Emerald Downs: Big Crowd, lot's of enthusiasm at Opening Day 2025!

4/27/2025

(Auburn, WA) The 51 day 30th season of live thoroughbred horse racing got underway on Sunday. The history of racing in Washington State has been through many ups and downs but for only a couple times did a racing season not happen since the State Legislature approved pari-mutual betting in 1933 and Joe Gottstein’s vision led to Longacres race track in Renton.

Since that time there have been multiple racing venues including Yakima Meadows, Playfair, multiple Fair meets to Emerald Downs. Now Emerald Downs is the only venue left. In fact Emerald Downs is the only live track racing on the West Coast until you get to Santa Anita near Pasadena in southern California. Then there’s Los Alimitos and Del Mar. That’s all that’s left with the likely final demise in Northern California racing.

There still is a slight chance for some Fair’s to run in Northern California but it doesn’t look good. There is a short season at Grant’s Pass and some fair dates in Oregon but that is it.

There is much to be concerned with in the business of horse racing but for the 30th time and I’ll remind you, Longacres ran 59 seasons in its history so Emerald Downs is now more than half as old as Longacres ran. We could focus on all the bad and the issues but we like to celebrate horse racing and this large family of racing enthusiasts we have in Washington State from the owners to jockeys, trainers, staff and this massive fanbase that makes larger tracks wonder how we do it.

Opening Day Crowd

There was a large opening Day crowd at Emerald Downs to welcome the 30th season in Auburn. Lines of folks were in the betting lines, surrounded the paddock and you could hear the thunder of their their support as the horses ran down the stretch.

Every year we get new jockeys, trainers and owners coming to Emerald Downs and each year we see big smiles after experiencing the fanbase of the PNW. If Opening Day was any indication then this is going to be a great year of racing.

Let’s get things started with opening day. We will re-cap each race, talk with riders, trainers and owners and set the stage for this historic racing season.

First Race of 2025 The 30th Season Opener Purse

In the 30th Season Opener Purse a field of 5 $2,500 claimers went 5 1/2-furlongs. The race featured 5-time riding Champion (a state record), Alex Cruz in his return to his adopted north homeland shooting for his 6th straight riding title. Cruz was aboard the morning line favorite at 9-5 Surprise Fashion trained by former training Champ Jorge Roslaes.

The opening race also had the hottest rider at the end of last season coming back in apprentice Manuel Americano. Americano may be Cruz’s biggest competition yet as he finished the seasson with 16 wins to Cruz’s 63. But he finished with a flourish winning 4 races on closing day including the 84th Gottstein Futurity aboard Colonel Ludlow at a massive 32-1 price.

Americano carried that momentum over to Turf Paradise where he is the current leading rider with 79 wins and $1,252,249 in earnings. Cruz sits 4th with 59 wins and nearly 985k in earnings. Americano had the 2nd morning line choice Quiet Charm for owner/trainer Sergio Perez at 5-2.

When the gates flung open to begin season 30 it was Surprise Fashion as the 1-1 betting choice and went straight to the back of the pack early on. 14-1 Tribunal Love went straight to the front with Jose Rodriguez aboard and set fractions of 22.32 and 45.6. Tribunal Love threatened to pull off the upset as the longest shot on the board at 14-1.

Midway through the stretch it looked like Tribunal Love was headed for a picture but 2nd favorite Summanus came flying down the outside with Silvio Amador aboard and the two noses went to the wire and after the photo finish Summaus got the first win of the season by literally a whisker.

Surprise Fashion closed will but was futher back in 3rd with 9-2 Quiet Charm and Americano 4th. Park Road Cowboy ended up 5th to complete the order of finish.

The Summanus and 4th place Quiet Charm are owned and trained by Sergio Perez. Summanus ran the 5 1/2-furlongs in 1:04.95.

Pay-Outs
$2 Win-Place-Show
5 Summanus (Amador) $5.02, $3.54, $2.42
3 Tribunal Love (J Rodriguez) $10.12, $2.84
1 Surprise Fashion (Cruz) $2.10
$1 Exacta 5-3 $54.91
$1 Trifecta 5-3-1 $108.68
$1 Superfecta $191.90

30th Season Opener Purse Replay

Feature Race of the Day The Michelob Ultra Purse

A field of 6 went 5 1/2-furlongs in the first feature race of the season. It was a well matched field of fillies and mares 3-years-old and up racing for a $10,000 claiming price. Chrome’s Best Copy went off as the longest shot of the field at 8-1. Jockey Kevin Krigger aboard wasted no time in getting to the lead and was challenged by 5-2 and 3rd choice Don’t Tell Hydee with Alex Cruz. The pair squared off early and set fractions of 21.73 and 45.22.

Chromes Best Copy (inside) Crystal Proof dual

2nd favorite Crystal Proof also at 5-2 with Kevin Orozco sat in a stalking 4th position through the quick early fraction while 9-2 Ready to Gig with Francisco Duran was back in 5th. Turning for home Krigger and Chrome’s Best Copy had plenty left and brushed off Don’t Tell Hydee who would end up last. Chrome had to contend with Crystal Proof who made her move as they rolled up on Chrome and Krigger squaring off in a match race to the wire. Chrome’s Best Copy never ceded her lead and held off the furious challenge of Crystal Proof by a head to win the Opening Day feature race.

Ready to Gig ran on well to get 3rd by a neck over the closing Greatful Attitude with Francisco Monroy riding. Race favorite Poker Alice was briefly involved but ran a flat 5th place finish.

The final time for Chrome’s Best Copy was 1:04.26. Chrome is owned by Aaron Bresko and trained by Tena Birdwell. The 4-year-old mare Chrome’s Best Copy improves to 5-8-2 from 24 lifetime starts. Chrome added $9,120 to her lifetime bankroll now at $52,171.

Pay-Outs
$2 Win-Place-Show
4 Chrome’s Best Copy (Krigger) $19.48, $7.60, $4.38
5 Crystal Proof (Orozco) $3.98, $3.42
3 Ready to Gig (Duran) $3.38
$1 Exacta 4-5 $54.35
$1 Trifecta $179.86
$1 Superfecta $835.00
$1 Daily Double 4-4 43.45
50-cent Pick 3 3-4-4 $179.47

Feature Race Replay

The rest of Day 1

2nd Race

Blazing Peme with Manuel America went off as the 2-5 favorite and ran a big race going straight to the front with 2nd choice at 7-2 Mr Executive and Francisco Duran up just behind. Bold Encounter at 8-1 with Silvio Amador break from the outside and was well placed early as fractions of 22-flat and 44.90 were churned out by the front pair.

The top pair drifted out on the turn and Bold Encounter switched to the inside and looked to have a shot at running down the top 2. But Blazing Peme and Mr Executive left plenty in the tank and they went head and head to the finish with the favorite Blazing Peme getting the win by an official neck. They were nearly 8 lengths in front of Bold Encounter who was 3+ in front of 4th place Dekudylan.

Blazing Peme is owned and trained by Tim McCanna and stopped the clock in a final time of 1:03.41.

Pay-Outs
$2 Win-Place-Show
2 Blazing Peme (Americano) $2.82, $2.24, $2.10
3 Mr Executive (Duran) $3.60, $2.72
5 Bold Encounter (Amador) $2.92
$1 Exacta 2-3 $4.14
$1 Trifecta 2-3-5 $18.90
$1 Superfecta 2-3-5-1 $38.90
$1 Daily Double 5-2 $6.38

3rd Race

9-5 2nd favorite Amanofmystature with Alex Cruz went to the front with of the 1st 2-turn race of the season as the field of 5 went a mile. 7-2 JT’s Watch with Silvio Amador went with the favorite as they settled into a front running dual with fractions of 24.17, 47.92 and 1:12.13 for the 3/4’s.

Meantime, 7-1 Fantastic Dream with apprentice Pablo Castillo in his 2nd ride of his career was sitting just off the front two and turning for home let Fantastic Dream roll-up and took the lead midway down the stretch and pulled away for the 1 length win over J T’s Watch who held 2nd by a head over Coastal Waters who closed well and was a head in front of Amanofmystature.

Fantastic Dream races for Maria Valenzuela and trained by Jose Puentes. The final time was 1:38.33.

Pay-Outs
$2 Win-Place-Show
2 Fantastic Dream (Castillo) $17.60, $5.96, $3.40
3 J T’s Watch (Amador) $4.04, $3.08
5 Coastal Waters (Americano) $2.64
$1 Exacta 2-3 $31.04
$1 Trifecta 2-3-5 $106.82
$1 Superfecta 2-3-5-1 $187.80
$1 Daily Double 2-2 $16.10
50-cent Pick 3 5-2-2 $25.37

Pablo Castillo’s 1st career win replay

4th Race

A field of 6 went 6 furlongs with betting favorite River of Ambition at 8-5 went to the lead but would weaken early and finish 5th while longshot Yoderando with Jose Rodriguez at 13-1 and 9-2 La Popis with Julien Couton sat right behind and quickly gobbled up the early leader turning for home.

La Popis extended lead to 2 1/2 lengths at the 16th pole and won by a clear 1 1/2 lengths over Yoderando. 9-5 2nd choice Diamond Dee with Alex Crfuz finisahed well from last to get up for 3rd. La Popis won in a time of 1:10.71 and races for Hon Cheung Kum and G. Pascual Luciano Medina and trained by Jose Puentes.

Pay-outs
$2 Win-Place-Show
3 La Popis (Couton) $11.68, $5.46, $3.50
5 Yoderando (J Rodriguez) $11.68, $5.30
4 Diamond Dee (Cruz) $2.64
$1 Exacta 3-5 $71.45
$1 Trifecta $335.72
$1 Superfecta $700.70
$1 Daily Double 2-3 $86.51
50-cent Pick 3 2-2-3 $47.05
50-cent Pick 4 5-2-2-3 $94.36

5th Race

A field of 6 3-year-old maiden fillies ran 5-furlongs for a claiming price of $25,000 in the 5th race. The betting public could not figure out who to favor and there were 3 5-2 shots in the end. It was Above the Ordinary with Silvio Amador going to the lead battling with Orting Mist and Manny Americano. Those two would set fractions of 22.38 and 46.09.

Further back was Chokechery Shari and Francisco Duran. Duran and Shari were 5th early on but never far back swung to the outside turning for home and ran by the front running pair to post a 1 1/2 length win in a final time of 58.74 going 5-furlongs. Above the Ordinary finsihed 2nd and Orting Mist 3rd.

Chokerchery Shari races for Robert Jones and is trained by Tim McCanna.

Pay-Outs
$2 Win-Place-Show
4 Chokechery Shari (Duran) $7.54, $4.10, $3.08
6 Above the Ordinary (Amador) $3.80, $2.86
3 Orting Mist (Americano) $3.36
$1 Exacta 4-6 $13.49
$1 Trifecta 4-6-3 $65.42
$1 Superfecta 4-6-3-2 $169.10
$1 Daily Double 3-4 $19.85
50-cent Pick 3 2-3-4 $143.42
50-cent Pick 4 2-2-3-4 $230.39

7th Race

In the finale there was a late scratch of the morning line favorite, #1 Gran Senor Del Oro leaving 6 maiden 3-year-olds going 5-furlongs. Again the betting public was split with 3 5-2 shots on the board when the gates opened. Dominate with Alex Cruz was hustled out of the gate from the outside post and engaged 5-2 Lucky’s Sniper with Manuel Americano. Those two set fractions of 22.04 and 45.95.

Turning for home Dominate shook off Lucky’s Sniper but the slight betting choice the 3rd 5-2 shot Cap It Daddy with Francisco Duran had been sitting just behind and swung tlo the outside entering the top of the stretch. But at the 16th pole it still looked like Dominate would hold on when Cap It Daddy shifted into another gear and rolled by for the 3/4’s length win in a final time of 58.32. Cap It Daddy is owned by Patricia Hancock and trained by Jamey Thomas.

Lucky’s Sniper finished 3rd completing the all 5-2 trifecta. 13-1 Kiko Boy was 4th and completing the 1st Super Hi 5 of the year was William Porter at 3-1.

Pay-Outs
$2 Win-Place-Show
2 Cap It Daddy $7.36, $3.88, $2.88
7 Dominate $4.62, $3.26
6 Lucky’s Sniper $2.90
$1 Exacta 2-7 $12.85
$1 Trifecta $36.66
$1 Superfecta $155.50
$1 Daily Double 4-2 $51.10 (Consolation DD 4-1 $9.73)
50-cent Pick 3 4-4-1/2 $58.07
50-cent Pick 4 3-4-4-1/2 $229.52
50-cent Pick 5 2-3-4-4-1/2 $1,685.21
20-cent Pick 6 2-2-3-4-4-1/2 $2,024.96
50-cent Super Hi Five 2-7-6-3-5 $105.45

The Betting Window on opening day saw a total handle of $894,464 for the 7 races. This is an average of $127,781 per race. With just 39 horses running and an average field size of 5.6 that’s an impressive opening day.

The largest $2 win pay was in the 6th race with Chrome’s Best Copy paying $19.48. Right behind was 7-1 Fantastic Dream in the 3rd on apprentice jockley Pablo Castillo’s 1st career win paying $17.60. Both top pays were on the longest shots on the board in their respective races.

The average $2 win pay for the day was $10.21 or the odds of 4-1. The top place pay-out went to 14-1 Yoderando paying $11.68. This pay-out topped the opening raqce place pay-off of $10.12 of Tribunal Love at 13-1. Both were ridden by Jose Rodriguez who takes the early lead in best ROI for exacta bets. The top show bet also went to Yoderando paying $5.30.

As you can imagine the top $1 Exacta’s were tied into the Rodriguez’s rides. In the 1st race the 3-2 favorite to 14-1 returned $54.91 only to be topped by La Popis to Yoderando in the 4th paying $71.45. In the 6th Chrome’s Best Copy to 5-2 Crystal Proof returned $54.35.

Top 50-cent Trifecta was in the 4th race paying $167.86, the top $1 Superfecta was in the 6th race paying $835 or $83.50 for the 10-cent bet. In the final race the Super Hi 5 or Pentafecta paid $105.45.

On to the hoizontal wagers with the best $1 Daily Double from the 3rd race to the 4th of Fantastic Dream to La Popis paid $86.51. A reminder there was a scratch in the 7th race so there was a consolation DD paid, be sure to check your tickets.

The Pick 3 this season has a low take-out of just 12%. That paid off in the 4th-5th-6th race sequence with winners at 9-2 to 5-2 to 8-1 paying off $176.47 on the 50-cent bet. There will be 3 pick 4’s each day also a 50-cent bet with the best pay-off being the 2nd-5th races of $230.39 and just behind was the 4th thru the 7th returning $229.52. The 50-cent pick 5 from the 3rd thru the 7th returned a healthy $1,658.21 and there were 6 winning tickets.

That wasn’t the top pay-out of the day as a single winning ticket holder lined up all 6 winners in the Jackpot Pick 6 which is just a 20-cent bet. The winner strung trung together a 2-5 to 7-1 to 9-2 to 5-2 to 8-1 and 5-2 for the perfect ticket. The winner picked up $2,024.96.

On the Newswire we’ll start with apprentice jockey Pablo Castillo getting on his first horse ever in the opener. Castillo was aboard 13-1 Park Road Cowboy and broke well running 2nd early but couldn’t keep up and ended up at the back of the pack. Castillo got his 2nd ride in the 3rd race on Fantastic Dream closing down the stretch to win by a length. We had a chance to talk with Castillo after his big win check out our interview with him:

After the race Castillo knew what was coming and he loved getting his 1st race “shower” when he got back to the Jock’s room with his fellow riders ready to celebrate with him. We caught the hyjinx waiting for Castillo.

Emerald Downs veteran Silvio Amador got off to a solid start winning the 1st race of the season. Amador would have a superfecta finish in his 1st 4 rides with a 1st, 3rd, 2nd and 4th. Amador then added a 2nd place finish in the 5th race before his day was done so he hit the board in all 5 of his opening day rides. We also talked with Amador after the 1st race of the year:

Duran Doubles

Heading into the 7th and final race there had been 6 races with 6 different jockey’s winning a race. One who hadn’t was 5-time defending riding champ Alex Cruz and he was on 5-2 Dominate. It looked like we were going to have 7 different riders in the winner’s circle on opening day and a 7 way tie for 1st in the standings but newcomer Francisco Duran who scored in the 5th race on Chokechery Shari was able to run down Cruz and Dominate in the finale on Cap It Daddy to double for the day and have the early lead in the standings.

Trainers Double First

A pair of trainers actually double first on opening day with the first double winner of the meet going to Jose Puentes who sent out Fantastic Dream with Pablo Castillo and doubled with La Popis in the 4th with Julien Couton aboard. Hall of Fame and 2nd winningest trainer in Emerald history Tim McCanna who will havew more horses at Emerald than in the recent past than where he had been based in Northern Cal. McCanna got odds-on choice Blazing Peme home by a nose in the 2nd race with Manuel Americano aboard. McCanna then picked up win #2 with Chokechery Shari in the 5th with Francisco Duran.

Owner/Trainer Winners

There were two owner/trainer combinations to win on Saturday with Sergio Perez taking the 1st race with Summanus and Tim McCanna winning the 2nd with Blazing Peme. On the day there was only 1 winner with multiple owners and that was La Popis in the 4th race with Luciano Medina Gabriel and Hon Cheung Kum owning the 6-year-old mare. The other winning owners were Maria Valenzuela, Robert G. A. Jones, Aaron Bresko and Patricia Hancock.

New Trainers have solid Opening Day

Ruby Thomas and her son Jamey Thomas are family of course but they run their own barns. The Thomas’s are part of the new influx of people and horses coming from Northern California. Ruby Thomas had one entry on opening day in the feature with 5-2 Crystal Proof. Crystal gave a big effort under Kevin Orozco but they couldn’t get by the defiant Chrome’s Best Copy losing by just a head.

Jamey Thomas also had a runner in the feature race with 9-2 Ready to Gig who closed well to get up for 3rd. Jamey Thomas got things started in the 5th race though with the 5-2 favorite Above the Ordinary with Silvio Amador. They ran big but couldn’t deny the winner in the end settling for 2nd. Then in the 7th and final race Jamey Thomas got to the winner’s circle with Cap it Daddy and Francisco Duran with a perfectly timed off the pace run to win by 3/43’s length. So 4 starts for the Thomas’s with a win 2 places and a show, a pretty good start!