6/13/2025

(Auburn, Wa) It’s Friday the 13th and many came to the races looking to turn this day into a lucky day. It was also the opening night of the Muckleshoot Indian Relay Gold Cup Indian Relay races.

There was another great crowd under cloudy skies and cooler temperatures but a good 7 race card, intertwined between the thoroughbred racing kept the spirits high on this one of a kind weekend of racing.

The Muckleshoot Gold Cup

We’ll be covering all 3 days of the Gold Cup races. A separate post will be created and we hope to have the first post up by Saturday night with all the preliminary results going into Championship Sunday.

The Numbers

There were 52 starters for the 7 races on Friday night. That’s an average of 7.4 starters  per race. The handle was $880,215 for and average of $125,745 which was less than a lot of folks would have thought with the massive crowd for a Friday night. But many are there to watch the Indian Relay races with all the pagentry and likely many ar not big bettors. 

However, Emerald Downs made up for that with concessions and other sales as the line for burgers and hot dogs next to where we set up on track level was huge from about 6p all the way to the 6th race. I’m not sure how many burgers and dogs were sold but one of the cooks at that stand is know for his loud booming “Hot Dogs!” shout at least a couple times a day but last night, not once. He didn’t have time or the need to try and attract wandering fans over to get a dog. 

Those numbers are just as important to the overall operation of Emerald Downs as are the Handle numbers and doing that on a Friday night? As Kenny Banya on Seinfeld would say, “That’s Gold, Jerry!”.

Expect big crowds for Saturday and even a larger crowd on Sunday for Father’s Day and the Gold Cup Championship races. 

From the Saddle

There were no double winners on Friday night with 8 different riders getting their picture taken. It started with some old-school wins from Juan Gutierrez taking the 1st race. Guti is the track’s all-time leading rider and he’s been off to a cool start but picked up win #2 of the year in the opener.

Mr Friday Night, Alex Cruz got a win in the 2nd and had to run down Carlos Montalvo who tried to steal the race with 14-1 Silent Beauty but got the favorite up for the victory. Montalvo got his win though in the 3rd with Royal Halo at 5-1 for trainer Mary Pirone. More on Pirone below in From the Barn. 

The Streaks

There were two consecutive days with a win streak on the line Friday night and Manny Americano did it handily in the 4th with favorite Moneyshot to push that streak to 10 days. With that win Americano also tied leading rider Kevin Krigger with 23 wins.

Krigger also had a 10 day streak already under his belt and was looking for #11 and to re-take the lead in the jockey standings. In his final ride of the night in the featured 6th race, Krigger got the job done with 1-2 Sing a Happy Song but he just barely got there first winning by an official head, but really 1/2 a head at most as A Rousing Babe with Francisco Duran just missed. Krigger re-took the lead up 24-23 and extended his win streak to 11 days.

The Jockey of the Week for last week, Julien Couton got his award Friday night and then capped off the evening with a win in the finale by just a neck, denying Americano from tying Krigger and doubling on the night. Couton’s rides are fewer than when he last rode here regularly but he has had 4 straight days of 100% top 3 finishes. 7 for 7 since last Friday.

And Kiaman McGregor has been knocking on the door while riding some big odds and rolled home in the 5th on a big number when he paced Betty Lute home to win by more than a length at 23-1! It was McGregor’s first win of 2025 in Auburn and we expect to see him back in the circle several more times this season.

From the Barn

Trainer Mary Pirone got her first win since September 11, 2022 when Carlos Montalvo roared to the lead from far back past the front runners for a neck win in the 3rd race. Ironically her last win was also by a neck with Gold Rose and Jose Zunino riding.

Another longtime veteran, Rosie Simkins got her 1st win of the season with longshot Betty Lute in the 5th race. Simkins has been close and she is now 1-2-1 from 12 starts.

There was another 1st time winner and 1st time win at Emerald Downs in the 4th race when Ian Jewell’s Moneyshot cruised to the win.

One other Barn note, Justin Evans nosed out Blaine Wright in the feature race with either one wining pulling into a tie for the trainer’s lead. Evans now has 9 wins and joins Tim McCanna and Howie Gibson while Wright and Frank Lucarelli sit right behind with 8 wins.

The Betting Window

With all the excitement of the Indian Relay races, which in case you didn’t know are non-wagering races, there were still some big pays for bettors to cash in on. Beginning with the biggest price of the night 23-1 Betty Lute paying $49.92, triggering big exotic pays across the board.

If you were smart enough to link the 3 first time trainer winners of Pirone in the 3rd at 14-1, Jewell in the 4th at 2-1 and Simkins in the 5th at 23-1 your 50-cent Pick 3 paid $307.94. If you had Vince Gibson’s favored Bring a Smile in the 2nd to your pick 4 that returned $836.53.

The big longshot did not deter the Pick 6 from getting hit, in fact there were multiple ticket winners that collected $1,578.72 which meant the Jackpot was not hit and rolling over to Saturday is a carryover of $10,973.

Let’s get to the Friday Races!

6th Race and Feature Race The Muckleashoot Casino Resort Purse

There were 7 starters in the feature race of the day and the 1-2 odds on choice Sing a Happy Song was sent straight to the lead by pilot Kevin Krigger and set some brisk fractions of 21.83 and 43.97. This has not been the move to make on the Friday the 13th as most front runners setting quick fractions had been caught all night.

But Krigger had Sing a Happy Song measured perfectly but had to withstand a furious rally from 8-1 A Rousing Babe and Francisco Duran to hold on for the win by about a half a head. 9-1 Our Lyla Grace and Alex Cruz ran on for the show and Eyelight with Manny Americano completed the superfecta.

Sing a Happy Song ran the 3/4-mile in 1:09.03 and races for Todd Cady and Jeffrey Lambert and trained by Justin Evans. Sing a Happy Song is now 7-1-6 from 15 lifetime starts and picked up $10,260 for the win to her earnings to $67,960.

Pay-Outs
3 Sing a Happy Song (Krigger)  $3.08  $2.78  $2.28
1 A Rousing Babe (Duran)  $5.92  $3.20
5 Our Lyla Grace (Cruz)  $3.16
$1 Ex 3-1 $7.36
$1 Tri 3-1-5 $27.08
$1 Super 3-1-5-6 $58.20
$1 DD 1-3 $48.25
50-cent Pick (3) 2-1-3 $85.12

Race Replay

The rest of the Friday night races.

1st Race
A field 8 went a mile and 70 yards and there was nearly a new track record by 4-1 What a Dude with Juan Gutierrez aboard. It was Juan’s 2nd win of the season with a patient ride as Travel the Map and Kevin Krigger set fractions of 22.72 and 46.15. Smiling Goodbye and Manny Americano broke well and put the pressure on the front speed.

Guti and What a Dude got rolling on the turn and surged past Smiling Goodbye to take the lead and pull off to a clear win. Smiling Goodbye held 2nd while Alex Cruz aboard Rich Gold ran an even 3rd with Travel the Map holding 4th.

The winning time for What a Dude was 1:38.92 and he is owned and trained by Miguel Hernandez.

Pay-Outs
3 What a Dude (Gutierrez)  $10.66  $4.50  $3.46
1 Smiling Goodbye (Americano)  $4.30  $3.16
7 Rich Gold (Cruz) $2.66
$1 Ex 3-1 $26.00
$1 Tri 3-1-7 $83.90
$1 Super 3-1-7-2 $289.80

Race Replay

2nd Race
A late scratch of Max’s Maxine dropped the field to 6 going 6-furlongs. Bring a Smile with Alex Cruz and Elwood Road and Kevin Krigger were the 6-5 favorites but Bring a Smile was the official favorite with $36 more dollars to win. Alex Cruz was aboard and rode a great race after a good break Cruz could feel the quick early fractions and backed out while 14-1 Silent Beauty and Carlos Montalvo set the fractions of 21.54 and 44.29. Elwood Road was right there with Silent Beauty.

Turning for home, Bring a Smile kicked it back into gear and came rolling along the outside and surged past the duo for the win in a final time of 1:10.07. Silent Beauty held 2nd and closing from far back and maybe running best of all was River Dance and Julien Couton who got 3rd over Elwood Road.

Bring a Smile is owned by HX3 Incorporated and gave trainer Vince Gibson his 2nd victory of the year. Bring a Smile is a Washington bred by Mitole out of Thunderina by Curlin and was bred by Todd and Shawn Hanson.

Pay-Outs
1 Bring a Smile (Cruz)  $4.68  $3.14  $2.70
2 Silent Beauty (Montalvo)  $10.48  $5.68
3 River Dance (Couton)  $2.82
$1 Ex 1-2 $22.82
$1 Tri 1-2-3 $53.66
$1 Super  1-2-3-6 $101.70
$1 DD 3-1 $16.53  Consolation 3-5 $5.14

Race Replay

3rd Race
A field of 7 went 6-furlongs and the trend of off the pace remained intact as Royal Halo dropped to last and came charging down the middle of the track with another closer Dennard and Manny Americano on his right hip as they caught the two speed horses, Shaun’s Jazz and David Haldar and Candy’s Wildcat with Kevin Krigger. Other than Royal Halo getting up by a neck the other 3 were separated by a nose with Shaun’s Jazz holding 2nd and Candy’s Wildcat edging Dennard in a final time of 1:09.21.

Royal Halo races for the Win for Fun Farm and trained by Mary Pirone. This was Pirone’s first win since September of 2022. More on Pirone’s win in the “From the Barn” re-cap above.

Pay-Outs
8 Royal Halo (Montalvo) $13.22  $6.50  $4.08
4 Shaun’s Jazz (Haldar)  $6.58  $5.26
1 Candy’s Wildcat (Krigger)  $4.78
$1 Ex 8-4 $42.95
$1 Tri  8-4-1 $231.16
$1 Super  8-4-1-5 $591.70
$1 DD  1-8 $14.59
50-cent Pick (3) 3-1/5-8 $54.40

Race Replay

4th Race

7 went 6 1/2-furlongs and 2-1 Moneyshot with Manny Americano dropped back and began his run going into the turn and by the time they straightened away for the stretch they grabbed the lead and pulled away for the win in a swift time of 1:16.55. Moneyshot races for WYN Racing Stable and trained by Ian Jewell giving Jewell his 1st ever Emerald Downs victory.

11-1 Bluegrass Go Go had a big run with Isaias Enriquez while Ballyvaughn Gig at 5-2 and Silvio Amador ran on for 3rd with 4-1 pace speed and David Haldar taking 4th.

Pay-Outs
2 Moneyshot (Americano)  $6.36  $3.84  $2.64
1 Bluegrass Go Go (Enriquez)  $8.24  $4.72
4 Ballyvaughn Gig (Amador)  $3.14
$1 Ex 2-1 $22.13
$1 Tri 2-1-4 $81.02
$1 Super  2-1-4-5 $376.50
$1 DD 8-2 $23.64
50-cent Pick (3) 1/5-8-2 $35.82
50-cent Pick (4) 3-1/5-8-2 $182.50

Race Replay

5th Race

8 runners lined up for a 6 1/2-furlong run and this time the front speed flipped the script and did it in a big way with 23-1 Betty Lute going to the front with Kiaman McGregor. But McGregor smartly set a reasonable pace going 22.58 and 45.59 for the half mile. 9-1 Parkers Fifteen and Alex Cruz ran a big race but couldn’t reel in the winner. Hot Betty and David Martin ran on well for 3rd closing on the rail and the favorite Ethan’s Girl with Silvio Amador was 4th.

Betty Lute races for John Kvinsland and Horse Haven Creek Farm and trained by Rosie Simkins. Betty Lute is a Washington bred by Lutes Gift out of Remembering Angela by Bertrando and was bred by the owners.

Pay-Outs
1 Betty Lute (McGregor)  $49.92  $19.96  $8.96
3 Parker’s Fifteen (Cruz)  $7.42  $4.24
5 Hot Betty (Martin)  $5.18
$1 Ex 1-3 $147.60
$1 Tri  1-3-5 $752.10
$1 Super 1-3-5-6 $2,287.90
$1 DD 2-1 $110.74
50-cent Pick (3) 8-2-1 $307.94
50-cent Pick (4) 1/5-8-2-1 $836.52

Race Replay

7th Race
Odds-on favorite Savita and Julien Couton nearly went wire-to-wire and held on by a neck over a persistent Princess Fave and Manny Americano trying to get by the top choice. The run was even more impressive for Savita and Couton who kept their focus on the race despite a loose horse running next to them for most of the race.

Trickle stumbled out of the gate and tossed jockey Kevin Orozco about 25 yards from the gate. Trickle then went right to the lead with Savita and was a concern for Couton all the way around the 1 mile run. 

In the end it was a 2 horse race as Savita and Princess Fave were 15 lengths in front of Sweetling with Pablo Castillo, followed by Miss Peru and Chel-c Bailey and rounding out the Super High 5 was Little Venus and Kiaman McGregor.

Savita is owned by the Round Table Stable and trained by Tom Wenzel. Savita is a Washington bred by Cupid out of Unifier by Deputy Minister and was bred by Greg and Teresa Luce. 

Thankfully, neither Trickle and rider Kevin Orozco were injured in the mishap.

Pay-Outs
2 Savita (Couton)  $3.30  $2.30  $2.20
6 Princess Fave (Americano)  $3.32  $2.56
3 Sweetling (Castillo)  $5.94
$1 Ex 2-6 $3.61
$1 Tri 2-6-3 $21.00
$1 Super 2-6-3-7 $87.90
50-cent Super High Five 2-3-6-7-5 $86.06 
$1 DD 3-2 $3.62
50-cent Pick (3) 1-3-2 $42.33
50-cent Pick (4) 2-1-3/4/8/9-2 $122.45
50-cent Pick (5) 8-2-1-3/4/8/9-2 $875.94
20-cent Pick (6) 1/5-8-2-1-3/4/8/9-2 (6 correct) $1,578.72 Carryover $10,973

Race Replay

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