8/18/2024
(Auburn, WA) Sunday was the PNW Quarterhorse Championships with the $30,000 John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the $40,000 AQHA Racing Championship Challenge. Plus a mixed thoroughbred/quarterhorse race to begin the day and 5 other thoroughbrerd races highlighted by the 4th race the John Prker Racing purse for $25,000 maiden 2 year-olds.
There was also a survival style handicapping contest with the winner walking away with a cool grand. Then a small weather system rolled through just before the 7th race knocking out power to Tom Harris’s announcer booth and the 7th race ran with no announcer on track while Joe Withee called the race for video feed. The rain fell quickly and it was all over in about 20 minutes but the power surge still had Harris’s booth without power so he called the last race from Joe Withee’s set on track level.
It was a strange but interesting day at the track to be sure and we have full coverage in this report.
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Our Quarterhorse Stakes races will be our 1st stories followed by the rest of Sunday’s card.
2nd Race The John Deere Juvenile Challenge
A field of 10 juveniles lined up to congtest the 350 yard sprint and the betting public settled on #9 Secretarysbestcard with Jose Gurerro up as the odds-on 3-5 favorite. Guerreo and Secretary got off a step slow but put it into gear in the 2nd half of the 350 yards but still had to catch 6-1 Mr Royal Cartel and Jaime Lopez from the inside.
As they passed the 16th pole it looked like Mr Royal Cartel was going to spring the upset and even as they hit the wire it appeared to most that Mr Royal Cartel held on including the TV crew who followed Mr Royal on the run-out. After the stewards examined the photo they put up the 3-5 favorite Secretarysbestcard who got the perfect bob of the head and maybe the closest margin of victory for the season got the win by literally a whisker.
7-1 Eyes On Corona with Mark Jasso got bounced around a little bit in the middle of the track at the start but finished full of run for a nice 3rd place finish while 53-1 The Great One and Jacob Samuels got up for 4th. There was an objection called on Eyes On Corona but it was disallowed and the results stood.
Secretarysbestcard is owned by JBC Stables and trained by Jose Juan Baca. This was the 4th win in a row for Secretarysbest card and she improved to 4-0-0 from 6 lifetime starts and earned $23,440 to push her career earnings to $61,300 She is an Oregon bred by Dos Best Card, out of Chicks Wildcat by Returning and was bred by Jose Juan Baca. The final time was 18.31.
Secretarysbestcard paid $3.36 to win but with the large field the exotics paid ok with the 50-cent trifecta $20 and the 10-cent superfecta $47.13 or $471.30 for the $1 bet.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
John Deere/Emerald Downs Juvenile Challenge Replay
John Deere Winner’s Circle
3rd Race the AQHA Racing Championship Challenge
The AQHA Racing Championship Challenge offered a full field of 10 going 440 yards. Jose Guerrero would be on the betting favorite again #8 Bee a Freight Train and went off at odds-on 4-5. But Bee did not fire got off a bit slow and could not recover finishing off the board. Instead from the far outside a great break for 9-2 Apolinaria Prize and Cordarelton Benn who took the earloy lead. QAuickly emerging from the middle of the pack was 10-1 outsider Jestafiably Jess with Jaime Lopez who had just gotten nosed out in the Juvenile Stakes.
That pair would actually separate from thre other 8 and would battle down the stretch. Lopez got after Jess and the 8 year-old responded and would pull away just inside the 16th pole for the win over Apolinaria Prize by 3/4’s of a length. They were a length clear of 21-1 Marcelino and Javier Matias while DC Ladys Dashin Eagle with Mark Jasso was 4th.
Jesstafiably Jess races for Marion Cowgill and is trained by Benito Curiel. Jess is a Washington bred by One Sweet Jess out of Fly Thru Time by Strawfly Special and was bred by Marion Cowgill. The final time was 21.84.
Jesstafiably Jess is now 10-6-2 from 29 career starts. The $25,160 pushed Jess’s lifetime earnings over the 100k mark at $107,663. Jess also triggered some great pays for his backers including the across the board of $23.76, $7.38 and $5.90. 21-1 Marcelin returned $10.62 on the $2 show. Then 50-cent trifecta paid $415.12 and the 10-cent superfecta $330.12 or $3,301.20 on the $1 super bet.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
AQHA Racing Championship Challenge Race Replay
ESN talks with Jockey Jaime Lopez
Jesstafiably Jess’s Winner’s Circle
The rest of the Sunday Card!
1st Race Thoroughbred/Quarterhorse Mixed Race
A field of 8 went 870 yards in a well matched field with 3 5-2 shots leading the way. Code Charlie and Luis Reyes won this race back on July28th during the trials and did it with a front running effort winning by 3/4’s of a length. Reyes broke well again from the 3 hole to engage the lone quarterhorse CM Once ina Bluemoon and those 2 paired off until the stretch. Code Charlie then put away Bluemoon and then held off 5-2 Meant For Me and Kevin Krigger by a 1/2 length for the win in a final time of 45.62. 7-1 Mister Mafioso and Karlo Lopez held on for 3rd and DK’s Crown with Silvio Amador closed to get 4th at 12-1. Code Charlie is owned and trained by Serjio Garcia and paid $7.06 on the $2 win as the official betting favorite.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
4th Race the John Parker Purse
2 late scratches left 6 2 year-old maidens to contest 4 1/2 furlongs and the bettors decided on Rebel Gal with Karlo Lopez as the most likely winner betting her down to 1-1. Karlo Lopez broke well sitting in 2nd behind the front speed of 3-1 Emery’s Rose with Luis Reyes who set all the times to the stretch before tiring and finishing 3rd. Rebel Gal got 1st run on Emery’s Rose and rolled on by to post a convincing 2 length win in a final time of 51.79. 5-1 Moonlight Grey and Isaias Enriquez closed well to be a clear 2nd while 9-1 Bella Ciao Ciao and Leslie Mawing took 4th. Longshot 31-1 Gallants Brite Gal fell in the stretch tossing jockey Francisco Diaz-Lopez. Gallant Brite Gal eventually got up and walked into the equine ambulance under her own power. No report on Diaz-Lopez at this time but was taken to be evaluated.
Rebel Gal races for Gold Coast Racing and is trained by Steve Bullock. Rebel is a Washinton bred by Coast Guard out of Creme by Somersham and was bred by Nina and Ron Hagen.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
5th Race
A field of 7 fillies and mares went 5 1/2 furlongs and 5-1 morning line Hot Lava Cake with Silvio Amador got bet down to 1-1 and quickly went to the front and never looked back. Amador and Hot Lava Cake set fractions of 22.06 and 44.22 to open up by 5 lengths at the top of the stretch only to lengthen that win to nearly 9 lengths in a final time of 1:03.91. Hot Lava Cake is owned by Alex and Vincent Ortega and trained by Scott Tubbs. 15-1 Settler’s Cove and David Martin ran 2nd with 36-1 Bikini Nation and Manuel Americano taking 3rd and comleting the superfecta was 5-1 Drinkup Buttercup with Alex Cruz. Despite the 1-1 favorite winning the 50-cent trifecta with a 15-1 2nd and 36-1 3rd still paid a solid $72.19 and the superfecta dime bet was good for $56.74.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
Silvio records win #1 of 2 on the day
6th Race
The field of 7 went 6 furlongs and again front speed was not only holding but a necessity. 5-1 Wednesday At Shady with Luis Reyes broke alertly and rushed to the lead opening up a 2 length lead. Reyes and Shady pushed it to 4 lengths by the stretch and pushed it to more than a 5 length victory. Trainer Scott Tubbs and owners Alex and Vincent Ortega repeated what had just happened in the 5th race with a repeat performance. The final time was 1:10.29. 7-2 Big Paper Daddy and Karlo Lopez ran 2nd, 3rd went to Northern Blend and Alex Cruz at 8-1 and Chippewa Bud ran 4th at 7-2 with Manuel Americano. Wednesday at Shady paid $12.46, $6.04 and $3.58. The 2nd pick 4 returned $564.31.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
7th Race
In the 7th fillies and mares faced off with a field of 6. Juan Gutierrez was aboard 7-1 Chrome’s Best Copy and he clearly had been watching the races he wasn’t in and broke quickly to take a length lead to the stretch when Guti and Chrome were challenged by 7-5 favorite Silver Lightening and Kevin Krigger. But Guti knew how this track was playing and left plenty in the tank to push just that head lead back and led by 2 lengths by the finish line in a final time of 1:10.22. Silver Ligthening held 2nd, 3-1 Northern Linchpin and Alex Cruz ran 3rd while 3-1 Princess Payton and Carlos Montalvo capped the superfecta. Chrome’s Best Copy races for Warlock Stables and Aaron Bresko and Mike Nist and trained by Tena Birdwell. Chrome’s Best Copy paid $17.48 to win.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
Juan Gutierrez paces a big win at 7-1
8th Race
In the finale why would any of the conditions change and Silvio Amador did it once and looked to score his 2nd win of the day with a front running win on 7-2 Tia Suzi and that’s just what he did. Amador and Suzi quickly opened up by 2 lengths stretched it to 3 at the stretch and rolled to a 6+ length win over the 6 furlong spring against 7 others. The final time was 1:11.45. Tia Suzi races for Alvarez Racing Stable and trained by Sergio Alvarez.
Many Memories with Allyssa Morales at 11-1 ran on well to be 2nd, 7-1 Linchpin’s Locket with Vladimir Jensen ran 3rd, 4th place went to 12-1 Engaging Soul and Kiaman McGregor with 5th place going to 3-1 Shilshole Bay and Leslie Mawing to complete the 50-cent Super Hi 5 which paid off a nice $1,912.85. The pick 5 paid over 2k for the 3rd straight time on Sunday it was good for $2,333.18.
Link to Equibase Chart with full Pay-offs
News and Notes
Double-Trouble
The last 2 days we’ve had a trainer score an exacta finish with Frank Lucarelli getting the 1st and 2nd place in the same race on Friday and Blaine Wright doing it on Saturday. On Sunday we had a different kind of trainer and owner double. Owner’s Alex and Vincent Ortega and trainer Scott Tubbs pulled off the rare double, double, double winning the 5th race with Hot Lava Cake and the 6th race with Wednesday At Shady for the owner win double, the trainer win double and the daily double which paid $18.63 for the $1 bet.
They had a shot of pulling off the rarer triple as they had another runner in the 7th race but Candied Joule at 16-1 didn’t pull off the stunner and finished off the board. Tubbs had a great week with 3 wins pushing his season total to 14.
Montalvo wins Jockey of the Week Honors
Jockey Carlos Montalvo was named the track’s Jockey of the week after his big day last Sunday on Championship Sunday winning 2 of the 4 Stakes races with Aloha Breeze in the Distaff and LaPush in the Oaks. Montalvo leads all riders in the Stakes race with 4 wins, 1 more than Silvio Amador. Montalvo has also been at the top of our Jockey Power Rankings the past 2 weeks.
Front Speed is where it’s at!
The storm that rolled through Saturday night between Saturday’s racing and Sunday’s card tightened the track nicely and not only was it fast it was very fast and favored the inside of the track and front speed. In the 5 thoroughbred races, the final 4 races all went wire-to-wire with the winner clearing off by at least a length at the 1st call. In the 1st race the 870 yard thoroughbred/quarterhorse mix the winner was 2nd by a head before taking the lead for good.
In the quarterhorse Challenges in the 440 yard dash the winner was 2nd at the 1st call before getting up for the 1/2 length win. The only race of the day that had a closer get up for the win was in the shortest race of the day, the 350 yard John Deere Juvenile where Secretarysbestcard began in 5th and got up to win by a whisker.
The Trifecta King’s Handicapping Contest
Trifecta King and Promotions Director Gary Dougherty put on a “Survivor Style” Handicapping contest on Sunday where the 80+ contestants had 2 picks in 3 races and had to have one of them finish 1st or 2nd to move on to the next round. The top 3 money totals then moved on to the final round where he selected 1 horse and the best finish won, the 2nd best finish was 2nd and the worst finish was 3rd.
The lone Survivor was Paul Hildebrand from Des Moines and he collected his $1,000 in cash prize money in the Winner’s Circle. 2nd place got $500 and 3rd placde $300. The contest was free to enter. ESN caught up with the winner as Dougherty was counting out 10 crisp $100 bills to him. Hildebrand was of course excited to have won and shared his angle on getting to the top with us.
Handicapper Winner Paul Hildebrand
The Betting Window
There were only 3 favorites to win a race this week coming into Sunday and even though 4 won on day 3 of this week there was onoy 1 odds-on winner. So for the week there were 22 races with 7 favorites winning but just 1 odds on. There were 2 other 1-1 shots and a 5-2 winning favorite.
The 2 Quarterhorse Stakes races were the bookends of the day with the odds-on choice Secretarysbestcard winning at 3-5 paying $3.36 while Jesstafiably Jess won at 10-1 odds for the high $2 win pay of the day at $23.76. The final 3 races were 5-1, 7-1 and 7-2.
The big pays of the day for the $1 exacta, 50-cent trifecta and 10-cent superfecta all came in the 3rd race the AQHA Championship with Jesstafiably Jess winning The exacta was $52.95, the trifecta $415.12 and the superfecta $330.12.
Pick 5 Paid big all 3 days this week
The 50-cent pick 5 was a big pay-off all 3 days although did not challenge the single high pay of the season at $25,371. Friday night the pick 5 paid $7239.99, on Saturday it was $2,991.77 and on Sunday with odds of 1-1, 1-1, 5-1, 7-1 and 7-2 the pick 5 paid $2,333.18. All total the pick 5 returned $12,564.94 this past weekend for an average of nearly $4,200.
Check Your Tickets!
If you bet and leave and then go back to see if you have any winners be sure to either simply bring back all your tickets to run through the machine to be sure you didn’t miss something. If you are checking the Equibase charts we have linked below each race re-cap make sure to look for scratches especially on your multiple horse picked bets like a superfecta or a pick 5.
Many times horses are scratched and people don’t realize they will be getting a refund, a consolation pay or you automatically get the betting favorite in ases of scratches in any of the pick 3-4-5 or 6’s. Then there’s the thing many of us do at one time or another you simply misread your ticket. If you are checking the charts scratched horses are listed and if your horse is listed as scratched make sure you ar not due money back or have got some kind of winner before tossing the ticket.
Claims
5th Race
Hot Lava Cake was taken by owner/trainer Serjio Garcia for $2,500.
Shelby Shortstop goes to Filos Stable for trainer Alexis Silva-Martinez for $2,500.
9th Race
Engaging Soul was red tagged by Tawnjia Elison and heads to the Jack McCartney barn for $5,000.
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