 5 winning Pick 5 winners. More on that below in the Betting Window.7-1 Goldie’s Hills with Leslie Mawing was 3rd by a neck over 9-2 The Press with Jennifer Whitaker and taking 5th to complete the 50-cent Super Hi 5 was 4-1 Tengo Sed with Alex Cruz.

Upper Room races for James Carter and trained by Jill Soranno ran the 6-furlongs in 1:10.49 and each of the 5 winning Pick 5 tickets took homes $37,668.85.

The Betting Window

The big Pick 5 pool triggered a great handle for a Friday night 7 race card of $1,192,648 or more than $170,000 per race. There were multiple chances to make money on Friday night out of the being one of the Pick 5 winners for more than 37k. Let’s begin with the traditional $2 bets. 

The $2 win in the 2nd race with Brilliant Bird paid $12.60 in a short 5 horse field. That was followed by 10-1 Stepup in the 3rd paying $22.20 to win, $10.40 to place and the $2 combo $37.20. The 4th saw Mo Connely pay $12 to win followed by another 5-1 shot in the 5th with Prospera returning $12.40. 13-1 Firewalker topped the $2 pays with $29.60 to win, $12.20 to place and 4.60 to show. One of the owners stated she had bet $5 across the board on Firewalker which returned a nifty $116 even for a $101 profit. And in the 7th it was the 6th straight race with a double digit win pay-off as Upper Room returned $10.80.

This is the 1st time this year that the $2 win paid $10 6 races in a row. The nearest was on June 12th where there were 5 in a row and next was on opening day with 4 in a row and 4 in a row last Sunday on Longacres Mile day. 

The exacta paid well in the 3rd with a 10-1 to 4-1 good for $76.90. In the 6th the 13-1 to 7-2 paid 66.60 and in the finale 4-1 to 6-1 was good for $40.80. The 50-cent trifecta pays included $111.70 in the 3rd, $59.45 in the 6th and $111.90 in the 7th. And the solid 10-cent superfecta’s were in the 3rd for $75.55, in the 5th $32.47 and the 7th $65.32. Surprisingly the super that paid just $18.26 in the 6th with the 13-1 winner. The Super Hi-5 was not hit and there was a $2,217 carryover.

The stringing winners together outside of the big pick 5 pay-out there were other good ones including a $108 daily double of the 5th to the 6th races which was also the all Javier Matias DD as he won both ends. The pick 3’s saw 4 straight pays of the 50-cent bet between $208 and $308 dollars. The 3 pick 4’s were more than worth it hitting with the 1st one the smallest of $726.60, the 2nd pay-off was $2,882.80 and the final one was $4,182.15. The Jackpot Pick 6 paid a nice consolation of $1,045.

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