7/11/2025
(Auburn, Wa) The Toteboard had been turned off for a week and when the Emerald crew flipped the switch on Friday night it exploded with huge pay-offs and many chances to make a big hit.
ESN’s own handicapper, Larry the SportsCat bounced back from a horrendous perfcormance on July 3rd hitting a pick 4 for more than $420. He didn’t hit much else but ended with a good night and you can check out his picks on this link.
The Numbers
Let’s get to some of the numbers from Friday night and another great night for betters. There were 7 races with 56 starters averaging 8 per race.
Fans wagered $984,164 or $140,595 per race.
From the Saddle
Manny Americano extended his lead in the rider standings when he reeled off 3 straight wins in the 3rd, 4th and 5th races. That put him up by 5 over Kevin Krigger but Krigger got one back in the final race of the night so Americano is up 39-35.
3rd place Alex Cruz was shut out and his effort to win a 6th straight jockey title takes another hit as he trails Americano by 17, 39-22.
Kevin Orozco began the day winning the 1st on the longest shot on the board which also set the stage for many chances to collect big returns. Orozco won with 16-1 Dangerous Game. This waa Orozco’s 14th win and pulls him into a tie for 5th with David Haldar.
Francisco Monroy won his 8th race on 14-1 Summers Choice and Carlos Montalvo took the feature on Conrad Meadows.
From the Barn
Owner/trainer Victor Trujillo scored his 4th win of the season with longshot Dangerous Game in the 1st race. Candi Cryderman got her 3rd win with Candy’s Wildcat which also gave former leading owner John Parker his 3rd win of the season.
Ian Jewell, new to Emerald Downs this season tallied his 4th victory when 4-1 Class Code. All 4 of Jewell’s wins have come for the ownership group WYN Racing Stables.
Jose Navarro won the feature with Conrad Meadows his 2nd win of the season for owners Clemans View Farm and Ruby Thomas got her 3rd picture taken of the year taking the finale with Gate Guard for Harris Farms.
Leading trainer Blaine Wright scored a longshot win in the 2nd race when Summers Choice crossed the finish line first. That gave him a 2 win advantage over 2-time defending champ Justin Evans. Jorge Rosales pulled into a tie for 3rd with Howie Gibson and Tim McCanna with his 13th win in the 3rd race when Artemus Gordon got the win.
The Betting Window
As mentioned previously the tote board was glowing all night. Let’s start with the basic $2 win. The largest pay was $34.98 in the 1st race. A second $30 pay of $30.34 followed in the 2nd race. Only one favorite won all night and that was Candy’s Wildcat in the 4th race. The average $2 win on the night paid $18.13 or 8-1 odds.
The $2 place paid an average of 5-2 or $7.47. There were 5 pay-offs of $9 or more and the low pay was the only one under $4 of $3.66 when 3-2 favorite Candy’s Wildcat won the 4th. This boded well for exacta pay-outs.
The exacta high pay-off and lone triple digit pay was in the 1st of $131.78. The average pay-off of the most popular exoctic bet was a 52-1 pay-out or $53.81. Or for the old-timers thst remember when the minimum bet for an Exacta was $5 that’s a $269 pay.
With all the big numbers winning that also meant the “vertical bets” paid very well. These are the bets stringing winners together, the pick 3, pick 4 etc.
The 50-cent pick 3 began with a 16-1 to a 14-1 to a 5-2 and paid a handsome $875.31. The 2nd one paid well too with the 14-1 to 5-2 to 3-2 it was still triple digits at $116.03. The 4th-thru 6th races that began with the 3-2 to a 4-1 to 8-1 returned $124.47 and the final pick 3 of the day was 4-1 to 8-1 to 7-1 and returned $249.80 for the 4th of 6 pick 3’s to pay triple digits. The average 50-cent pick 3 on the night paid a whopping $236.68 or for the old traditional $1 bet 473.36 or 472-1 odds.
Pick 4’s paid well but to and could have returned more but the two lowest win pays finished off the 1st pick 4 which paid $1,022.18 and were the 2nd and 3rd legs to the 4th pick 4 of $424.85. The final pick 5 finished off with an 8-1 and 7-1 shot paying the highest of $2,069.84.
And after setting a new season high Pick 5 pay on July 3rd of more than 10k, the follow-up was pretty good too paying $6,649.72. The 20-cent pick 6 paid off for 5 wins of $120.78 and a carryover of $988 for Saturday’s card.
Let’s get to the Friday Races!
6th & Feature Race Muckleshoot Casino Resort Purse
By Vince Bruun
Conrad Meadows took command into the stretch and powered to a 3 ¼-length victory in Friday’s featured Muckleshoot Casino Resort Purse at Emerald Downs.
With Carlos Montalvo at the controls, Conrad Meadows ran six panels in 1:09.76 as fifth choice in a field of nine 3-year-olds and up. Jose Navarro is the winning trainer for owner/breeder Clemans View Farm of Naches, Wash.
A 4-year-old Washington-bred by Atta Boy Roy out of Goose Prairie, Conrad Meadows improved to 2-1-3 in 14 starts with earnings of $28,622. Incidentally, Goose Prairie is the younger sister of Kabraaj, who set the track record of 1:06.86 for six furlongs in 2016.
Red Leader, second choice at 7-2, finished strongly to take second while Street Mogul, ridden by Silvio Amador, finished third. Rounding out the full order of finish were Spectacular Tiger, Kiss the Tiger, Little Boy Lute, Bourbon Dancer, Three Plus One, and Fruit Lutes.
Pay-Outs
6 Conrad Meadows (Montalvo) $19.90 $7.04 $5.04
9 Red Leader (McGregor) $5.58 $3.74
1 Street Mogul (Amador) $8.08
$1 Ex 6-9 $48.82
$1 Tri 6-9-1 $358.10
$1 Super 6-9-1-3 $1,596.80
$1 DD 10-6 $57.54
50-cent Pick (3) 7/8-10-6 $124.27
Race Replay
The rest of the Friday’s races.
1st Race
The field of 6 went 1-mile with 1-5 Right Hand Ryder with Adrian Castellanos went to the front and set all the fractions. 16-1 Dangerous Game and Kevin Orozco stalked the favorite and at the top of the stretch pulled even. Orozco and D-G pulled away for a clear win to begin the week with the longest shot on the board winning easily in a final time of . Damgerous Game is owned and trained by Victor Trujillo.
7-1 Senor Del Campo closed well for Silvio Amador to take 2nd Right Hand Ryder held 3rd with Laura’s Kidough and Kevin Krigger taking 4th.
Pay-Outs
3 Dangerous Game (Orozco) $34.98 $13.62 $4.90
5 Senor Del Camp (Amador) $6.02 $3.08
1 Right Hand Ryder (Castellanos) $2.10
$1 Ex 3-5 $131.78
$1 Tri 3-5-1 $155.28
$1 Super 3-5-1-6 $621.40
Race Replay
2nd Race
The toteboard was dark for a week and it’s making up for lost time with 14-1 Summers Choice and Francisco Monroy holding off Calmcoolcollected and Alex Cruz in a final time for the 6-furlongs of 1:10.11. Even money favorite Klinkerbrink and Manny Americano ran on to be 3rd and 14-1 Atmospheric River and Frank Alvarado completed the superfecta.
Summers Choice races for Judy and William Hedrick and trained by Blaine Wright.
Pay-Outs
8 Summers Choice (Monroy) $30.34 $12.58 $4.78
4 Calmcoolcollected (Cruz) $6.04 $3.00
5 Klinkerbrink (Americano) $2.18
$1 Ex 8-4 $74.01
$1 Tri 8-4-5 $149.70
$1 Super 8-4-5-1 $631.40
$1 DD 3-8 $151.67
Race Replay
3rd Race
8-1 Orth went right to the lead in the field of 8 going 1-mile. Turning for home pilot Kiaman McGregor had saved quite a bit for the home stretch but 5-2 2nd choice Artemus Gordon came running under Manny Americano. Americano had it measured perfectly catching and passing Orth in the final 25 yards to win in a final 1:36.37. 7-1 Move Over and Adrian Castellanos ran 3rd and taking 4th was 8-1 Royal Halo,
Artemus Gordon is trained by Jorge Rosales and owned by Dawn Spillman.
Pay-Outs
7 Artemus Gordon (Americano) $7.96 $4.34 $3.26
5 Orth (McGregor) $6.86 $5.06
2 Move Over (Castellanos) $4.08
$1 Ex 7-5 $24.99
$1 Tri 7-5-2 $133.46
$1 Super 7-5-2-8 $723.60
$1 DD 8-7 $50.17
50-cent Pick (3) 3-8-7 $875.31
Race Replay
4th Race
Front speed has not held on for the win yet but you had to be close. 8-5 Candy’s Wildcat and Manny Americano sat just behind the early leaders when 3-1 Bertacchi got first run and took the lead with David Haldar and looked to be a winner.
But Candy’s Wildcat and Americano squirted through on the rail and edngaged Bedrtacchi inside the 1/8th pole eventually edging away for a 3/4’s length win in a final time of 1:10.20. 13-1 Sunny Spot and Carlos Montalvo took 3rd and Mirror Image with Francisco Monroy were up for 4th.
Candy’s Wildcat races for John Parker and trained by Candi Cryderman.
Pay-Outs
7 Candy’s Wildcat (Amricano) $5.50 $3.66 $2.56
10 Bertacchi (Haldar) $4.12 $3.00
2 Sunny Spot (Carlos Montalvo) $3.58
$1 Ex 7-10 $10.44
$1 Tri 7-10-2 $74.36
$1 Super 7-10-2-5 $455.10
$1 DD 7-7 $11.48
50-cent Pick (3) 8-7-7 $116.03
50-cent Pick (4) 3-8-7-7 $1,022.18
Race Replay
5th Race
Another once around the track run on Friday night and 4-1 Class Code stalked brilliantly by Manny Americano waiting no longer on the turn barrelling to lead by 4 lengths at the 1/8th pole. Despite slowing down in the 200 yards Class Code did enough damage to hold on for the length win over a fast closing After My Own Heart and Juan Gutierrz at 10-1. Odds on choice My Lyla Grace and Kevin Krigger were further back and a clear 3rd over 10-1 Bourbon Glaze under David Haldar.
Class Code is owned by WYN Racing Stables and trained by Ian Jewell the 4th win of the season for the owner and trainer team.
Pay-Outs
10 Class Code (Americano) $10.84 $4.46 $2.80
7 After My Own Heart (Juan Gutierrez) $9.42 $4.22
1 Our Lyla Grace (Kevin Krigger) $2.24
$1 Ex 10-7 $23.59
$1 Tri 10-7-1 $86.78
$1 Super 10-7-1-2 $647.40
$1 DD 7-10 $15.22
50-cent Pick (3) 7-7/8-10 $54.66
Race Replay
7th Race
In the finale 8 lined up for the 6-furlong sprint and 7-1 Gate Guard was much the best. Kevin Krigger just had to be a bit patient and when he released the brakes Gate Guard ran past the 6 in front of him and bolted to a nearly 6-length win in a final time of 1:11.00. Gate Guard is owned by Harris Farms and trained by Ruby Thomas.
10-1 Whiskeyontherocks and Silvio Amador were a clear 2nd, 4-5 favorite Daddy’s Quest under Francisco Monroy took 3rd with Smile Don’t Wink at 6-1 and Alex Cruz 4th and completing the Super High 5 was 9-2 Lucky’s Sniper and Adrian Castellanos.
Pay-Outs
2 Gate Guard (Krigger) $17.40 $9.70 $5.18
5 Whiskeyontherocks (Amador) $11.12 $5.32
1 Daddy’s Quest (Monroy) $2.46
$1 Ex 2-5 $62.88
$1 Tri 2-5-1 $131.96
$1 Super 2-5-1-3 $435.00
50-cent Super High Five 2-5-1-3-7 $520.12
$1 DD 6-2 $77.89
50-cent Pick (3) 10-6-2 $249.80
50-cent Pick (4) 4/7/8-10-6-2 $2,069.84
50-cent Pick (5) 7-4/7/8-10-6-2 $6,649.72
20-cent Pick (6) 8-7-4/7/8-10-6-2 (5 correct) 120.78 Carryover $988
Race Replay
