For the Reporter
One of the track’s most promising runners returns to action Sunday when Barkley heads a field of six in the $20,500 allowance feature for 3-year-olds at six furlongs.
Barkley was brilliant in two starts in 2015, debuting with a 3¼-length victory vs. maiden special weights, and then defeating Gold Rush Dancer in the $50,000 Emerald Express Stakes on July 19. The latter victory featured a memorable stretch duel and looks even better, considering Gold Rush Dancer’s subsequent romp in the Gottstein Futurity and runner-up finish last week in a $200,000 stakes at Santa Anita.
Barkley had his season cut short by shin problems, but trainer Howard Belvoir said the Kentucky-bred by Munnings is talented and training forwardly. Owned by Belvoir and Rising Star Stable III, Barkley has a series of eye-popping drills this spring capped by a :46 half-mile from the gate April 7.
For non-winners of one race “other than,” Sunday’s feature is a prep for the $50,000 Auburn Stakes on Sunday, May 15.
Viewingthegold nearly toppled track and state champion 2-year-old Mach One Rules in the WTBOA Lads Stakes last year, missing by a head at 25-1 and earning a lofty 72 Beyer.
On Fire won a $71,000 maiden race at Del Mar last August, but had little luck in subsequent starts vs. SoCal toughies like Nyquist and Toews On Ice. A $140,000 Kentucky-bred by Friesan Fire, On Fire makes his first start for trainer Dan Markle.
Valid Keiki debuted with a four-length win at Emerald Downs last year and ran respectably vs. allowance foes this winter at Golden Gate.
The field for Sunday’s $20,500 allowance feature for 3-year-olds: Ryan Walt, Rocco Bowen, 118 pounds; Valid Keiki, Isaias Enriquez, 118; Viewingthegold, Juan Gutierrez, 118; Wando Cat, Joe Steiner, 118; On Fire, Leslie Mawing, 118; Barkley, Javier Matias, 118.
Pick 7 carryover Saturday
The track’s new $0.20 Pick 7 is proving a difficult but lucrative wager. There were no tickets with seven winners opening weekend, and Saturday’s two-day carryover is $6,418. With a nine-race card, Saturday’s Pick 7 will be on races 3 through 9.
Favorites were 4-19 opening weekend and boxcar payoffs were common: Original Avenue ($92), Miss Fogcutter ($51) Thisdewarsforyou ($43.60), Lizzy Lass ($26.80) and Forbidden Kee ($18.40).
Sunday’s $0.50 Pick 5 paid a track record $22,700.95 to one winning ticket, breaking the mark of $22,203.55 set June 2, 2013. She Bites, a 32-1 shot, nearly won Sunday’s finale, which would have caused a $22,700.95 carryover to Saturday.
Ain’t Tellin’ tops Saturday feature
Ain’t Tellin’ — one of only two five-time winners here in 2015 — heads a competitive field of eight $25,000 claimers entered in Saturday’s $16,600 feature at 5½ furlongs.
Runner-up to Coach Royal for honors as last year’s Top Claimer, Ain’t Tellin’ was a front-running demon in 2015 for trainer Jim Penney and owner Where We At, scoring five gate-to-wire victories while rising from the lowly claiming ranks to a win at the $15,000 level. Although particularly effective at the one-mile distance, Ain’t Tellin’ was two-for-two in sprints, breaking his maiden at five furlongs and adding a $4,000 claiming win at six panels.
Raspberry Road hinted at big things last year, winning twice including a 2¾-length allowance win against eventual Oregon Horse of the Year Its Allabout Jerry.
Inexcess Again won three straight sprints last year at Golden Gate Fields for high-percentage trainer Blaine Wright, but the California-bred 5-year-old finished off the board in his only two starts on dirt.
Betsy’s Gold has sharp speed and also won two sprints here last year, while Perfect Night is a hard-hitting 7-year-old with 15 in-the-money finishes from 21 career starts.
The field for Saturday’s $16,600 feature race: Private Boss, Rocco Bowen, 120 pounds; Raspberry Road, Joe Steiner, 120; Betsy’s Gold, Erick Lopez, 120; Cantcatchme, Isaias Enriquez, 117; Cash N Dash, Jose Zunino, 120; Ain’t Tellin’, Juan Gutierrez, 117; Perfect Night, Javier Matias, 117; Inexcess Again, Leslie Mawing, 117.
Enriquez returns to EmD on Saturday
The 2016 jockeys’ colony gets a big boost this weekend with the return of 2013 Riding Champion Isaias Enriquez.
Enriquez, a 42-year-native of Tijuana, arrives in Auburn on Friday and has eight mounts – two on Saturday and six on Sunday – scheduled for this weekend’s races.
Despite riding in Arizona, California and New Mexico the past two years, Enriquez should make a smooth transition back to Emerald Downs where he captured the 2013 title with 101 wins and followed up in 2014 with 57 wins and a third-place finish.
In fact, Enriquez has already tried to supplant himself with one of the top older horses on the grounds. Noosito, arguably the greatest threat to two-time Horse of the Year Stryker Phd’s throne, worked on Saturday, April 2 under Enriquez, who flew in specifically for the five-furlong drill.
Fab Friday T-shirt giveaway night
The first Fab Friday night of racing is almost here.
On Friday, April 22, the first 4,000 paid admissions will receive a Fab Friday T-shirt, which then can be used as and admission ticket for every Friday night for the remaining 2016 season.
Friday night race fans can also look forward to Brewer’s Night, a night that highlights local breweries on the first Friday of every month until September.
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 22: FAB Friday: T-Shirt Giveaway
April 30-31: Teacher Appreciation Day
May 6: Fab Friday and Brewers Night presented by Northwest Brewing Company
May 7: Kentucky Derby Day & Hat Contest
May 8: Mother’s Day
Weekly honors
April 9-10: Jockey, Rocco Bowen; trainer, Rosie Simkins; owner, Roz Barclay; Quarter Chute Café Groom of the Week, Manuel Osoria-Perez (Chris Stenslie); WTBOA Washington-bred, Mister Breeze (Alan Bozell).
Finish lines
Saturday’s opener is the first Quarter Horse event of the meet with 3-year-olds and up racing 350 yards for a $5,000 purse. Trainers Pablo Rabasa Jr. and Roddina Barrett account for five of the nine horses in the race. … Emerald Downs had 33 Quarter Horse races last year, a substantial increase from the 21 Quarter Horse races in 2014. …Stryker Phd is en route from California and expected to arrive at Emerald Downs Friday, assistant trainer Sharon Ross said. The two-time defending Horse of the Meeting had his training interrupted by a virus, and last worked March 13 at Golden Gate Fields. … Jerre to Carrie, winner of the opening day feature for 3-year-old fillies in 1:08.70 for six furlongs, is pointed to the $50,000 Seattle Stakes on Sunday, May 8, trainer Tom Wenzel said. … Buddy Dave, No. 1 among active horses with 16 career wins at Emerald Downs, makes his season debut in Sunday’s sixth race for trainer Vince Gibson. A 9-year-old Five Star Day gelding, Buddy Dave debuted at Emerald Downs way back on June 2, 2009. … Hastings Racecourse open its 2016 meet Sunday with a stakes twin-bill featuring the $50,000 Brighouse Belles for older fillies and mares and $50,000 Swift Thoroughbreds Inaugural for 3-year-olds and up. Modern, the early leader in the 2015 Longacres Mile, and Shooting Jacket, fifth in the 2014 Mile, are among the eight runners entered in the Swift Thoroughbreds. … Congratulations to Covington native Natasha Coddington for her first career stakes win aboard Blue Bomber in the $27,000 Wildcat Handicap last month at Turf Paradise. Coddington, who rode 15 winners last year at Emerald Downs, plans to ride this summer at Canterbury Park where she also will exercise horses for leading trainer Robertino Diodoro. … Dr. Rodney Orr’s Raised a Secret is the 3-1 second choice in Saturday’s $100,000 Los Angeles Handicap (Grade 3) at Los Alamitos. A 6-year-old by Songandaprayer, Raised a Secret debuted at Emerald Downs with a victory for trainer Chris Stenslie on Sept. 3, 2012. … Perfect weather ahead! According to The Weather Channel, Saturday and Sunday will offer optimum racing conditions at Emerald Downs. Saturday’s forecast is 67 and clear and Sunday is 74 degrees and no chance of rain.
