Lady Cruiser and jockey Carlos Montalvo

LADY CRUISER LAST TO FIRST IN FRIDAY FEATURE

AUBURN, Wash. (Aug. 16, 2024) – Lady Cruiser rallied from last and scored a one-length victory over Aliceshouseofheart in Friday’s featured Elysian Brewing Purse at Emerald Downs.

Under a perfectly timed ride from Carlos Montalvo, Lady Cruiser covered the 6 ½ furlongs in 1:17.12 and paid $10.26 as third choice in a field of eight older fillies and mares. Alexis Silva-Martinez is the winning trainer and co-owner with Lusk Racing of Puyallup, Wash.

With the victory, Lady Cruiser became only the 10th horse to win at least three races at the meet and joining Mary Walker (4 for 4) and Paid in Full (3 for 3) as horse with at least three wins with perfect records at the meet.

Last on the backstretch, Lady Cruiser circled three wide into the lane and swept past the leaders in the final furlong, holding off Aliceshouseofheart for the victory.

A 3-year-old Kentucky-bred by Catalina Cruiser, Lady Cruiser began her career with trainer John Sadler in California and has an overall mark of 3-0-1 in seven starts with earnings of $25,285.

Aliceshouseofheart, ridden by Luis Reyes, rallied inside for second while Infinite Love, ridden by apprentice Manuel Americano, finished third. Rounding out the order of finish were Smokemonthecliff, 2 to1 favorite On Purpose, Bucchera, Libby’s Gambit, and Big Jolt.

Vhagar was scratched earlier in the day.

NOTES: Matt McCormick of the Emerald Downs gate crew performed the national anthem prior to Friday’s races, and immediately afterward proposed to girlfriend Hailey in the winner’s circle. (She said yes!). . .Friday’s final five winners all paid double digits led by Proud Lion ($21.76) in race seven and the $0.50 Pick 5 returned $7,239.99. . .Karlo Lopez and Carlos Montalvo rode two winners each while Alexis Silva-Martinez led trainers with two wins. . .Lady Cruiser was claimed from the feature for $8,000 by Rick Kessler and Terra Firma Farm with Joe Toye the new trainer. . .Frank Lucarelli swept the race five exacta with Escapefromparadise ($10.62) holding off stable mate Sporty Nugget for the victory. . .Lucarelli and Isaias Enriquez have combined for 14 wins at the meet including two with Escapefromparadise. . .It took 18 tries but The Golden Egg ($11.70) was victorious in Friday’s third race with Manuel Americano riding the maiden winner for trainer Debi Jahns. . . Live racing continues Saturday with a 1:30 p.m. post.

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