Mr. Stang (No. 4) and Jose Zunino surge to victory in Saturday’s feature race

MR. STANG SCORES IN SATURDAY FEATURE RACE

AUBURN, Wash. (July 2, 2022) – Mr. Stang mowed down the leaders late to notch a 1 ¼-length victory in Saturday’s $28,500 Muckleshoot Casino Purse for 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs.

Getting a well-time ride by Jose Zunino, Mr. Stang ran six furlongs in 1:09.20 and paid $8.20 as second choice in the evenly match field of six older runners. Frank Lucarelli—saddling the 1,999th winner of his career—is the winning trainer and co-owner with Roy Schaefer (R.E.V. Racing).

In fifth place as Forever Gold led through a half-mile in :44.50 and five furlongs in :56.48, Mr. Stang swept past the leaders with a strong late rally to win going away.

A 4-year-old California-bred gelding by Atta Boy Roy. Mr. Stang earned $14,575 to boost his career total to $77,743. He has a 3-3-1 record from eight starts with wins at three different tracks—Golden Gate Fields, Turf Paradise, and Emerald Downs.

Hard to Deny, ridden by Juan Gutierrez, ran a big race off the bench in his season debut for trainer Niccolo Troiani, finishing second after being involved in the early pace with Forever Gold.

Defense Wins, the 3 to 2 betting favorite ridden by Alex Cruz, rallied in tandem with Mr. Stang and finished third. Forever Gold, ridden by Jennifer Whitaker, finished fourth, followed by Muncey, and Democrat.

NOTES: Total mutuel handle was $1,114,692 on an eight-race card. . .Lucarelli has two horses entered Sunday at Emerald Downs—Time for Gold (5/2) in race two and Leone (8/1) in race five. . .One unique winning ticket in Saturday’s $0.20 Jackpot Pick 6 took down $45,370. . .Record payout on Emerald Downs’ Jackpot Pick 6 is $81,409 on June 23, 2021. . .Juan Gutierrez followed up Friday’s four-win night with a three-win day and the jockeys’ race continues to tighten. Alex Cruz rode one winner and leads with 33 wins, followed by Kevin Radke with 29, and Gutierrez with 28. . .Lucarelli had two wins Saturday and the trainers’ race also is extremely tight. Jorge Rosales leads with 13 wins, followed by Lucarelli and Blaine Wright with 12 wins each. . .First-time starter Miss Dynamic lived up to her name in the Saturday opener, blitzing a field of $16,000 maiden claiming 2-year-old fillies by 10 lengths in :50.93 for 4 ½ furlongs. A Washington-bred by Dynamic Impact–Miss Salome, Miss Dynamic is trained by Rigoberto Velasquez for owner/breeder Antonio Mendoza. . .Live racing continues Sunday with an eight-race card followed by the Xfinity Fireworks Spectacular. First post 5 p.m.