Colonel Ludlow (left) edges A Thousand Miles (No. 2)
COLONEL LUDLOW SPRINGS GOTTSTEIN FUTURITY UPSET
AUBURN, Wash. (Sept. 15, 2024) – Justin Evans capped a sensational season in spectacular style Sunday at Emerald Downs, saddling Colonel Ludlow to a major upset in the 84th running of the $50,000 Gottstein Futurity on closing day at Emerald Downs.
In fact, Evans sent out the top two finishers as A Thousand Miles—a filly—finished a close second to her stablemate in the track’s traditional top event for 2-year-olds.
Ridden by apprentice Manuel Americano, Colonel Ludlow ran a mile and 70 yards in 1:41.35 on a wet-fast track and paid $66.86, $27.98, and $12.84. The $2 win pay broke the stakes record of $50.80 set by Northwest Factor in 2018.
For Americano, it’s his first career stakes win and capped a four-win afternoon.
A Kentucky-bred by Street Sense, Colonel Ludlow improved to 2-0-0 from three career starts, his previous victory coming last month in a $15,000 maiden claiming race. The $27,500 winner’s share bumped his earnings to $35,395 for co-owners Evans and Jeff Plotkin of Round Rock, Tex.
Colonel Ludlow and A Thousand Miles dueled virtually gate to wire, setting fractions of :22.37, :46.38, and 1:11.47, with Colonel Ludlow taking a slight lead into the lane and then prevailing by a neck at the wire.
“What a great way to end the season, winning a prestigious race like this one means a lot for us,” Evans said. “(Colonel Ludlow) was a little slow to get going, but we thought his breeding would help him get the distance.”
A Thousand Miles, ridden by Kevin Krigger at 118 lbs., went off at 11 to 1 and paid $11.94 and $7.56 for place and show. A Kentucky-bred by Thousand Words, she just missed joining Smarty Deb, Talk to My Lawyer, Blazinbeauty, and Northwest Factor as fillies to win the Gottstein at Emerald Downs.
Candy Caballo, attempting to give trainer Tom Wenzel and owner George Todaro a fourth straight Gottstein victory, was one length back in third place and paid $3.34 to show.
Si That Tiger, the 3 to 5 favorite, loomed up outside the leaders into the lane, but weakened slightly and finished fourth, a neck behind Candy Caballo.
The stewards examined a bumping incident between Candy Caballo and Si That Tiger in deep stretch but made no change in the order of finish.
Border Vigil, a third entrant from the Evans barn, finished fifth while rounding out the order of finish were Big Bowie, Checkered Flag, Shesayshello, Thirsty Vision, and Nijinsky Halo.
He’s Not Talking was scratched at the starting gate and Impassable was scratched earlier in the day.
Fellow jockeys salute Jose Zunino (standing green & lime silks)
JOCKEY JOSE ZUNINO ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Jose Zunino rode for the final time Sunday at Emerald Downs and went out a winner, guiding A Skip in the Park to a last to first victory in race five for trainer Tom Wenzel.
One of the most popular jockeys in track history, Zunino rode 20 seasons and ranks 11th all-time with 470 wins at Emerald Downs and 12th all-time with 19 stakes wins.
A native of Argentina, Zunino was regular rider on some of the track’s top horses including two-time Washington Horse of the Year Slew’s Tiz Whiz, 2016 Horse of the Meeting O B Harbor, and 5 ½ furlong world record holder Hollywood Harbor.
Zunino, 55, has 978 wins overall and just shy of $10 million in career earnings.
Sunday’s first race—Jose Zunino Retirement Purse—was named in Zunino’s honor.
Zunino now begins a new job working full-time in the Emerald Downs’ maintenance department.
NOTES: Following the fourth race, Alex Cruz and Justin Evans were honored as leading jockey and leading rider at the 2024 meeting with 64 and 63 wins respectively. It’s the fifth straight title for Cruz and second straight for Evans. . .Evans swept the final three races for his sixth triple of the season, and his 63 wins tied for third highest in track history. Evans’ win percentage of 32.3 is highest for a leading trainer in track history. . . A complete list of award winners including 2024 Horse of the Meeting will be posted Tuesday on emeralddowns.com. . .Americano, the meet’s leading apprentice with 16 wins, rode 10 winners in the final seven days. . .Luis Reyes rode winners on the last 11 cards and tied Kevin Krigger for second at 48 wins apiece. . .Karlo Lopez also rode two winners and finished fourth with 47 wins. . .Don’t Tell Hydee finished runner-up in race three and finished the meet with six seconds and one third in seven starts. . .The track surface was labeled sloppy races one through five and wet/fast races six through 11. . .That’s a wrap for 2024. See you next May for our 30th anniversary season!
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