5/14/2025
(Auburn, WA) Time to check in with the Track Wire where we dig up more news from Emerald Downs, update stats, take a look at the betting windows, report the claims for the weekend and other odds and ends we find interesting.
This week was also Mother’s Day and another large crowd was on hand despite the threat of rain. Rain did fall pretty steady for about 20 minutes but then it passed and it was a pretty good day in the end. Several Mother’s won a special prize package from Emerald Downs as Track President Phil Ziegler with help from “The Trifecta King” Gary Dougherty drew the lucky winners from the Winners Circle.
Ok, the Wire is exploding with news updates so let’s get to it!
Jockeys
4-day win streak
There is only one rider with a win on all 4 days and he is leading the standings tied for 1st in wins with 6 and leads in earnings and that’s Silvio Amador. Amador came into the weekend trailing Kevin Krigger 4-2 but picked up two wins on Saturday including the feature race and 2 on Sunday taking the sub-featuer and feature races. Three of those wins were for Blaine Wright, more on Blaine in the Trainer report.
Kevin Krigger remains hot as well and is tied with Silvio atop the standings with 6 each. Krigger had 1 win on opening day, 2 on day 2, 3 on day 3 so he was hoping for 4 on day 4 but ended with a shut out, He had 7 rides and finished with 3 places and a show so he continues to hit the board regularly.
Another Kevin heated up over the weekend and that was Kevin Orozco who scored twice on Saturday and hit both ends of the odds spectrum winning on 31-1 Lovely Bride in the 2nd race on Saturday and scoring with odds-on favorite Tigersrun in the get-away race on Sunday. He also won the 4th on Saturday with 4-1 A View From Above.
Monroy picks up 3rd win but this time not on a longshot
Other riders with wins this weekend included Francisco Monroy won 2 with 28-1 Ruler of Angels in the finale on Saturday. After winning on day 2 with 32-1 Kir Royale Monroy’s average winning odds were 30-1. On Sunday he cut those odds by nearly a 1/3 winning on 3-1 Brookys Gal in the 4th. His average odds when he wins now is down to 21-1.
Julien Couton picked up a win on the speedy Chuckanut Bay for his 2nd victory of the season on Saturday. Couton and Chuck were just a second off the track record time for 6-furlongs with a time of 1:07.77. Kaabraaj holds the rec ord of 1:06.86 set in April of 2016.
Javier Matias got his 1st win of the season in the Sunday opener on Gianola with an off the pace run at 5-1. Manny Americano has been hit with a bout of 2nd and 3rditis. Amricano did get his 2nd win on Sunday in the 3rd on 1-1 Don’t Hit Me Bash. Americano has the 2 wins with 5 places and 7 shows.
Duran wins in pairs
Francisco Duran has 4 wins after doubling on Sunday. Duran was the only rider to double on opening day and was shut out on days 2 and 3 before finding the winning groove again on Sunday. Duran took the 2nd on Rollin Dice the second nose win of the season. Duran then scored on 7-2 Acclaimed Preacher in the 5th in the first 6 1/2-furlong race of the season.
And newcomer David Haldar from the Northeast area has been knocking on the door of the winners circle but finally broke through on Sunday with a wire-to-wire win on Autism Inspiration. The 4-1 3rd choice drew off to a 4+ length win to make sure Haldar got his first win. Haldar wasn’t finished as he came right back on 5-2 Avoir in the 7th race for back-to-back wins. Avoir pulloed away in the stretch to also win by 4. Haldar is 2-2-4 and hitting at 67% in the top 3 finishes.
Current Jockey Standings by Wins
| Jockey Standings by Wins | * Apprentice | |||||||||
| Rank | Jockey | Mounts | Wins | Place | Show | 4th | Win % | Top 3% | Super % | |
| 1 | Silvio Amador | 18 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 33% | 67% | 78% | |
| 1 | Kevin Krigger | 23 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 26% | 48% | 65% | |
| 3 | Kevin Orozco | 18 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 22% | 44% | 56% | |
| 3 | Francisco Duran | 14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29% | 57% | 57% | |
| 5 | Francisco Monroy | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 23% | 38% | 62% | |
| 6 | Manuel Amricano* | 20 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 10% | 70% | 85% | |
| 6 | David Haldar | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 17% | 67% | 67% | |
| 6 | Julien Couton | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 13% | 20% | 40% | |
| 9 | Alex Cruz | 28 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4% | 25% | 46% | |
| 9 | Pablo Castillo* | 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8% | 38% | 69% | |
| 9 | Javier Matias | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17% | 50% | 67% | |
| 12 | Juan Gutierrez | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0% | 57% | 71% | |
| 12 | Jose Rodriguez | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 44% | 56% | |
| 12 | Isaias Enriquez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 33% | 33% | |
| 12 | David Martin | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 50% | 50% | |
| 12 | Frank Alvarado | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 33% | 33% | |
| 12 | Francisco Diaz-Lopez | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 25% | 50% | |
| 12 | Carlos Montalvo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0% | 33% | |
| 12 | Jennifer Whitaker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| 12 | Allyssa Morales | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| 12 | Jairo Moreno* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| 12 | Ronald Richard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
Trainers
4 Win Day
Blaine Wright had a day on Mother’s Day, a day he has had other big days. But getting your picture taken 4 times in a single day is a pretty special day. Wright got things started in the 2nd race with Rollin Dice. This should have been the hint he needed for his big day as Rollin Dice got up to win by just a nose on the perfectly timed ride by Francisco Duran. It’s just the second win by a nose for the season.
So the vibe was in Wright’s favor as he tallied win #2 in the 7th with 5-2 Avoir and David Haldar aboard. Haldar had just won his 1st race at Emerald Downs in the 6th when he cruised to a 4-length win at 5-2 and the 2nd favorite.
Wright was right back in the Winners Circle in the 8th race with Si That Tiger. Silvio Amador was in charge of the odds on favorite and broke well sitting in 2nd place and then rolled to the lead and blistered the field by 5 1/2-lengths and was missed the track record for 5 1/2-furlongs by just a second with a final time of 1:01.98.
Wright’s 4th win was in the feature race and Tougherthantherest with Amador again in the saddle and again at 3-5. Wright also had 5-1 Elder Mack in the race with David Haldar. Amador went straight to the lead built up a 3 length lead and held off the closers including Elder Mack by 1 1/4-lengths. Elder Mack just missed giving Wright the exacta missing 2nd place by a nose.
1st Emerald Wins
Isidro Tamaya and Ruby Thomas both regular Northern California trainers making their first appearances at Emerald both got their 1st victories at the Auburn oval on Sunday. Tamayo sent out Brookys Gal and Francisco Monroy at 3-1 and closed well to get up by a neck on the wire in the 4th race. Ironically the win neck win prevented Blaine Wright from winning his 5th race of the day.
Tamayo came right back in the 5th winning again with Acclaimed Preacher and Francisco Duran riding. The 7-2 3rd favorite ran a great stalking trip starting in 4th and winning by nearly a length.
Ruby Thomas got her 1st Emerald win with the odds-on favorite in Sunday’s finale Tigverserun. Kevin Orozco sat 2nd until halfway around the far turn then released the brakes and rolled to an easy win.
1st Wins of 2025
There were a few NW regulars that got their 1st wins of the season. On Saturday, Debbie Peery won her 1st of 2025 in the 1st race with Ada Thorne. Pablo De Jesus took the 2nd race with longshot Lovely Bride at 31-1. Howard Gibson got on the board with his 1st win on Saturday with 1-2 Chuckanut Bay in the 6th race.
On Sunday, another Debbie won her 1st of the year also in the 1st race when Debbie Van Horne sent Gianola out and picked up the win b y head with a perfect ride from Javier Matias.
2nd Wins of the Season
Several Trainers picked up their 2nd victory of the season including Frank Lucarerlli, Kay Cooper, Scott Tubbs, Sergio Perez and Marcelino Trujillo who his 1st on Saturday and won again on Mother’s day.
| Trainer Standings by wins | |||||||||
| Rank | Trainer | Starts | Wins | Place | Show | Win % | Top 3 % | ||
| 1 | Blaine Wright | 16 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 38% | 75% | ||
| 2 | Tim McCanna | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 38% | 75% | ||
| 3 | Frank Lucarelli | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 22% | 67% | ||
| 3 | Kay Cooper | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 67% | 0% | ||
| 3 | Isidro Tamayo | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 25% | 63% | ||
| 3 | Jose Puentes | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 22% | 44% | ||
| 3 | Sergio Perez | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 25% | 38% | ||
| 3 | Marcelino Trujillo | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40% | 40% | ||
| 3 | Scott Tubbs | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50% | 50% | ||
| 10 | Charles Essex | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 14% | 43% | ||
| 10 | Ruby Thomas | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 20% | 80% | ||
| 10 | Jamey Thomas | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14% | 57% | ||
| 10 | Howard Gibson | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11% | 22% | ||
| 10 | Tena Birdwell | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17% | 33% | ||
| 10 | Steve Bullock | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25% | 50% | ||
| 10 | Debbie Peery | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9% | 27% | ||
| 10 | Debbie Van Horne | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 10 | Pablo Alejandro De Jesus | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33% | 33% | ||
Owners
Perfect Records
Two owners picked up their 2nd wins of the season and remain 100% both going 2 for 2. Peter Redekop did it on Saturday taking the feature race with Attracted, ridden by Silvio Amador and trained by Blaine Wright. Redekop is now has 2 wins from 2 starts.
Blaine Wright didn’t play favorites as another ownership group he handles is also now 2 for 2 when Si That Tiger won for John and Janene Maryanski and Gerald and Gail Schneider.
There are seven owners who arfe all 1 for 1 and include Dale Varbel and Crissy Reimers, Paula and Tracy Henline, Pat Crow, Jill Fabulich and Debra Pabst, William Stenberg, Aaron Bresko, Michael Stark and Gold Coast Racing VI.
Two other owners also have two wins but not a perfect record. Sergio Perez got his 2nd win as did Floriberta Trujillo.
| Owner Standings by wins | ||||||||||
| Rank | Owner | Starts | Wins | Place | Show | Win % | Top 3 % | |||
| 1 | Peter Redekop B. C. Ltd | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 1 | John & Janene Maryanski & Gerald & Gail Schneider | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 1 | Sergio Perez | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33% | 33% | |||
| 1 | Floriberta Trujillo | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40% | 40% | |||
| 2 | Dale Varbel and Crissy Reimers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 2 | Mike Hill | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 2 | Paula & Tracy Henline | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 2 | Pat Crow, Jill Fabulich, Debra Pabst | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 2 | Robert G. A. Jones | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33% | 67% | |||
| 2 | Harris Farms Inc | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17% | 50% | |||
| 2 | William Stenberg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 2 | Maria Valenzuela | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33% | 67% | |||
| 2 | Aaron Bresko | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 2 | Michael Stark | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
| 2 | Gold Coast Racing VI | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | |||
The windows were blazing again this weekend with a handle just just of 1.2 million on Saturday and 1.8 million on Sunday falling just $2,850 short of a 3 million dollar handle for the weekend. The average handle per race for the weekend was more than $166,500.
There were opportunities for big pays and plenty of favorites mixed in with the field sizes growing. Currently the average race has 6.75 starters and closing in on hitting the 7 mark.
Here are some of the highlights from Mother’s Day weekend.
Win-Place-Show
The $2 win pays on Saturday were incredible, especially how we got to the 10-1 average py-off for the 8 races. Three of the races paid $4 or less but still gthe average $2 win pay-out was $22.03. This was boosted with 31-1 Lovely Bride winning the 2nd race paying $65.30 and Ruler of Angels winning the 8th at 28-1 paying $58.60. The $65.30 was the 2nd highest win pay in this early season as Kir Royale fcrom Kentucky Derby day returned $67.16.
Lovely Bride did takeover the top $2 place pay-out returning $35.44 but the show pay dropped tgo $9.02. Kir Royale holds onto that as well at $12.22 the only show pay $10 or more so far on the season.
The “All Kevin” Pick 4
Saturday could have been a huge pay for anyone that wanted to bet an all Kevin pick 4. The total cost of the 50-cent bet would have been $4 of including Kevin Krigger and Kevin Orozco’s rides in the first 4 races. Krigger won the 1st race on 4-5 Ada Thorne, Orozco then hit with 31-1 Lovely Bride. The Kevin to Kevin Daily Double paid $232.83.
Krigger then won the 3rd on 9-1 Candy’s Wildcat triggering a $689.80 daily double and a whopping $911.38 50-cent pick 3. Orozco would finish it off with 4-1 A View from Above with the Daily Double paying just $56.57. The 50-cent pick 3 blew up to $1,460.66!
The 50-cent pick 4 was primed to pay a new high for the 2025 season but instead it returned just $49.93. That’s because no one had the All Kevin pick 4 and it paid on having 3 winners. Had a Kevin fan connected the dots the pic k 4 would have paid about $8,000.
The Blaine Wright Pick 3
Trainer Blaine Wright won 4 races on Sunday including 3 in a row. The 7th, 8th and 9th races. However, the betting public was all in on the Wright pick 3 unlike the Kevin’s.
Avoir won the 7th at 5-2 followed by Si That Tiger at 3-5 and capped off with 3-5 Tougherthantherest. The pick 3 paid $8.69. The two $1 rolling daily doubles also didn’t lead to financial independence. The first one from the 5-2 to 3-5 paid $11.11. The 3-5 to 3-5 double returned $5.69.
Orozco equals Big Pays!
There are 12 bets available each race day from the $2 win-place-show to the exacata, trifecta, superfecata and super high five. Then the picks from the daily double to the pick 3 thru 6. If you want to cash in on the big pays then you must include jockey Kevin Orozco. Out of the 12 high pays of the season Orozco is part of 9 of the 12. And no it’s not with just one horse the pay-offs come from 5 different horses. The odds range from 2-5 up to 31-1. The lesson here is Orozco equals signing for your winnings.
The Claim Report
Saturday, May 10
1st Race
Ada Thorne was claimed by Dawn Spillman for trainer Jorge Rosales for $2,500.
Parker’s Fifteen is also headed to the Jorge Rosales barn for $2,500 for new owner Eliana Thompson.
2nd Race
Burnin At Midnight goes to trainer Alan Bozell who is also new part owner with Michael Phillips for a tag of $5,000.
5th Race
Bold Daughter was taken by new owner John Parker for trainer Candi Cryderman for a price of $5,000.
Poker Alice won the race but is now headed to the Frank Lucarelli barn for new owners Two Putts for the Win, Gary and Maureen Hallett and Lucarelli Racing for $5,000.
6th Race
Bedrock goes to the leading owners from 2024 in Rakoczy Racing and Justin Evans where Evans will also train for a tag of $8,000.
Saturday Totals: $28,000
Sunday, May 11
5th Race
Infinite Love was red tagged by owner/trainer Sergio Perez for $5,000
Pineapple Cruise was spotted by new owners White Diamond Syndicate, Gary Crandall and Tom Breyer for trainer Vince Gibson for $5,000
6th Race
Autism Inspiration goes to the Vince Gibson barn as he takes two in two straight races. This time the new owners are Gary and Maureen Hallett and John and Tina Hoefort for $15,000. That’s the top claim for the weekend.
9th Race
Big favorite Tigersrun won easily and was targeted by new owner Jaqueline Smith and goes to Michael Bullene’s barn for a claiming price of $5,000.
Sunday Totals: $30,000
Weekend Total: $58,000
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