4 pole6/15/2024
(Auburn, WA) The 1st night of a big weekend at Emerald Downs began with a bang with a nice crowd and tons of fun. This weekend is of course traditionally very busy on Sunday being Father’s Day but this weekend also kicks off the 2024 Stakes schedulen with 2 Stakes one on Saturday the Seattle Stakes on Saturday and the Auburn Stakes on Sunday.
Plus it’s also the Indian Relay race weekend. Teams from many tribes compete in a unique race where they go 2 miles with 4 horses changing every 1/2 mile riding bareback with just a single rider jumping off and back 3 times. Kinda the pit stop in Indian Relay racing. The 1st preliminaries were held Friday night with another round of prelims on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.
Friday night had 7 races with a total of 45 starters for a 6.4 per race and they handled $689,480 for an average of $98,497 per race. From a betting standpoint the earlier races were where the money was with the 1st race paying $23 on the $2 win the 1st pick 3 of the day at $111 and the 1st pick 4 returning a whopping $842.
Let’s get to the Friday night races!
6th Race Feature Race
A field of 7 3 year-olds and up fillies and mares went 6 furlongs on a fast track. The bettors pared the field down to 2 favorites with Yogya and Carlos Montalvo the 1st choice at 7-5 and 2nd choice Smokemonthecliff with Alex Cruz at 9-5.
When the gates opened both favorites dropped back to 5th and 6th while 6-1 Hot Lava Cake and Kevin Krigger set the pace going 21.71 and 44.46 and was head and head with She’s a Kraken and Kevin Orozco all the way to the top of the stretch where She’s a Kraken threw in the towel and faded to 6th.
Smokemonthecliff and Cruz had rolled up into conention and was head and head with Hot Lava Cake while Yogya was getting going inside the 1/4 pole. But Smoke and Cruz had all the momentum and opened up on the field in midstretch, Hot Lava was holding 2nd but Yogya did close nicely not enough to threaten Smokemonthecliff who win by nearly 2 lengths but got up for 2nd by a neck over another closer Seeyamia and Isaias Enriquez who both passed Hot Lava Cake who finished a clear 4th.
Smokemonthecliff ran the 3/4’s mile in 1:10.44 and races for Alex and Vincent Ortega and trained by Scott Tubbs. The was Smokemonthecliff’s 2nd career win and is now 2-2-1 from 9 lifetime starts and earned $7,695 to push her career bankroll to $30,990.
The 9-5 2nd choice paid $5.70 to win and with the 7-5 favorite returned $5.91 on the $1 exacta but with the 10-1 Seeyamia 3rd returned a decent $25.08 on the 50-cent tri and with the 6-1 4th place finisher $198.80 on the $1 superfecta.
Feature Race Replay
The rest of Friday Night Racing
1st Race
A field of 6 went 6 furlongs and 2nd longshot Thusly Inspired with Leslie Mawing up went straight to the front and cleared off by a length and was frankly never challenged much at all. Thusly Inspired led by 1 out of the gate and won by 1 at the wires paying $23.02 on the $2 win. Thusly Inspired is owned by Homer Thoroughbreds and trained by Jason Homer getting his 2nd win of the season. Thusly Inspired ran the 6 furloings in 1:10.62.
2-1 First Endeavor with Rocco Bowen got up for 2nd by a head over favorite The Golden Egg and Alex Cruz while Secret Encore and Kaiman McGregor took 4th. The $1 exacta paid $31.34 the 50-cent tri $30.32 and the 10-cent superfecta $20.37.
Leslie Mawing opens the week with an upset on Thusly Inspired
2nd Race
In race 2 another front running effort from an outsider could not be stopped as 6-1 Pass the Crown with Juan Gutierrez went gate to wire in a 6 furling run against 5 others. Pass the Crown dominated setting fractions of 21.99, 44.66 and a final time of 1:09.88 to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Pass the Crown races for Rancho Viejo and Lisa Baze and trained by Rigoberto Velasquez.
4-1 Polls with Alex Cruz ran a clear 2nd over odds-on choice Drive Train and Kevin Krigger with 21-1 Hatasasal and Kiaman McGregor running 4th. The 1st daily double of the night returned $75.88.
3rd Race
Lie and Deny just keeps winnning and certainly loves the Auburn oval. Lie and Deny broke his maiden here in 2022 for his 1st win then ran 3 times last season at Emerald and won all 3 and began 2024 on May 12 to win his 5th straight at Emerald Downs. This time he did it for his new owner Rod Parkinson and trainer Debbie Peery who claimed Lie and Deny out of his 1st win this season.
On Friday night Rocco Bowen got the call aboard Lie and Deny and despite the 1st 2 races going to front speed Bowen laid off sitting in 4th and would engage 3-2 favorite Handr’sdream and Kevin Orozco at the top of the stretch and pull away for a 2 length win. Ctreative Bid and Brayan Pena just missed 2nd to take 3rd and 11-1 March on Linch with Kevin Krigger completed the superfecta.
Lie and Deny has now won 6 in a row at Emerald Downs and finished off the 1st 50-cent pick 3 with a nice $111.67 pay-out.
Lie and Deny’s 6th straight Emerald win
4th Race
7 went 5 1/2 furlongs in the 4th race and 3-1 2nd choice Champ of Pagne with Carlos Montalvo sat perfectly behind the early speed of Sensible Lute who couldn’t sustain it and faded to 5th. When Lute began to falter is when Montalvo pushed go on Champ of Pagne and rolled to a 2 length win in front of 7-1 English Meadow and Rocco Bowen who closed well from last to 2nd. Favorite Secret Hottie and Juan Gutierrez ran an evn 3rd with Deux Meres and Alex Cruz taking 4th at 8-1.
Champ of Pagne runs for Jane Maller and trained by Alexis Silva- Martinez and is a Washington bred by Harbor the Gold out of Champagne Exchange by Exchange Rate and was bred by Bar C Racing Stables. Champ of Pagne finished off the 1st pick 4 which paid $842.26.
5th Race
7 3-year-olds and up went 6 furlongs in the 5th race and the 6-5 favorite Theuntouchableone with Alex Cruz went straight to the lead and never looked back. Theuntouchableone and Cruz set fast fractions of 21.92 and 44.28 building a 4 length lead and leaving enough in the tank to ward off any closers to win by more than a length in a final time of 1:09.18. Theuntouchableone races for Heidi Nelson and is trained by Blaine Wright.
Laura’s Kidough with Rocco Bowen closed well to be 2nd at 5-2 with 22-1 Blues Rapper and Allyssa Morales 3rd with Grammy Winner and Brayan Pena taking 4th. Theuntouchableone is a 4-year-old Washington bred gelding by Danzing Candy out of Our Georgie Girl by Discreetly Mine and was bred by Nina and Ron Hagen. The 2nd pick 4 returned $121.62.
7th Race
Odds on choice Chrome’s Best Copy with Kevin Krigger wasted little time getting to the lead in the 1 mile Friday night finale and quickly opened up 2 lengths. No one would get closer than that as Krigger and Chrome set reasonable fractions of 23.94, 47.71 and 1:12.57 and Chrome cruised to the 2 length win in a final time of 1:39.69. Chrome’s Best Copy races for Warlock Stables, Aaron Bresko and Mike Nist and is trained by Tena Birdwell. Chrome paid $3.18 on the $2 win.
14-1 Exclusively Noble and Carlos Montalvo ran 2nd with 26-1 My Motorhome and Rocco Bowen 3rd, 7-2 Always Gallant and Jose Zunino ran 4th with Just Pin Me and Isaias Enriquez completing the Super High 5. The 50-cent Pick 6 paid $533.77, the 50-cent pick 5 returned $71.14. The Super High 5 paid out $351.
Chrome goes wire to wire
Claims
2nd Race
Drive Train was taken by Camelot Racing for trainer Scott Tubbs claiming price is $10,000
Polls was red tagged by Darrin Paul and goes to Trainer Frank Lucarelli for the claim price of $10,000
3rd Race
Handr’sdream went to new owners Ty Leatherman and Justin Evans, Evans will train the claiming price was $15,000
6th Race
Yogya was claimed by Donna Wright and goes to trainer Dan Markle for a price of $15,000
7th Race
Just Pin Me was red tagged by new owner Alex and Vincent Ortega and goes to trainer Scott Tubbs for a claiming price of $5,000.
News and Notes
2nd leading rider Karlo Lopez was off Friday night with a 1 day suspension and that left the door open for leading rider Alex Cruz to add to his lead and did so with 2 wins, the only rider to double on Friday night. Cruz leads Lopez now by 4 wins. Juan Gutierrez continues to win at an incredible rate running 1st and 3rd from 2 mounts, Leslie Mawing, Kevin Krigger and Rocco Bowen all had wins and all are former or current Riding Champions at Emerald. The onbly non-former Champion to win a race was Carlos Montalvo who continues to ride strong early in the season.
Trainer Tena Birdwell broke the ice and got her 1st win of the season in the finale, Debbie Peery also got her 1st win of the season with Lie and Deny, Jason Homer won the opener for his 2nd win of the year while Scott Tubbs scored hiis 4th win, getting their 5th wins were both Rigoberto Vasquez and Alexis Silva-Martinez while Blaine Wright got his 13th win and takes a 1 win lead over Justin Evans.
And the 1st 3 qualifying heats of the annual Indian Relay races took place Friday night. More preliminaries will be run on Saturday with the Finals on Sunday. Look for our complete coverage after the Finals have been run.
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