8/29/2025
(Auburn, WA) On a perfect night for racing the 7 race card Friday night with 2 carryovers in the Pick 5 and Pick 6 attracted a good number of bettors.
The 6th race Muckleshoot Casino Resort purse also featured a competitive widde open 20k claiming event and a familiar winner at Emerald Downs did it again. The jockey’s race got a tad closer while the trainer’s battle looks to be over. Let’s get to the Friday racing.
The Numbers
7 races on the card attracted 45 starters averaging 6.4 per start. This is one of the shorter cards of the season as far as number of starters. Saturday’s card also has just 7 races and 52 entries which would be right on the season average of 7.4 runners per race.
The smaller fields on Friday did not slow down the bettors as they topped the 1-million mark with $1,002,715 wagered and $143,245 average per race. This thanks to the two carryovers in the pick 5 and pick 6. The Pick 5 had an $11,000 carryover and finshed at $103,000 so $92,000 was bet on Friday night.
From the Saddle
Battle for Top Rider
The race for the top jockey got a little tighter as Manny Americano salvaged his night with a win in the 7th and final race of the night by just a had. Americano pulled within 5 of leading rider Kevin Krigger who came within a nose of holding his 6 win advantage when he didn’t got the nose bob in the 3rd race on Flexible Terms.
The battle for 3rd remained a 2 win difference. After Silvio Amador cut it to 1 with a win in the opener, Alex Cruz pushed it back to 2 taking the 4th race on Burnin At Midnight.
McGregor Shines
Kiaman McGregor was the only one to double on Friday night for his 14th and 15th wins of the year. This triples his 5 wins from last season. Juan Gutierrez took the feature with Miss Dynamic for his 15th win as well and they are tied for 8th in the standings.
Adrian Castellanos had a good night as well winning 1 with a pair of 2nds and a show from 5 ride. Castellanos moves into a tie for 6th with Julien Couton with 17 wins.
Paddock Report
Rosales pushes his lead
While the jockey’s race got a little closer the run for top trainer is likely now in the books as Jorge Rosales continues to outnumber everyone and picked up 2 more wins on Friday night starting 6 and went 2-1-2. In the 1st race he completed the exacta with 8-1 Grazed N’ Confused winning over favorite Bourbon Glaze. He also won the 5th race when Fifty Cinco came from last to 1st with a spectacular stretch run. Rosales is now 33-20-28 from 169 starts.
There are only 3 trainers with more than 100 starts and 2nd is Frank Lucarelli with 132 then Blaine Wright at 122. Lucarelli also got a win and got close with a pair of 2nds.
2 time defending champ Justin Evans sent out 3 runners but also settled for a pair of 2nds getting shut out of the winner’s circle. Evans is in 2nd place with 26 wins from 92 starts. Rosales is the only conditioner with more than 30 wins.
Blaine Wright and Frank Lucarelli are tied for 3rd with 24 wins but Wright leads in earnings and is the only one over 500k with $515,530 in winnings. Lucarelli is 2nd and the only other trainer over 400k with $438,775.
Toye and Velasquez hit double digits
Former Champion trainer Joe Toye got his 10th win of the season on Friday night in the 4th rce with Burnin at Midnight. Rigoberto “Jesse” Velasquez also got #10 taking the feature with Miss Dynamic. Toye and Velasquez are in a 3-way tie with Scott Tubbs for 9th in the standings.
Meatime, Jose Puentes took the final race with Yes He Can for his 9th win and puashed him ov er 100k in earninbgs at $100,445. And Shelly Crowe got her 4th win of the year in the 2nd race with Hadlees Honor.
The Betting Window
The big news were the carryovers with the Pick 5 cashing out the 103k pool to more than 40 winners of nearly $1,900. The pick 6 had all 6 correct but there were 2 winninbg tickets and returned a little more than $2,000. But that also means the jackpot carried over an will begin Saturday with $26,646.
There were a few other big pays starting with the Super High 5 that got hit paying 1 winner $2,030.05. The winner was ablke to connect a 2-1 to 6-1 to 2-1 to 14-1 to 13-1.
The pick 4’s were pretty good too with the 1st 4 races being won by no less than 4-1. The 1st race was 8-1 to 4-1 to 9-1 and finished with another 4-1. The pick 4 paid $901.06. The 2nd pick 4 was paid the next race with a 5-2 winner and still paid $780.38.
The first 2 pick 3’s also returned hefty amounts of $170.91 and $182.88.
The high $2 win was in the 9-1 Golden Affair in the 3rd race returning $20.32, A View From Above in the 7th paid the top $2 place at $6.28 and the top $2 show was in the 4th race when 15-1 Sweet Beth paid $4.60.
6th and Feature Race Muckelshoot Casino Resort Purse
By Vince Bruun
Miss Dynamic continued her winning ways Friday evening at Emerald Downs, blazing to a 1 ½-length victory in the featured $20,000 Muckleshoot Casino Resort Purse at Emerald Downs.
Under regular rider Juan Gutierrez, Miss Dynamic covered six furlongs in 1:08.96, returning $5.30 as the public betting choice. Rigoberto Jesse Velasquez is the winning trainer for owner/breeder Antoni Mendoza of Hermiston, Ore.
Scoring her sixth win in 14 career starts, Miss Dynamic set splits of :21.40, :44.01, and :56.08, then holding off Crème de Menthe and I’m Telling Mom for the victory.
A 5-year-old Washington-bred by Dynamic Impact, Miss Dynamic earned $11,400, boosting her lifetime total to $128,755.
Gutierrez, the track’s all-time leading rider with 1,607 wins, has clicked with eight of 32 mounts when riding for Velasquez this season.
Crème de Menthe, ridden by Adrian Castellanos, finished second while I’m Telling Mom, Manuel Americano aboard, finished third. Rounding out the complete order of finish were Simply Gracious, Kristin Lee, Hannahaza Hetty, and Smiling Lady.
Pay-Outs
6 Miss Dynamic (Gutierrez) $5.30 $4.14 $3.10
3 Creme de Menthe (Castellanos) $6.24 $4.10
5 I’m Telling Mom (Americano) $4.36
$1 Ex 6-3 $17.90
$1 Tri 6-3-5 $65.84
$1 Super 6-3-5-1 $354.90
$1 DD 6-6 $13.59
50-cent Pick (3) 3-6-6 $34.96
Race Replay
The rest of the Friday night card
1st Race
In the opener on Friday 6 went a mile and 8-1 Grazed n’ Confused was sent to the frfont by Silvio Amador and quickly separated from the pack. G N C and Amador were allowed to set fractions of 23.02 and 46.57. Amador had the pace measured perfectly drawing off to a 2+ length lead in the stretch and then held off the fast closing favorite Bourbon Glaze and Adrian Castellanos to win by a neck in a final time of 1:36.15. 9-2 Roses R Blue with Alex Cruz took 3rd and Acclaimed Preacher at 36-1 with David Haldar was 4th.
Grazed N’ Confused races for Ramon Chavarria-Delgado, Kevin Chavarria and Rosales Racing F1 and trained by Jorge Rosales. Grazed N’ Confused is a Washington bred by Grazen out of Dixie Dreamin’ by Dixieland Band and was bred by Mr and Mrs William T. Griffin.
Claimed: 2 were claimed for $2,500 with Bourbon Glaze going to owner/trainer Victor Trujillo and Grazed N’ Confused was tagged by John Parker going to trainer Candi Cryderman.
Pay-Outs
2 Grazed N’ Confused (Amador) $19.68 $4.98 $2.92
1 Bourbon Glaze (Castellanos) $2.16 $2.10
4 Roses R Blue (Cruz) $2.50
$1 Ex 2-1 $18.64
$1 Tri 2-1-4 $32.96
$1 Super 2-1-4-3 $49.60
Race Replay
2nd Race
The 2nd race and start of the pick 6 was another mile run and Hadlees Honor surged to the lead turning for the backstretch with Kiaman McGregor aboard after an even softer opening from race 1. The opening quarter was 24.38 and the half 47.61 which was way too slow for the closers and Hadlees Honor rolled to 2 length win in a final time of 1:37.42. Hadlees Honor races for Joseph Budanich and trained by Shelly Crowe.
Favored Grape Nuts Warrior and Kevin Krigger closed but was clearly 2nd best, 36-1 Its Five Somewhere and David Haldar and 18-1 Pick a Lane Frank and Frank Alvarado was 4th.
Pay-Outs
6 Hadlees Honor (McGregor) $10.44 $2.46 $2.16
1 Grape Nuts Warrior (Krigger) $2.10 $2.10
5 Its Five Somewhere (Haldar) $3.52
$1 Ex 6-1 $7.23
$1 Tri 6-1-5 $40.68
$1 Super 6-1-5-2 $104.50
$1 DD 2-6 $35.18
Race Replay
3rd Race
In the 3rd mile race of the night, front speed this time folded up and from last to first came Golden Affair at 9-1. Kiaman McGregor got 1st run opening up in mid stretch then got into a head bobbing contest with odds-on choice Flexible Terms and got his nose down in a perfect bob. Golden Affair ran the mile in a final time of 1:37.35. Golden Affair races for Randall and Rossi, Gary Hughes and Lucarelli racing and trained by Frank Lucarelli.
Flexible Terms with Kevin Krigger up just missed, Five Twenty Sunset and Alex Cruz ran 3rd with El Diamante Negro under Manny Americano took 4th.
Claimed: Five Twenty Sunset was taken by Emily Majkrzak and Tanner Vicory for trainer Jorge Rosales. Flexible Terms was picked up by Alex and Vincent Ortega for trainer Scott Tubbs. Both went for $5,000.
Pay-Outs
3 Golden Affair (McGregor) $20.32 $5.64 $3.30
4 Flexible Terms (Krigger) $2.62 $2.20
2 Five Twenty Sunset (Cruz) $2.72
$1 Ex 3-4 $27.05
$1 Tri 3-4-2 $70.16
$1 Super 3-4-2-6 $350.80
$1 DD 6-3 $53.12
50-cent Pick (3) 2-6-3 $170.91
Race Replay
4th Race
In the 1st sprint of the night a nice closing ride from Alex Cruz on 4-1 Burnin at Midnight took advantage of a quick opening opening pace of 21.65 to roll on by in the final 50 yards for a 1 1/2 length win. 4-1 Leah’s Lute and Juan Gutierrez was the survivor of the speed dual pushing out to a 2 length lead in the upper stretch but could not deny Burnin at Midnight and held on by just a nose for 2nd over 15-1 Sweet Beth and Kiaman McGregor who was a half length better than 8-1 Mini Again under Allyssa Morales.
The 4-year-old filly is owned by Terra Firma Too and trained by Joe Toye.
Pay-Outs
3 Burnin at Midnight (Cruz) $10.34 $4.44 $3.36
2 Leah’s Lute (Gutierrez) $5.42 $3.12
5 Sweet Beth (McGregor) $4.60
$1 Ex 3-2 $23.33
$1 Tri 3-2-5 $96.02
$1 Super 3-2-5-1 $342.90
$1 DD 3-3 $51.28
50-cent Pick (3) 6-3-3 $182.88
50-cent Pick (4) 2-6-3-3 $901.60
Race Replay
5th Race
The field of 6 went 6-furlongs was another speedy front end with Elder Mack and MorTequila laying down fractions of 21.39 and 44.07. This set up the closers and 5-2 Fifty Cinco and 6-1 Whiskeyjack. Carlos Montalvo cut inside a wide Elder Mack the 7-5 betting choice with Silvio Amador while Fifty Cinco had circled up even wider. In fact too wide for pilot Adrian Castellanos who darted toward the rail at the 1/8th pole an found Plenty of room to surge by a tiring Elder Mack and corraling Whiskeyjack for a 1/2 length victory in a smoking 1:08.76. 8-1 Hot Chicks Only and David Haldar ron an even 4th.
Fifty Cinco who last ran in the Longacres Mile was back at his winning level and gave the connections team of Ramon Chavarria-Delgado, Kevin Chavarria and Rosales Racing F1 along with trainer Jorge Rosales their 2nd win of the night.
Pay-Outs
6 Fifty Cinco (Castellanos) $7.44 $3.92 $2.50
7 Whiskeyjack (Montalvo) $5.30 $2.82
1 Elder Mack (Amador) $2.48
$1 Ex 6-7 $17.36
$1 Tri 6-7-1 $43.50
$1 Super 6-7-1-3 $92.10
$1 DD 3-6 $12.43
50-cent Pick (3) 3-3-6 $106.42
50-cent Pick (4) 6-3-3-6 $780.38
Race Replay
7th Race
In the finale there was no chance of another pick 5 carryover and 2-1 second favorite, Yes He Can delivered a win for more than 40 winning ticket holders who collected their near $1,900 prize. Yes He Can and Manny Americano had to overhaul a stubborn A View From Above with Kevin Orozco as they went head and head from the 1/8th pole to the finish line and the Yes He Can got the photo by a head in a final time of 1:02.82 for 5 1/2-furlongs. Yes He Can is owned by Silvia Soto and trained by Jose Puentes.
2-1 favorite Always On Cay closed from last but jockey Adrian Castellanos ran out of room and was a clear 3rd. 14-1 Stretch Run with David Haldar ran on for 4th and completing the Super High 5 was 13-1 Mojave and Alex Cruz.
Claimed: 2 runners were red tagged in the 7th with A View from Above going to owner/trainer Sergio Perez for $6,250. Another owner/trainer Marvin Abrahamson paid $5,000 to take Travel the Map back to his barn.
Pay-Outs
7 Yes He Can (Americano) $6.12 $3.96 $2.66
6 A View From Above (Orozco) $6.28 $3.60
3 Always on Cay (Castellanos) $2.56
$1 Ex 7-6 $17.24
$1 Tri 7-6-3 $53.40
$1 Super 7-6-3-1 $493.40
50-cent Super High Five 7-6-3-1-4 $2,030.05
$1 DD 6-7 $12.44
50-cent Pick (3) 6-6-7 $24.65
50-cent Pick (4) 3-6-6-7 $91.45
50-cent Pick (5) 3-3-6-6-7 $1,877.38
20-cent Pick (6) 6-3-3-6-6-7 $2,086.56
Race Replay