7/16/2023

Sunday was another double Stakes day, this was the 3-year-olds week with the 50k Kent Stakes for fillies and 50k Irish Day stakes for colts and geldings. Both favorites had overwhelming favorites and in 1 race it wasn’t close while in the other it came down to the final stride.

There were 9 races with a total of 48 starters limiting the fields to just a little more than 5 per race. 6 late scratches cut down the overall number of starters. This didn’t seem to bother the bettors as Sunday’s handle nearly equaled the Friday-Saturday combined handle with more than 1.5-million wagered.

From a jockey’s standpoint the day belonged to Kevin Radke with a triple and a stakes win while Carlos Montalvo got his 2nd stakes but no other rider had more than 1 win other than Radke. From a trainer standpoint, Blaine Wright doubled and was the only one with 2 or more wins. No owner had more than 1 win on Sunday.

There was also the annual equine art show and we have a huge photo gallery of many of the ribbon winners at the bottom of this post.

Let’s get to Sunday’s races!

6th Race Kent Stakes
6 broke from the gate in the $50,000 Kent Stakes at 6 1/2-furlongs for 3-year-old fillies and the overwhelming 1-5 favorite was Aloha Breeze and after dominating an allowance race by more than 8 lengths back on May 13 and then blistering the field in the $50,000 Seattle Stakes it was well earned respect.

Jockey Carlos Montalvo was on for the 3rd consecutive time and has said his job was not to get in Aloha Breeze’s way. She likes to go to the front, relaxes and has plenty for the stretch run. That was the plan again for the Kent Stakes and when starter Mark Gibson hit the button that plan began perfectly and in the end finished perfectly as she drew away for another crushing victory of 6 1/4-lengths. Aloha Breeze is 3 for 3 so far this year winning by a combined 19 lengths over her competition.

Add to that Aloha Breeze did it in a blistering 1:14.77 smashing the Stakes record of 1:15.33. Montalvo said after the race she simply knows what to do and I let her do it. Aloha Breeze earned $27,500 and now has a career record of 5-2-0 from 7 lifetime starts and her career earnings are now $69,500.

The race was for 2nd and the 2nd longest shot on the board, 19-1 Stepup with Alex Anaya ran as good as you could and was a clear 2nd. Anaya sat 3rd early moved up to 2nd at the half mile marker and shrugged off all challengers while chasing the incredible Aloha Breeze and picked up the 10k 2nd place money. Jamies Inheritance at 14-1 with Jose Zunino closed from last to nail Dad’s Estrella on the wire by a neck for 3rd. Isaias Enriquez was aboard 4-1 Dad’s Estrella.

With a 1-5 shot winning there wasn’t much in the pay-off department as Aloha Breeze paid $2.40, $2.10 and $2.10. But Stepup paid $7.40 on the $2 place. The exacta paid $7.40 and the 2nd pick 4 paid $47.20. That was connecting to 4 horse fields that included a 2-1 2nd favorite to 9-1 to 1-1 to 1-5 so if you were sold on the 1-1 and 1-5 you could have gone all to all to 6 to 2 for an $8 bet and made a $39 profit. Or a $5 pick 4 would have run you $80 and you would have won $472.

Aloha Breeze is owned by George Todaro and trained by Tom Wenzel picking up his 51st stakes win at Emerald Downs. Up next for the 3-year-old fillies is the Washington Oaks on August 13. However, Todaro’s racing manager Bob Capelletti said they are going to see how Aloha comes out of the race and will keep all options on the table including looking at a couple other bigger races at other tracks, but said the tentative plan is very likely to be home for the Oaks.

Stretch Run of Kent Stakes

ESN talks with Jockey Carlos Montalvo

ESN talks with Race Manager Bob Capelletti

8th Race Irish Day Stakes
3-5 favorite Clovisconnection came into this race off an impressive 4 1/2-length win in the Auburn Stakes and had plenty of support to do it again. Kevin Radke again got the ride and figured either he and Clovis would have the lead out of the gate or longshot Company’s Dream with Alex Cruz up would go to the front and he’d settle just in behind him. Then Company’s Dream got worked up at the gate and was a late scratch. Radke then thought for sure he’d have the lead at the sound of the bell.

His plans changed in the wink of an eye as Jose Zunino hustled 2nd choice Lloyds Logic out of the gate and longshot Langston Road with Silvio Amador also got out quickly and Radke and Clovisconnection suddenly found themselves sitting on the outside in 3rd place. As they approached the 1st quarter and Lloyds Logic set a moderate pace of 22.11 and Radke could feel it was setting up for Llolyd and Zunino so he attacked in that 2nd quarter mile and applied the pressure going 21.72 for a 43.83 half.

Clovisconnection rolled up and took a short lead and Radke thought they would just keep going and pull away but Zunino still had plenty left in the tank and he and Lloyds Logic dug back in on the inside and the pair were nose and nose all down the stretch. In the end Clovisconnection had one last surge to win by a short neck in a winning time of 1:14.73 for the 6 1/2-furlongs.

Clovisconnection is owned by William Hedrick and trained by Blaine Wright. This was Wright’s 54th stakes win in Auburn. Wright has been the leading stakes trainer at Emerald Downs 5 of the last 7 years and is now 3rd on the all-time list at Emerald Downs.

From a betting angle the large number of favorites ended the $1,000+ pick 5 pay-puts to 5 in a row as Sunday’s pick 5 paid just $119. The 1st pick 4 paid more than the other 2 pick 4’s combined and the pick 5. The 20-cent pick 6 was hit multiple times and paid $505 and had a $3,700 carryover to Friday. The best pay-offs were in the 4th race a 4 horse field had a $21.40 winner. Other than that the big pays were all in the finale, the 9th race where the winner was 6-1 and 2nd place 14-1 to combine for $100 $1 exacta pay and to a 2-1 3rd and 6-1 4th paid a nice $144.49 on the dime superecta or $1,444.90 for the $1 bet. Add the 3-1 5th place finisher and the largest pay of the day was the 50-cent super hi-5 which returned $2,195.80.

Stretch Run of the Irish Day Stakes

ESN talks with Jockey Kevin Radke

ESN talks with Trainer Blaine Wright

The rest of the Sunday card

1st Race

8-5 Bikini Nation with Luis Negron pulled away to a 2-length win over 3-2 favorite Vandulie with Kevin Radke. 21-1 Nadia and Carlos Montalvo ran 3rd with Malice Toward None and Alex Anaya were 4th at 9-1. Bikini Nation ran the 6 1/2-furlongs in a time of 1:18.76 and races for Bruce Cudahy ad trained by Dan Markle. Bikini Nation is a Washington bred by Nationhood out of Bikini Beach by Harbor the Gold and was bred by the owner Bruce Cudahy.

2nd Race

2-1 favorite Big Mama Thornton went wire to wire in this 6-furlong dash with Silvio Amador aboard holding off Square Footage with Alexis Valdes. Red Panty Night and Luis Negron were 3rd while My Moondancer and Carlos Montalvo completed the superfecta. Big Mama Thornton is owned by Luanne Bean and trained by Bob Bean.

3rd Race

After 2 late scratches it left a well matched field of 4 with 2-1 2nd choice Ain’t No Sissy and Alex Cruz aboard outlasting the 1-1 favorite Pedal to the Metal and Luis Negron by a 1/2 length. 7-2 Night to Remember was back a 1/2 length taking 3rd with Carlos Montalvo aboard while 4-1 First Endeavor and Jennifer Whitaker ran 4th. Ain’t No Sissy ran the 6-furlongs in 1:10.37 and runs for Sil Juarez and trained by Charles Essex.

4th Race

Another 2 horses scratched and another 4 horse field but this time the 9-1 outsider Western Rule stunned the other 3 as Jennifer Whitaker and Western Rule took the lead at the 1/2 mile mark of the 6 1/2-furlong race and dueled 3-2 2nd choice Olympic Legend and Kevin Radke for 2 1/2 furlongs and in the end only a nose separated the two and the stubborn Western Rule prevailed. Odds-on fav Abraaj Mirage settled for 3rd with Alex Cruz and capping the superfecta was Loose Ball with Javier Matias aboard. Western Rule ran the 6 1/2 in 1:16.06 and races for Robert Buchanan and Howard Belvoir and trained by Belvoir. Western Rule paid $21.20 and $5 as there was no show wagering. Olympic Legend paid $3.20 to place. The $1 exacta in a 4-horse race paid 20-1 or $21.30. The 1st pick 4 paid $171.65.

5th Race
6 went 6-furlongs in the 5th and favorite Reservoir at 1-1 broke last. Jockey Kevin Radke knew what he had and by the top of the stretch had a 1/2 length lead. Reservoir then had to hold off Ms Flashy Harbor with Alex Cruz to get the win and did so in a time of 1:10.29. Mary Walker and Isaias Enriquez at 9-2 ran 3rd while Crazy About You and Carlos Montalvo completed the final 4. Reservoir is owned by BDW Racing and trained by Blaine Wright.

7th Race

Kevin Radke won his 2nd race of the day aboard 7-2 Party Foul by going straight to the lead and never looking back winning by an easy 3+ length victory dominating the 6-furlong race with a swift 1:08.99 time. The race was on for 2nd and 3-2 2nd favorite Foster Boi with Neptali Ortiz just edged out 21-1 outsider Mirror Image for 2nd and taking 4th was Savile Row with Luis Negron. Party Foul is owned and trained by Jill Soranno.

9th Race

In the 6-furlong finale Tumac Mountain went to the front and Alex Anaya set a moderate pace leaving plenty in the tank when they turned for home. Anaya let Tumac Mountain out a notch and drew off to win in a dominating 2 1/2 length win and did so at 6-1. Tumac Mountain ran the 3/4 mile in 1:09.30 and is owned by William Jensen and trained by Joe Toye.

14-1 Senor Fabuloso closed well to be a clear 2nd with Neptali Ortiz up, 2-1 Miley’s Bluecat overcame a hard check to come back on for 3rd on a heads up ride by Alex Cruz. Finishing 4th was 6-1 Union Bliss with Carlos Montalvo and rounding out the 50-sent super hi-5 was 3-1 Hula King and Luis Negron. The $1 exacta paid $100.30, the 50-cent trifecta returned a nice $196.60, the dime super paid $144.49 and the 50-cent super hi-5 $2,195.50.

The Equine Art Show

The Equine Art show was on display all weekend our own ESN photographer Tony Davila  captured the impressive and beautiful display.

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