8/22/2025

(Auburn, WA) A regular Friday night was turned upside down with a massive pick 5 carryover of $78,000 that ended with a State record $593,187 pool more than doubling the former pick 5 record.

The feature race went to the remarkable 11-year-old Surprsinglyperfect and another 11-year-old set the pace earlier in the card.

The old guys or say experienced riders had big nights doubling up with wins and a record Friday night handle.

And the longshots picked up from where they left off on Mile Day with a 16-1 to 7-1 to 11-1 was the first pick 3 on Friday night. After that the favorites returned until the last race.

The Numbers

$1,644,978. That was the handle on a Friday night. Emerald Downs did add 2 races for a 9 race card over the usual 7 races. That was done to take advantage of the huge pick 5 carryover but also after canceling racing last Friday when weather forecasters were predicting a deluge of rain this was the first step in getting those missed 7 races made up over the final weeks of the season.

The big handle was boosted by the 515k bet into the pick 5 plus the 78k carryover for the near 600k pool. But that also means the there was more than 1.1-million bet in the other pools. The average handle per race was $182,775.

The card was attractive from an entry standpoint and with only a few scratches remained a great card for bettors. In the 9 races a total of 73 horses started with a low field of 6 to a high field of 10 or an 8.1 horse per race average.

From the Saddle Top 2 battling it out

Kevin Krigger began and ended the night with a 5 win lead over Manny Amricano as both riders got a win on Friday night. Amricano is in his 2nd week as a journeyman jockey as he worked through his apprenticeship on August 10. Last week was the first week Americano rode without the “bug”. With 8 days left in the meet he’s going to have to pick up ground on 5 of the 8 days while never falling further behind. This race is going to be fun to watch down the stretch.

Race for 3rd

Meantime, 5-time defending champion Alex Cruz, a state record, will not add to it in 2025. He is in a battle for 3rd place with Silvio Amador both tied at 28 wins. Kevin Orozco could also make a final run 4 behind at 24 wins. Those 5 riders arfe the only ones with 20 or more wins.

Old Dudes know how to win

Friday night saw three of the most experienced riders get in the winners circle. Frank Alvarado who has more than 4,100 wins and 90-million in career earnings won the 5th to begin the pick 5. Isaias Enriquez, with more than 1,700 wins and 35-million in earnings, won the 6th race on odds-on choice Grease Missle.

But the all-time winningest jockey in Emerald Downs history, Juan Gutierrez, with more than 2,200 wins and 20m-in earnings, opened the night with a win on the longest shot on the board with winanywayucan at 16-1 and then followed that up with a front running blowout in the 4th aboard Pistol Power.

The two wins by Gutierrez also gave owner Lisa Baze a double as sole owner of Pistol Power and part owner of Winanywayucan with Rancjo Viejo. Trainer Rigoberto Velasquez also picked up two wins.

Finishing off our Old Dudes know how to win is 11-year-old Pistol Power and 11-year-old Surprsinglyperfect. Pistol Power is now 17-10-13 from 61 career starts. That’s a 28% win rate and 66% top 3 finish. He’s earned $152,252 in his career. Pistol Power is bouncing back after running only once last season and is 2-0-1 from 4 starts in 2025.

The incredible Surprsinglyperfect is the meet’s first 4 race winner and is his 7th for year tying for the nation’s lead in most wins by a horse. ‘perfect’s career marks are now 28-16-14 from 97 starts which is a 29% win clip and 60% top 3. He is having his best year, as an 11-year-old, of his career with nearly 90k in earnings. He came into last night’s race with career earnings of $399,771 and the win last night pushed him over the 400k mark to $411,171

The Ghost

The white horse is a winner! Sir Argento—among only a handful of all white horses currently in Thoroughbred racing—scored the maiden win in try #11 under Adrian Castellanos for Candi Cryderman and John Parker. A ghostly figure racing in the twilight, Sir Argento covered six furlongs in 1:10.56, returning $24.22 to win. Both the dam (Packed Powder) and damsire (The White Fox) of Sir Argento also are all white.

Paddock Report

2-time training champ Justin Evans pulled one closer to leader Jorge Rosales with a win in the feature last night as Rosales was shut out. Rosales still leads with 28 wins, Evans now has 25. Frank Lucarelli who won a pair of Stakes races on Mile day also got his 22nd win of the season, now 1 behind Blaine Wright who is in 3rd place with 23.

Wright leads the more important standings of earnings with $490,774 while Lucarelli is 2nd going over the 400k mark Friday night now at $403,080.

Rosales will be hard to catch as he is running a large number of starters and has 154 starters compared to the 121 of Lucarelli. Wright is the only other trainer with more than 100 starts at 113.

Rosales is playing the claiming game hard as he picked up 3 more horses with red tags last night and so we expect him to conintue to start as many or more in the final days of the meet.

The Big Prize

The pick 5 total pool was $593,187 and as stated above it was a state record by more than double the 270k former record. So with nearly 600k in the pot it was disappointing to see going into the final leg that 3 of the pay-offs were under $300 and not because only 4 of 5 were paying.

The winner’s odds in order were 3-1, 4-5, 3-2 and 3-2. Leaving the 9th race to go. Had one of the top 3 favorites won would have meant about 2,000 winning tickets would have been cashed.

Instead, the 18-1 second longest shot in the race, Cousin Theo went wire-to-wire under Chel-c Bailey and the pick 5 paid $2,382.01. There were 225 winning tickets.

Meantime, the 20-cent pick 6 had an 11k carryover and the 18-1 shot took down any 6 of 6 winners. The carryover on Saturday is $15,425. This is when the pick 6 begins to get interesting and the pool will start to build dramatically as the carryover continues.

The Super High Five was also missed and on Saturday will start with a $4,316 carryover.

Show Betting Hijinks

There were some strange show pay-offs on Friday night with some show players making impacts in several races. The first oddity was in the 3rd race when Sir Argento won at 11-1 with a 10-1 taking 2nd and another 10-1 3rd. Sir Argento paid $24 to win, $12 bucks to place but just $3.08 to show. The 2 10-1 shots paid $6.90 and $5.14 so someone hammered the “Ghost” in the show pool.

Then in the feature race someone dumped a big bet on a runner off the board and it wasn’t the favorite and winner 3-2 Surprsinglyperfect who paid $5.16 to win, $4.26 to place and $6.24 to show. So yes, the 3-2 favorite to win was 2-1 in the show pool.

The 2nd place horse was 5-1 and paid $8.22 to place and $12.80 to show and the 7-1 show horse was also 7-1 in the show pool paying $16.66.

And finally in the 9th and last race, 18-1 Cousin Theo who won paid just $6.20 to show in an 8 horse field. Now the two favorites at 8-5 and 2-1 each ran 2nd and 3rd both paid only $2.10 the minimum to show.

Some strange betting patterns from a fun night in Auburn.

Let’s get to our re-caps from Friday night. Unfortunately none of the race replays were available to post, once they are available we’ll update the re-caps with the video replay.

8th and Feature Race

By Vince Bruun
Surprsinglyperfect resumed his winning ways Friday evening at Emerald Downs, reeling in Dynamic Secret for a three-quarter length victory in the Muckleshoot Casino Resort Purse at Emerald Downs.

With regular rider Kevin Krigger aboard for trainer Justin Evans, Surprsinglyperfect ran the mile in 1:35.89, returning $5.16 as the betting favorite.

With the victory, 11-year-old Surprsinglyperfect became the meet’s first four-time winner and improved to 7-2-0 in 10 starts overall in 2025. In fact, he became only the third horse in North America to win seven races this year. Busk, a 4-year-old Candy Ride gelding who most recently raced at Colonial Downs, is the current leader with eight.

A Kentucky-bred by Perfect Soul, Surprisnglyperfect is 28 for 97 lifetime with earnings of $411,171.

Voted the track’s Top Claimer of 2024, Surprsinglyperfect is 8-1-1 in 12 starts the last two seasons for Evans and co-owner Rakoczy Racing.

Pay-Outs
1 Surprsinglyperfect (Krigger)  $5.16  $4.26  $6.24
3 Dynamic Secret (Amador)  $8.22  $12.80
2 Om Fire (Frank Alvarado)  $16.66
$1 Ex 1-3 $19.41
$1 Tri 1-3-2 $117.16
$1 Super 1-3-2-4 $552.90
$1 DD 3-1 $9.24
50-cent Pick (3) 8-3-1 $12.17

The rest of the Friday night card

1st Race

16-1 Winanywayucan went straight to the lead and never looked back as the longest shot on the board at 16-1. Juan Gutierrez and Win set all the fractions going the mile and got away with a 1:12.22 for 6-furlongs and had plenty left for the final 2-furlongs winning by 2 lengths in a final time of 1:38.97. odds-on choice Her Blind Side and Manny Americano was a length in front of 11-1 Beverly T with Chel-c Bailey for 2nd and Shesayshello under Alex Cruz ran 4th.

Winanywayucan races for Lisa Baze and Rancho Viejo and trained by Rigoberto Velasquez. The 4-year-old filly is a Washington bred by Harbor the Gold out of Winninginfashion by In Excess and was bred by Bar C Racing stables.

Claimed: Her Blind Side was tagged by Dawn Spillman for $2,500 and heads to the Jorge Rosales barn.

Pay-Outs
5 Winanywayucan (Gutierrez)   $34.60  $11.94  $8.30
3 Her Blind Side (Americano)  $2.78  $2.22
1 Beverly T (Bailey)   $5.28 
$1 Ex 5-3 $52.11
$1 Tri  5-3-1 $172.16
$1 Super 5-3-1-7 $259.90

2nd Race

The prices just keep coming in and Nan Elizabeth at 7-1 launched from last to run them all down and won by a 1/2 length under a perfectly timed ride by Kiaman McGregor. They ran the 6 1/2-furlongs in a final time of 1:16.18. Nan Elizabeth is owned by Hon Cheung Kum and Luciano Pascual Medina and trained by Jose Puentes.

2-1 Coastal Girl with Manny Americano in the saddle ran 2nd, 7-1 Code Ribbon with Frank Alvarado took 3rd and 32-1 Stateforest under Allyssa Morales completed the superfecta.

Pay-Outs
4 Nan Elizabeth (McGregor)  $17.72  $7.16  $5.44
1 Coastal Girl (Americano)  $3.72  $2.88
3 Code Ribbon (Alvarado)  $3.70
$1 Ex 4-1 $41.36
$1 Tri 4-1-3 $187.72
$1 Super 4-1-3-6 $662.30
$1 DD 5-4 $177.84

3rd Race

A field of 9 went 6-furlongs and 11-1 Sir Argento ground down front speed Hez All Smiles and held off deep closer Atmospheric River. The aggressive ride by Adrian Castellanos got Sir Argento to the lead in the final 50 yards and then held on for the neck win over Atmospheric River and Frank Alvarado while Manny Americano was less than 50 yards for the win but settled for 3rd on Hez All Smiles. Whiskeythenwine under Alex Cruz took 4th.

The pure white colt, Sir Argentino races for John Parker and trained by Candi Cryderman. They ran the 3/4’s mile in 1:10.56.

Pay-Outs
8 Sir Argentino (Castellanos)  $24.22  $12.10  $3.02
9 Atmospheric River (Alvarado)  $10.84  6.90
1 Hez All Smiles (Americano)  $5.14
$1 Ex 8-9 $108.87
$1 Tri 8-9-1 $866.16
$1 Super 8-9-1-2 $2,391.30
$1 DD 4-8 $103.30
50-cent Pick (3) 5-4-8 $1,092.56

4th Race

5-2 11-year-old Pistol Power with Juan Gutierrez went straight to the lead and just kept going in this 1-mile run. Guti and P-P set solid fractions of 23.24, 46.40 and finished in a final time of 1:35.94. 15-1 Nation of Faith and Kiaman McGregor closed well on the rail to get the place by a neck over deep closing Gypsy Gun with Adrian Castellanos at 5-1 who were clear of 4th place finisher Dekudylan under Frank Alvarado.

Pistol Power is owned by Lisa Baze and trained Rigoberto Velasquez. He’s a Washington bred by War Power out of Pistolpackin’gal by Tribunal and was bred by Donald Lawrence.

Claimed: Two claims for $3,500 came out of this race. Dekudylan was taken by Circle T Racing for trainer Scott Tubbs. Owner/trainer Sheena Axmaker red tagged Howdoyoulikemenow.

Pay-Outs
4 Pistol Power (Gutierrez)  $7.00 $4.00  $3.74
2 Nation of Faith (McGregor)  $14.44  $8.48
6 Gypsy Gun (Castellanos)  $4.00
$1 Ex 4-2 $40.57
$1 Tri 4-2-6 $155.38
$1 Super 4-2-6-8 $2,399.30
$1 DD 8-4 $64.93
50-cent Pick (3) 4-8-4 $332.65
50-cent Pick (4) 5-4-8-4 $6,756.63

5th Race

The shorter prices starting to come in as the pick 5 kicks off with almost 600k in the pool. 3-1 Good Lovin and Frank Alvarado went to the front and eventually pulled away for a 2 length win covering the 6-furlongs in 1:09.14. Good Lovin races for Joe and Emil Abrhamson and trained by Michael Morris.

5-2 favorite Always on Cay under Alex Cruz held on to 2nd by a head over 3-1 Uncle Leon and Manny Americano who showed by a nose over 6-1 Roll Dem Bones with Juan Gutierrez.

Claimed: 2 runners were red tagged for $5,000. Always on Cay goes to new owner Ramon Chavarria-Delgado, Kevin Chavarria and Rosales Racing F1 and will be trained by Jorge Rosales. The other one to get a new home was Good Lovin who heads to the Justin Evans barn for owners A and A Equive Company.

Pay-Outs
3 Good Lovin (Alvarado)  $8.30  $4.56  $3.58
2 Always on Cay (Cruz)  $3.84  $3.04
1 Uncle Leon (Americano)  $3.28
$1 Ex 3-2 $16.86
$1 Tri 3-2-1 $42.82
$1 Super 3-2-1-4 $124.70
$1 DD 4-3 $11.32
50-cent Pick (3) 8-4-3 $120.05

6th Race

Odds-on choice scored in the 2nd leg of that massive pick 5, 4-5 Grease Missle and Isaias Enriquez was close to the lead and at the 1/8th pole extended and was gone to win by an easy 2+ lengths running the 6-furlongs in 1:09.25. Grease Missle is trained by Frank Lucarelli and owned by Coastal Racing Stable.

12-1 Rockit a Day and Juan Gutierrez battled hard on the lead but was a clear 2nd, 12-1 Ms Flashy Harbor closed late for the show with Manny Americano doing the driving and completing the superfecta was 6-1 Nation’s Belle and Kevin Orozco.

Claimed: The claiming window was busy Friday night with 2 more in the 6th race. The winner, Grease Missle goes to owner/trainer Victor Trujillo and Union Coach taken by Jerald Carmody and heads to the care of trainer Rigoberto Velasquez. Both claims cost $8,000.

Pay-Outs
8 Grease Missle (Enriquez)  $3.80  $3.16  $2.66
3 Rockit a Day (Gutierrez)  $8.64  $5.26
5 Ms Flashy Harbor (Americano)  $4.96
$1 Ex 8-3 $15.31
$1 Tri 8-3-5 $75.20
$1 Super 8-3-5-2 $367.50
$1 DD 3-8 $9.06
50-cent Pick (3) 4-3-8 $19.66
50-cent Pick (4) 8-4-3-8 $204.65

7th Race

3-2 favorite Clubhouse Drama took all the drama out of the race with a dominating wire-to-wire win running the 6-furlongs in 1:09.57. Under the capable handling of Manny Americano no one was close as they registered a nearly a 7 length win. Albaro Fernandez Reyes owns C-D ansd trained by Howie Gibson.

12-1 Valley Echo ran a solid race for Allyssa Morales taking 2nd, 7-1 Bumping River with Carlos Montalvo up was 3rd and Kevin Krigger guided 6-1 Ethan’s Girl to 4th place by a nose.

Claimed: Clubhouse Drama got Julie Hebdon to write a $5,000 check and the filly heads to the Jorge Rosales barn.

Pay-Outs
3 Clubhouse Drama (Americano)  $5.18  $3.62  $2.78
8 Echo Valley (Morales)  $9.36  $8.16
6 Bumping River (Montalvo)  $4.30
$1 Ex 3-8 $28.37
$1 Tri 3-8-6 $125.50
$1 Super 3-8-6-9 $538.20
$1 DD 8-3 $7.65
50-cent Pick (3) 3-8-3 $14.05

9th Race

After the favorites took over when the pick 5 began in the finale Cousin Theo with a big front running effort by Chel-c Bailey blew that chalk board up with an 18-1 front running win. Cousin Theo and Bailey laid down swift fractions of 21.99 and 44.87 but still jhad plenty left to pull away from the field in the stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:10.71. Cousin Theo races for Larry Odbert and trained by Neil Koch.

8-5 favorite Daddy’s Quest with David Haldar closed well to be a clear 2nd, 2-1 Dominate and Alex Cruz took 3rd, 14-1 Tough as an Ox and Kevin Orozco took 4th with 4-1 Shiny Orb completing the Super High 5.

Pay-Outs
2 Cousin Theo (Bailey)  $39.66  $16.52  $6.20
6 Daddy’s Quest (Haldar)  $2.64  $2.10
1 Dominate (Cruz)  $2.10
$1 Ex 2-6 $98.73
$1 Tri 2-6-1 $306.12
$1 Super 2-6-1-10 $2,620.10
50-cent Super High Five  2-6-1-10-4 0 carryover $4,316
$1 DD 1-2 $185.11
50-cent Pick (3) 3-1-2 $166.75
50-cent Pick (4) 8-3-1/8-2 $470.68
50-cent Pick (5) 3-8-3-1/8-2 $2,382.01
20-cent Pick (6) 4-3-8-3-1/8-2 (5-correct) $53.91 carryover $15,425

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