Lasting Rose showed no respect for her elders Friday night at Emerald Downs.
The only 3-year-old in the race, Lasting Rose cruised to a 1 1/4-length victory in the $12,700 Ashbaugh Beal Claiming Challenge Qualifying Event for fillies and mares.
Expertly rated on the lead by jockey Anne Sanguinetti, Lasting Rose ran one mile in 1 minute, 37.85 seconds and paid $9.60, $5.40 and $3.60. Terry Gillihan is the trainer for owners Ernest Braithwaite of Surrey, B.C. and I.M. Gorahst of Seattle.
Breaking from the No. 1 post-position, Lasting Rose led through fractions of :23.55, :46.82 and 1:11.68, shook off Just Have’n Fun into the stretch, and had enough left to hold off 2-to-1 betting favorite Sweet Nellie Brown.
A B.C.-bred by Rosberg-La Belle Fleur, Lasting Rose is 2-1-1 in six starts with earnings of $23,681. The only time she failed to collect a check was in the Seattle Handicap, in which she finished seventh to superstar sophomore filly Stopshoppingdebbie.
With 11 wins in 42 starts, Gillihan is clicking at 26 percent wins for the meet, and the 57-year-old Sunnyside native is one win away from becoming the 11th trainer in track history with 300 wins.
NOTES: The second race was marred by a two-horse spill in which Miss Odessa, a 2-year-old Liberty Gold filly, sustained compound fractures of her left foreleg and was euthanized. Hunters Harbor, who tripped over Miss Odessa, apparently escaped with only superficial injuries. The two jockeys involved, Leonel Camacho-Flores on Miss Odessa and Jose Zunino on Hunters Harbor, were both taken to Valley Medical Center for observation… With a gate-to-wire victory in race six, Southern Solution ($4) joined Stephanie Plum, Stopshoppingdebbie and Max Cooper as four-time winners at the meet. A 3-year-old Washington-bred gelding by Southern Africa, Southern Solution has won twice for Roy Lumm and once apiece for Mike Puhich and Blaine Wright. Wright and owner Howard Hammer claimed Southern Solution for $15,000 two races ago, and Friday’s one-mile victory under Juan Gutierrez was the gelding’s first career start around two turns… Gutierrez and Isaias Enriquez continue to battle for leading rider at Emerald Downs. They each rode one winner Friday and Gutierrez maintains an 84-83 lead over Enriquez… In the trainers’ race, Frank Lucarelli still leads Jeff Metz 35-34, with Doris Harwood and Chris Stenslie tied for third with 28 wins apiece… Congratulations to Emerald Downs Track Announcer Robert Geller for giving out the late $0.50 Pick 4 Friday on TVG. Geller’s suggested $13.50 ticket paid $144.40… First-race winner Ginger Cat and jockey David G. Lopez were disqualified and placed second for interference in the stretch with Donna Sha Lei Lei ($6.20), who was promoted from second to first… Whistle Cat was claimed from the sixth race for $15,000 by trainer Frank Lucarelli and owner REV Racing… Live racing continues Saturday with first post 2:15 p.m.
