Take Charge Deputy and hot-riding Alex Cruz score in the Friday feature
TAKE CHARGE DEPUTY CONTINUES WINNING WAYS,
CRUZ RECORDS ANOTHER FIVE-WIN NIGHT
AUBURN, Wash. (June 17, 2022) – Take Charge Deputy remained razor-sharp with a 2 ¼-length victory Friday in the $16,500 Boeing Employees Saddle Club Purse for 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs.
With Alex Cruz aboard for his third of five victories Friday, Take Charge Deputy zipped six furlongs in 1:08.42 on a wet-fast track and paid $4.20 as the public betting choice. The winning time is just shy of Spittin Image’s meet-best 1:08.35 six-furlong clocking June 5.
Cruz won the Friday opener on Firing Pin ($4.40) and swept the final four races of the seven-race card on Miss Kitness ($3.40), Take Charge Deputy, Warfront Fighter ($8.60), and Union Bliss ($8.60). Cruz now tops the standings with 23 wins and also won five races Friday, June 3.
Trained by Jorge Rosales, Take Charge Deputy is 2-1-0 from three starts at the meet and improved to 6-1-0 in seven career starts on wet tracks.
Take Charge Deputy led gate to wire and set fractions of :22.10, :44.39, and :56.04, repelling a bid by Mixo into the stretch and holding sway to the wire.
A 7-year-old California-bred gelding, Take Charge Deputy is 14-5-5 in 43 starts overall with earnings of $171,568, including $9,075 for Friday’s victory.
Toil and Trouble, longest shot on the board at 23 to 1, rallied late to edge Mixo for second place. Mixo, second choice at 3 to 2, finished third and Candy Zip and Leprino completed the order of finish.
NOTES: Total mutuel handle was $886,747 on a seven-race card. . .In the $0.50 Pick 5 which featured a $13,386 carryover, there was $119,598 new money bet into Friday’s pool. Tickets with five winners paid $154.90. . .Big Fashion ($9.20) became the meet’s first three-time winner with a gate to wire victory under Kassie Guglielmino in race two. . .The track was sloppy for the first race and wet-fast for races two through seven. . .Jeff Metz was the lone trainer with two wins Friday. . .Rosales leads trainers with eight wins followed by Candi Cryderman and Blaine Wright with seven each. . .Live racing continues Saturday with an eight-race card plus Day 2 of the Muckleshoot Gold Cup Indian Relay Races.
MUCKLESHOOT GOLD CUP UNDERWAY AT EMERALD DOWNS
In addition to seven live Thoroughbred races, Friday’s action co-featured opening night of the 2022 Muckleshoot Gold Cup Indian Relay Races.
Two Medicine with with Cody Carlson riding, Carlson Relay with Chazz Racine riding, and Abrahamson Relay with Scott Abrahamson aboard, all won two-mile qualifying heats Friday on opening night of the sixth annual event.
Two Medicine of the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Mont., recorded the evening’s fastest winning time, 3:34.51, while edging River Road in Heat 1. In Heat 3, Colville Nation of Omak, Wash. swept the top three spots with Abrahamson Relay taking first, Mountain Crow Relay finishing second, and Grizzly Mountain finishing third.
The three-day competition features 18 teams. Action continues Saturday features three more qualifying heats while Sunday action includes two consolation races and the championship heat at 5:46 p.m.
Results from Friday’s qualifying heats
Heat 1: 1st-Two Medicine (Cody Carlson rider), Browning Montana, 3:34.51; 2nd-River Road (Tristan Bird in Ground), Oglala, South Dakota, 3:36.35; 3rd-Amskapi Pikunii (Chris Carlson), Browning, Montana, 3:38.35; 4th-Strong Horse Relay (Mathew Pakootas Jr.), Nespelem, Washington, 3:46.35; 5th-Little Badger (Justin Burd), Browning, Montana, 3:47.52; 6th-Counting Coup/Pikuni Express (Narsis Reevis), Usk, Washington, 4:03.17.
Heat 2: 1st-Carlson (Chazz Racine rider), Browning, Montana, 3:35.53; 2nd-Mountain Crow Relay (Darren Charges Strong Jr.), Crow Agency, Montana, 3:39.74; 3rd-Old Sun (Fox Running Crane), Siksika, Alberta, Canada, 3:55.39; 4th-S/M Express (Desmond Archilita), Lodge Grass, Montana, 4:00.81; 5th-Cedar Ridge (Jorge Calloway), Fort Hall, Idaho, 4:02.94; 6th-Northwest Express, Omak, Washington, 4:56.57.
Heat 3: 1st-Abrahamson (Scott Abrahamson), Omak, Washington, 3:40.75; 2nd-Omak Express (Tyler Peasley), Omak, Washington, 3:42.83; 3rd-Grizzly Mountain (Terrence Holford), Omak, Washington, 3:44.25; 4th-Starr School (Preston Butterfly), Starr School, Montana, 3:46.40; 5th-Tissidimit (Azeri Coby), Fort Hall, Idaho, 4:07.87.
Muckleshoot Gold Cup Previous Winners
2021: Amskapi Pikunii
2020: cancelled (Covid)
2019: River Road Relay
2018: Abrahamson
2017: Starr School
2016: Carlson
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