Patches Pal, a horse named in honor of a Seattle icon, appears to have a bright future at Emerald Downs.
Ridden by Ronald Richard, Patches Pal rallied strongly and edged Morning Line Whiz by a head in Sunday’s $22,575 Stella Artois Purse for 2-year-olds at Emerald Downs. The winner ran six furlongs in 1 minute, 9.50 seconds and paid $13.20, $5 and $3. Winning trainer Terry Gillihan became the 11th trainer with 300 career wins at Emerald Downs.
Owned by Patches Pal Stable (Ron & Debbie Maus), Patches Pal is 1-1-0 in two career starts with earnings of $15,061, including a $12,416 winner’s share for Sunday’s win. A Kentucky-bred by El Corredor-Weekend Star, Patches Pal finished second to Belladiva in his debut last month.
Patches Pals, incidentally, were fans of J.P. Patches, the famous Seattle clown whose KIRO-TV show was a staple for Puget Sound area kids of the 1960s and 70s. Chris Wedes, who played J.P. Patches, died last year at age 84.
Morning Line Whiz, ridden by Juan Gutierrez, rallied to the lead past mid-stretch but lost a head-bob to the onrushing Patches Pal. Morning Line Whiz paid $3.40 and $2.40. He’s Zuberrific, the early leader finished third, and Doc Duffy, the 6-to-5 betting favorite, finished fourth.
NOTES: Gutierrez and Anne Sanguinetti both went down in a 10th race spill, but fortunately appeared to escape serious injury. Gutierrez was taken to Valley Regional Medical Center with shoulder pain, and Sanguinetti was taken to Auburn Regional Medical Center with lower back pain… With six days left in the meet, Gutierrez owns a 96-94 lead over Isaias Enriquez in the jockeys’ standings… Quack Up ($8.80) extended her winning streak to four, including three straight at Emerald Downs, with a victory in race seven. Trained by Charles Essex and owned by Dean & Judy Anne Essex, 4-year-old filly Quack Up won her debut here last year, lost seven straight, and now has won three straight… The victory on Quack Up capped the first three-win day of the meet for jockey Leonel Camacho-Flores, who ranks seventh overall with 38 wins… Richard had a two-win day including the feature on Patches Pal… After losing her first 13 starts Donna Sha Lei Lei ($31.20) has won two straight including Sunday’s sixth race, in which she reeled in Hollywood Holly late for the victory under Richard. And this time Donna Sha Lei Lei was able to have her picture taken in the Winner’s Circle with trainer Dinos Apostolou and owner John Logan. In her August 30 maiden score, Donna Sha Lei Lei was halfway back to the barn before being promoted to first on the DQ… Live racing resumes Friday with first post 6:45 p.m.
