6/20/2026

(Auburn, WA) Saturday was the 30 year anniversary of the inaugural opening day at Emerald Downs. On Saturday the track celebrated with a a big pre-race ceremony with words from many of the longtime employees, trainers, jockeys and owners. Founders Ron Crockett and Jack Hodge representing the investment group that saved Western Washington racing both spoke at the well attended event.

There are many benchmarks and tons of history to explore and we’ll do that with our special 30-year Anniversary story that will come out later this week. Keep looking for it and we will of course let you know on our social media when  the story is published.

In the meantime, this is about the racing on the 30th anniversary card with 7 live races.

From the Saddle

Leading rider Silvio Amador was the only one to double coming off a 3 win Friday night. Meantime, Adrian Castellanos, Kevin Krigger, Carlos Montalvo, Karlo Lopez and Blake Nunnally all got their pictures taken.

Connie Doll hits the 50 year mark

Jockey Connie Doll got her 1st ride of the 2026 season. She rode Mischievous Emma to a 4th place finish in the 2nd race. Doll began her jockey career in 1979 and won her first race on Haughty Band at Grants Pass. She only rode once last season and her last win was on Feather inthe Wind at Tillamook, Oregon on August 8, 2024.

From the Barn

Leading trainier Tim McCanna added his 13th win of the season and leads Tom Wenzel 13-9 as the only trainer with double digit wins. Other winning trainers included Debbie Peery, Sergio Perez and Hilario Perez.

1st 3 Races strike a Historical Trainer accomplishment

Although unofficial, we’re pretty certain what happened on Saturday has never happened before at Emerald Downs and would be exceptionally rare at any track. The first three races the winning exacta was with one trainer.

In the 1st race Oh My Vron won and My Eliana was 2nd and both trained by Jorge Rosales. The $1 exacta paid $5.19. In the 2nd race, Jose Puentas trained the winner Shanghai Barbie and 2nd place Prancipants and that exacta paid $7.37.

Then in the 3rd race, Alexis Silva-Martinez sent out the odds-on favorite and the longest shot on the board at 17-1. Dandy Day stunned the field with the 1 length win at 17-1 over stablemate Platinum Diva who was 1-5. That exacta returned $39.98

We believe that a trainer winning the exacta in 3 straight races has never happened before certainly at Emerald Downs.

More on the 2nd Race

Why not add more history on the 30th anniversary? In the 2nd race we’re going to guess it is the 1st race ever, even with the 3 and 4 horse fields that have run that every horse was owned and trained by one person.

In the field of 5, 1st place Shanghai Barbie and 2nd place Prancipants owned and trained by Jose Puentas. 3rd place La Popis owned and trained by Hon “Jerry” Cheung Kum, 4th place Mischievious Emma owned and trained by Fidel Alejandre and 5th place finisher Ready to Gig owned and trained by Robbie Baze.

New High $2 win Pay

17-1 Dandy Day won the 3rd race and set a new high $2 win pay-off for 2026. Backers of Dandy got back $37.66 for their confidence in the front runner.

Dandy Day impacts the Picks

The big longshot also triggered big or carry-overs in all the multiple win races bets. The $1 daily double from Dandy Day to Peso paid $82, the 50-cent Pick 3 beginning with Dandy Day paid $230. The 2nd 50-cent Pick 4 returned $881, the 50-cent Pick 5 was not hit and paid $74 to those with 4 winners and carried over $14,685 to Sunday. And the Pick 6 was not hit with 5 of 6 on the 10-cent bet paying $755.

Big Super in the 5th

The 10-cent Superfecta in the 5th race paid $249.37 thanks to 18-1 Coastal Girl running 3rd and 30-1 Gi Gis map taking 4th. Winning was 5-1 Kristin Lee with the favorite 2-1 Sharp Attitude 2nd. The $1 pay-out was $2493.70.

Super Hi 5 Pays

The Super Hi 5 or Pentafecta in the final race of the day had a nice 4k carryover and was hit mutliple times returning $450.59.

6th Race Feature Race 30 year Horsepeople Purse

By Vince Bruun

Elegant Boy delivered a powerful performance Saturday at Emerald Downs, scoring by 2 ¾ lengths in the 30 Year Horsepeople Purse as the track celebrated its 30-year anniversary under ideal racing conditions.

With Blake Nunnally at the controls, Elegant Boy covered one mile in 1:36.36 and returned $8.26 for a $2 win ticket. Sergio Perez is winning owner and trainer.

Winner of last year’s Grants Pass Mile, Elegant Boy was winless in seven previous tries at Emerald Downs but was coming a decent third to Background two weeks ago. Saturday, he put away Owhatarush into the last turn, opened a long lead past mid-stretch and held Afjan safe to the wire.
A 5-year-old by Big Bad Leroybrown, Elegant Boy has won seven of 34 starts with earnings of $129,316.

Afjan, ridden by Karlo Lopez, was easily second bst while with A Skip in the Park finished 3 ¼ lengths back in third place. Rounding out the order of finish were I’m Noble, Owhatarush and Bert’s Prospect.

• $1.00 EXACTA 6-3 $16.16
• $1.00 TRIFECTA 6-3-1 $46.42
• $1.00 SUPERFECTA 6-3-1-4 $77.40
• $1.00 DOUBLE 6-6 $72.03
• $1.00 PICK 3 4-6-6 $159.28

Race Replay

The rest of the 30-year anniversary card

1st Race Strawberry Morn Purse

Oh My Vron left no doubt who won the Strawberry Morn purse with a 12 length victory as the odds-on choice running the 1 lap mile race in 1:40.29. Adrian Castellanos opened up Vron at the quarter pole and it was over. Oh My Vron races for Eliana Thompson and Gene Heredia and trained by Jorge Rosales.

My Eliana and Kevin Orozco ran 2nd, Believe in Her with Karlo Lopez took 3rd and finishing 4th was Itsgrandsalamitime under Silvio Amador.

• $1.00 EXACTA 1-4 $5.19
• $1.00 TRIFECTA 1-4-3 $7.62
• $1.00 SUPERFECTA 1-4-3-5 $10.70

Race Replay

2nd Race Purse

5 runners went 6 furlongs and no one could catch the Jose Puentas owned and trained duo of Shanghai Barbie with Silvio Amador and Prancipants ridden by Jairo Moreno. The pair went to the finish with Barbie getting the neck win in a time of 1:11.47.

Odds-on favorite La Popis ran an even 3rd with Mischievous Emma taking 4th.

• $1.00 EXACTA 3-5 $10.92
• $1.00 TRIFECTA 3-5-4 $13.68
• $1.00 SUPERFECTA 3-5-4-2 $71.30
• $1.00 DOUBLE 1-3 $7.37

Race Replay

3rd Race 30 year Employees and Voices of Emerald Downs Purse

17-1 Dandy Day was sent to the front by Kevin Krigger and never looked back stunning the field of 5 with a length victory going the 1 lap mile in a time of 1:38.89. Platinum Deva and Silvio Amador ran hard for the place, Roses R Blue and Blake Nunnally right there 3rd and Acclaimed Preacher with Karlo Lopez completed the superfecta.

Dandy Day is owned and trained by Alexis Silva-Martinez.

• $1.00 EXACTA 3-1 $39.98
• $1.00 TRIFECTA 3-1-4 $98.46
• $1.00 SUPERFECTA 3-1-4-5 $158.40
• $1.00 DOUBLE 3-3 $22.51
• $1.00 PICK 3 1-3-3 $139.28

Race Replay

4th Race

The top 2 betting favorites battled for the win in the 4th race with 8-5 Peso and Carlos Montalvo knocking off 1-1 Bluegrass Go Go and Kevin Krigger by 3/4 of a length running the 6 furlongs in 1:10-flat. Peso is owned by Carl and Debbie Seymour and trained by Debbie Peery.

DK’s Crown at 16-1 with Kevin Orozco got up for 3rd with front runner Conrad Meadows tirng to 4th under Francisco Diaz-Lopez.

• $1.00 EXACTA 4-5 $4.77
• $1.00 TRIFECTA 4-5-1 $26.22
• $1.00 SUPERFECTA 4-5-1-2 $50.70
• $1.00 DOUBLE 3-4 $82.09
• $1.00 PICK 3 3-3-4 $233.30
• $1.00 PICK 4 4 OF 4 1-3-3-4 $443.42

Race Replay

5th Race Original Investors Purse

A perfectly timed ride from Karlo Lopez saw Kristin Lee roll over the top of front runner Sharp Attitude to win the 6 furlongs by nearly a length in a final time of 1:09.79. Kristin Lee is owned by Robert G A Jones and trained by Tim McCanna.

2-1 Sharp Attitude with Blake Nunnally just missed settling for 2nd, 18-1 Coastal Girl and Alex Cruz ran 3rd by a neck over Gi Gis Map and Kevin Krigger at 30-1.

• $1.00 EXACTA 6-7 $28.84
• $1.00 TRIFECTA 6-7-3 $285.68
• $1.00 SUPERFECTA 6-7-3-1 $2493.70
• $1.00 DOUBLE 4-6 $19.77
• $1.00 PICK 3 3-4-6 $459.86
• $1.00 PICK 4 4 OF 4 3-3-4-6 $1762.22

Race Replay

7th Race 30 Years of Racing Fans Purse

In the finale 6-1 Street Mogul went nearly wire-to-wire to win by 4+ lengths under Silvio Amador running the 6 furlongs in 1:10.07. Street Mogul races for Emil Abrahamson and trained by Hilario Perez.

Giant Impact and Kevin Krigger took 2nd while favorite Got Your Six was a close up 3rd under Alex Cruz, Chick Command and Karlo Lopez ran 4th while At the Cross and Pablo Castillo completed the Super Hi 5.

• $1.00 EXACTA 3-2 $28.33
• $1.00 TRIFECTA 3-2-5 $97.88
• $1.00 SUPERFECTA 3-2-5-1 $314.20
• $1.00 SUPERHIGHFIVE 3-2-5-1-4 $901.18
• $1.00 DOUBLE 6-3 $67.54
• $1.00 PICK 3 6-6-3 $354.74
• $1.00 PICK 4 4 OF 4 4-6-6-3 $962.84
• $1.00 PICK 5 CarryOver $14685.24
• $1.00 PICK 5 4 OF 5 3-4-6-6-3 $149.84
• $1.00 PICK 6 CarryOver $2285.58
• $1.00 PICK 6 5 OF 6 3-3-4-6-6-3 $7553.20

Race Replay

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