Racy Rascal (rail) holds off Jerre to Carrie (No. 5) and Fly Far Away (between)
RACY RASCAL SCORES GAMELY IN SATURDAY FEATURE
AUBURN, Wash. (June 9, 2018) – Racy Rascal held off Jerre to Carrie and Fly Far Away for a head victory in the $18,500 feature race for older fillies and mares Saturday at Emerald Downs.
Ridden by Julien Couton, Racy Rascal covered six furlongs on 1:09.83 and paid $9.20, $4.40 and $3. Chris Stenslie is the winning trainer for owner/breeder Griffin Place of Buckley, Wash.
A 4-year-old Washington-bred by Into Mischief-Campanita, Racy Rascal has improved in all three starts this season, including a recent runner-up finish to razor-sharp stablemate No Talking Back in a 6 ½-furlong allowance race. Saturday, she settled slightly off the pace as Targa and Red Hot Bubblegum set fractions of :21.92 and :44.55 for the quarter-mile and half-mile.
Launching a three-wide bid into the lane, Racy Rascal collared the leaders at the furlong marker and staved off Jerre to Carrie and Fly Far Away for the victory. Racy Rascal is 2-2-2 from seven starts with earnings of $33,500.
Jerre to Carrie, the 2-1 favorite, rallied in mid-track for second place and paid $3.80 and $2.60, while Fly Far Away was another head back in third and paid $2.80. Afleet Hope, Sassy Debs Firefly, Targa, Risque’sLegacy and Red Hot Bubblegum completed the order of finish.
B C Z Middleton, the 5-2 morning line favorite, and Arabesque were scratched earlier in the day.
Rocco Bowen
BOWEN RIDES 500TH EMERALD DOWNS WINNER
Rocco Bowen became the eighth jockey with 500 wins at Emerald Downs with a gate-to-wire victory on Outdidya ($7.80) in Saturday’s fifth race.
The two time defending riding champion, Bowen is 501 for 2,640 at Emerald Downs, and his 26 stakes wins are tied for No. 6 in track history.
Bowen, a 29-year-old native of Barbados, began riding at Emerald Downs six years ago, and has 891 wins overall. He’s also ridden in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Portland and the Bay Area.
Bowen added a second victory Saturday aboard Briana Jean ($4.20) in race six and tied Ben Russell for No. 7 all-time at Emerald Downs.
Bowen has 35 wins in 18 days this season and owns a 14-win lead in the jockeys’ standings.
500 Wins @ Emerald Downs
1: Gallyn Mitchell-1,419
2: Juan Gutierrez-1,320
3: Ricky Frazier-886
4: Leslie Mawing-744
5: Frank Gonsalves-561
6: Kevin Radke-532
7-tie: Rocco Bowen-501
7-tie: Ben Russell-501
9: Jennifer Whitaker-474
10: Javier Matias-464
NOTES: 2017 Gottstein Futurity runner-up Trump Itz ($4) returned from an 8 ½-month layoff to win Saturday’s $18,500 co-feature for 3-year-olds. With Couton aboard for trainer Blaine Wright and owner John and Janene Maryanski, Trump Itz covered six furlongs in 1:09.94, holding off Wheel Rally and Hey Sequoia for the victory. The winner is a dark bay or brown gelding by Coast Guard-Knight Weave. . .In addition to winning both feature races, Couton rode Will Not ($3.60) to a narrow victory in race eight for his first three-win day of the season. . .Bob Meeking, trainer of Will Not, celebrated his 90th birthday Wednesday. . .Live racing continues Sunday with the $50,000 Kent Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 6 ½ furlongs, along with the final day of Indian Relay Racing featuring the Muckleshoot Gold Cup. First post is 2 p.m.
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