8/2/2024

(Auburn, WA) Just a 6 race card on Friday night but some chances to make some good money with Carlos Montalvo leading the way with a double. Leading rider Alex Cruz opened the night with a win and #2 rider Kevin Krigger extended his win streak with trainer Justin Evans and the Pick 6 and Super High 5 paid off with big returns.

Let’s get to the Friday Night re-caps!

5th Race Feature Race

A field of 5 were left after a late scratch with public squabbling between 3. They were correct in the 3 to try and separate as they finished 1-2-3 but the least favored at 5-2 Nan Elizabeth with Carlos Montalvo would fall behind to last at the break in the 6 1/2 furlong run while 2nd choice She’s So Shiny and Alex Cruz at 9-5 and the favorite Holy Tutta Bella and Kevin Krigger at 8-5 battled on the lead setting fractions of 22.51 and 45.39.

Heading into the turn Nan Elizabeth moved up to 4th and by the top of the stretch swung 5 wide and took dead aim on the top 2 roaring past both to win going away by more than a length in a final time of 1:16.84. Holy Tutta Bella would finish 2nd and She’s So Shiny 3rd while Lemon Drop Lady and Karlo Lopez finished 4th.

Many thought it would be Krigger and Evans getting their 2nd win of the night but it was Montalvo and Gabriel scoring their 2nd wins of the night. Nan Elizabeth earned $9,405 for win and pushes her total winnings to $112,753. The 6 year-old mare is now 7-5-4 from 32 lifetime starts that’s a 22% win rate and 50% top 3 finish.

Nan Elzabeth paid $7.14, $3.10 and $2.26. The pick 3 returned $44.63. The daily double 6-3 to Nan Elizabeth paid $8.26 and there was a consoltion double to the scratched #4 Shezarunaway that paid $1.66.

Feature Race Replay

The rest of Friday night’s races!

1st Race

A field of 6 fillies and mares went 6 furlongs and the front speed was where it was at in the opened with Capo Sorella and Alex Cruz. Cruz took the 2nd choice at 2-1 sttraight to the lead and set all the fractions of 22.12 and 45.39 to open up a length lead at the top of the stretch. Cruz and Capo maintained that lead and added a 1/2 length for the clear win in a final time of 1:11.06. Capo Sorella is owned and trained by  Scott Tubbs.

Betting favorite Another Ten with Luis Reyes chased the winner in 2nd place for most of the 3/4’s mile for a solid 2nd, Phoenician Magic and Allyssa Morales at 16-1 took 3rd with 5-1 Settler’sCove and David Martin completing the superfecta. Capo Sorella paid 6.86, $2.72 and $2.74 the show pay-off was boosted with the longshot Phoenician Magic hitting the board who paid $5.68. The 50-cent trifecta paid a solid $31.29 and the 10-cent superfecta paid $14.41 or $144.10 on the $1 wager.

2nd Race

La Popis was bet down to the 2-1 top choice as this well matched field of 7 fillies and mares 3 yeasrs-old and up went 6 1/2 furlongs. La Popis at 2-1 was the favorite but the longshot Luvahappyending with Luis Reyes was just 9-1 as the public was well split on all 7 entries. In the 1st race it was all front speed, in the 2nd race the front speed collapsed as La Popis with Carlos Montalvo sat off in 5th and Luvahappyending was last. LaPopis made her move at the half mile pole with 1st run and took a length lead at the top of the stretch pulling away for a dominant 6 1/4 length win in a final time of 1:16.83. La Popis races for Hon Cheung Kum and is trained by Luciano Gabriel.

Luvahappyending closed well for Reyes to get up for 2nd, Confidence Builder and Silvio Amador was the front speed and held for 3rd at 3-1 and taking 4th was 6-1 Mean Sharon with Karlo Lopez. La Popis paid $6.88, $4.22 and $3.00. Luvahappyending paid 4-1 to place at $10.34 and $4.88 to show. The $1 exacta returned a strong $28.86 and the opening daily double returned $14.21.

3rd Race
The 3rd race went 2 turns as the field of 7 3 year-olds and up maidens were searching for their 1st career wins and off the pace was again the place to be. 7-1 Polis got a perfectly timed ride from Isaias Enriquez who held off 6-1 Avellinasa and Jose Zunino who both came from the back of the pack. Polis got the neck win in a photo and was fully extended as Avellinasa was closing with a rush. Grazed by Love with Silvio Amador at 5-2 was a clear 3rd with 7-1 Drive Train and Alex Cruz completing the superfecta.

Polis races for Darrin Paul and is trained by Frank Lucarelli and ran the mile in 1:39.48. Polis returned $16.20, $6.62 and $4.12. The $1 exacta paid $37.59, the 1st pick 3 $50.13 and the rolling double $31.11.

Race Replay

4th Race
When Kevin Krigger rides for trainer Justin Evans good things happen and they are on quite a streak. You can read more about streaks in the news and notes below. The public was quick to back their 1st teaming of the week betting Overly Fast down as the 1-2 favorite against the field of 5 other runners at 6 1/2 furlongs. Krigger sat just off early on in 3rd and rolled up at the quarter pole and quickly built a 3 length lead at the top of the stretch and  won by 3 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:15.96. Ty Leatherman and Justin Evans own Overly Fast with Evans training.

4-1 Napoletano and Allyssa Morales were clearly 2nd best with a 7 length advantage over 3rd place Smooth Papa with Kiaman McGregor at 24-1 and 6-1 Lil Miracle Man and Alex Cruz 4th. Overly Fast paid $3.40, $2.38 and $2.30, 24-1 Smooth Papa paid $5.62 to show. The 50-cent trifecta returned $22.95 the $1 superfecta a really nice $163 with the 1-2 on top. The 1st pick 4 of the day returned $108.10.

Race Replay

6th Race
In the finale a field 6 went 1 mile and they came from the back of the pack once again with 1-1 favorite Tapit Down and Leslie Mawing taking off at the quarter pole and had all the momentum to roll by the field for an easy 4 length win. Coming from further back at the odds of 28-1 was Ratified with Javier Matias, 30-1 Allante and David Martin tried to spring the big upset near the front and held on nicely for 3rd, 7-5 Thunder Ball and Alex Cruz ran 4th with 5-1 First Endeavor and Kevin Krigger completing the Super High 5.

Tapit Down is owned and trained by Justin Evans and paid $4.32, $3.24 and $2.84. Ratified paid $19.10 and $10.12 and Allante paid $8.84 to show. The $1 exacta paid $36.09, the $1 trifecta returned $347.18 and the $1 superfecta returned $697.40. For more on the final pay-outs see the betting window below.

News and Notes

Streaks

The winning streak for Kevin Krigger and Justin Evans for at least 1 win has reached 9 days in a row. During this run they had a streak of at least 2 wins on a card for 6 days. Krigger and Evans aren’t the only ones with a streak going on as their streak is not consecutive days but days they had at least 1 entry.

Meantime, Isaias Enriquez and trainer Frank Lucarelli have won a race in 4 consecutive race days and have a chance at 5 on Saturday with 2 starters.

Carlos Montalvo was the only rider to double on Friday night with 2 wins, Alex Cruz, Isaias Enriquez, Kevin Krigger and Leslie Mawing all got their picture taken. Montalvo double also meant trainer Luciano Gabriel doubled with owner Hon Cheung Kum.

Justin Evans also doubled as a trainer to expand his lead in the trainer standings to 17 over 2nd place Blaine Wright. Evans has 42 wins to Wright’s 25. Frank Lucarelli now has 18 wins to round out the top 3.

Rotating Announcers

Regular announcer Tom Harris was off this week and a pair of voices covered for him. Dean Mazzuca got the call on Friday night and on Saturday and Sunday Hastings Park announcer Dan Jukich will stand in for Harris. This was one of 2 weeks Harris had scheduled as off days for the 2024 season he will be back for next week’s huge weekend capped by the 89th running of the Longacres Mile.

The Betting Window

The total handle on the night was $609,969 for the 6 races averaging $101,662 per race. The top $2 win was $16.20 by Polis in the 3rd, the top $2 place was in the 6th of $19.10 for Ratified who also had the top $2 show of the night at $10.12.

The Pick’s all paid ok to excellent with the final pick 4 at $98.72, the pick 5 $430.13 and the pick 6 paying $1,639.74. 5 of 6 paid the consolation of $21.79.

Claims

2nd Race
Confidence Builder goes to new owners Rosales Racing F1, Jose Brun and Saigado Mendoza and Jorge Rosales will train for $2,500.
For You Only was red tagged by Lloyd David Irvine and will be trained by Bob Bean for $2,500.
5th Race
Lemon Drop Lady was claimed by Luanne Bean and Three Quarter Ranch for trainerBob Bean for $10,000.
She’s So Shiny goes to Carl Petroff, Russell Nakagawa and David Lechmanik and heads to the barn of Frank Lucarelli for $10,000.
6th Race
Thunder Ball was tagged by Rage #2939 and goes to trainer Joe Toye for $5,000.

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