EmD Wrap-Saturday, June 18

RYAN WALT SPRINGS UPSET IN SATURDAY FEATURE

AUBURN, Wash. (June 18, 2016) – Ryan Walt won a cavalry charge to the wire and notched a three-quarter-length victory in Saturday’s $13,600 feature race for 3-year-olds at Emerald Downs.

Ridden by Rocco Bowen—his third win on Saturday’s card—Ryan Walt ran six furlongs in 1:10.15 and returned $21, $8.20 and $4.60. H.R. Pat Mullens is the winning trainer and co-owner with Swede Larson and Ed Zenker.

A Washington-bred by Nationhood-Lite Nite, Ryan Walt boosted his career record to 2-2-1 from 10 starts with earnings of $39,851, including $7,480 earned Saturday. As a 2-year-old, Ryan Walt competed in three stakes and finished runner-up to champion Mach One Rules in the Cahill Road Stakes.

All for Me, ridden by Javier Matias, held second and paid $7.20 and $5. It was a strong effort considering All for Me dueled with Moody Highway through fractions of :21.96 and :44.93, and was tackled by a wall of challengers past mid-stretch.

Party for One rallied from last to finish third and paid $3.80 to show. Always Macho, the 8-to-5 betting favorite, finished fourth and was followed by Work With Me, Metadago and Moody Highway.

For Mullens, 89, it was his first win of the meet, while Bowen recorded his sixth riding triple of the season and extended his lead to 42-36 over Leslie Mawing atop the riders’ standings.

A slew of upsets—led by Ryan Walt, seventh race winner Southern Solution ($19.80) and ninth race winner Magic Question ($31)—helped produce a $17,961 carryover to Sunday’s card.

NOTES: Seahawks-themed horses fared well Saturday as both You Mad Bro ($6.40) and Allaboutthataction ($3.60) notched maiden victories under Bowen. In fact, it was nearly a hat trick, but Legion of Boom finished second to Arctic Vortex ($3.60) in race six. . .Isaias Enriquez rode two winners—Southern Solution ($19.80) and Arctic Vortex—to tie Chelsea Zupan for No. 26 on the track’s all-time list with 180 wins apiece. . .7-year-old mare Come On Cozzene ($26) posted her 10th Emerald Downs’ victory with a come-from-behind triumph under Juan Gutierrez in race five. . .Sorelli ($4) became a triple winner at the meet with a victory in Saturday’s 350-yard opener for Quarter Horses. Owned by Warlock Stables and Kelly Dougan, Sorelli was timed in :18.25, and continues the dominant run of trainer Roddina Barrett and jockey Osvaldo Gonzalez, who lead the QH standings with six and five wins respectively. . .Live racing continues Sunday with the 2016 debut of Stryker Phd in the $50,000 Budweiser Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at one mile. The first 7,000 paid admissions receive free Emerald Downs’ 20th anniversary ball caps.

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