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Pick Pony | Sept. 16, 2024, 12:33 p.m.
The 82nd running of the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic set up perfect for a closer as the speedster Papa’s Golden Boy set some quick fractions in the 1 1/16th mile race contested over a wet fast racetrack.
It was the final day of the 55-day season in Emerald Downs’ 29th season.
Oak Crest Farm LLC’s Naval Escort rallied from far back to win by a widening 8 3/4 lengths. Naval Escort was ridden to victory by Karlo Lopez for trainer David Martinez and paid $7.46.
The fractions were 22-2, 44-4 and 1:08-2 for 6 furlongs. The final time was 1:42.57. The 6-year-old WA-bred gelding collected his second win at the meet and fourth in his career.
Finishing second was Coastal Kid (8/1) and rounding out the top three was Its Kraken Time (10/1). The betting favorite Coastal Jazz (4/5) finished a disappointing fourth in the five-horse race.
Slew’s Tiz Whiz was scratched the morning of the race.
CHAI BATTLES ALL THE WAY TO WIRE TO WIN BY A HEAD
Chai made her way to the lead turning for home and was very game in deep stretch holding off Zippin Sevenz (9/2) to take the WA Cup Filly and Mare S. by a head. Chai was ridden to victory by IIt was Chai’s third win of the year and first stakes victory. The WA-bred was trained by Kay Cooper for longtime owners Jill Fabulich and Lori Heist.
The Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Pabst-bred 3-year-old filly stopped the clock for the 1 1/16th mile race in 1:43.35.
Emerald Sea (5/1) ended up third.
Justin Evans capped a sensational season in spectacular style Sunday at Emerald Downs, saddling Colonel Ludlow to a major upset in the 84th running of the $50,000 Gottstein Futurity on closing day at Emerald Downs.
In fact, Evans sent out the top two finishers as A Thousand Miles—a filly—finished a close second to her stablemate in the track’s traditional top event for 2-year-olds.
Ridden by apprentice Manuel Americano, Colonel Ludlow ran a mile and 70 yards in 1:41.35 on a wet-fast track and paid $64.84, $27.98, and $12.84. The $2 win pay broke the stakes record of $50.80 set by Northwest Factor in 2018.
For Americano, it’s his first career stakes win and capped a four-win afternoon.
A Kentucky-bred by Street Sense, Colonel Ludlow improved to 2-0-0 from three career starts, his previous victory coming last month in a $15,000 maiden claiming race. The $27,500 winner’s share bumped his earnings to $35,395 for co-owners Evans and Jeff Plotkin of Round Rock, Tex.
Colonel Ludlow and A Thousand Miles dueled virtually gate to wire, setting fractions of :22.37, :46.38, and 1:11.47, with Colonel Ludlow edging ahead into the lane and then prevailing by a neck at the wire.
“What a great way to end the season, winning a prestigious race like this one means a lot for us,” Evans said. “(Colonel Ludlow) was a little slow to get going, but we thought his breeding would help him get the distance.”
A Thousand Miles, ridden by Kevin Krigger at 118 lbs., went off at 11 to 1 and paid $11.94 and $7.56 for place and show. A Kentucky-bred by Thousand Words, she just missed joining Smarty Deb, Talk to My Lawyer, Blazinbeauty, and Northwest Factor as fillies to win the Gottstein at Emerald Downs.
Candy Caballo, attempting to give trainer Tom Wenzel and owner George Todaro a fourth straight Gottstein victory, was one length back in third place and paid $3.34 to show.
Si That Tiger, the 3 to 5 favorite, loomed up outside the leaders into the lane, but weakened slightly and finished fourth, a neck behind Candy Caballo.
The stewards examined a bumping incident between Candy Caballo and Si That Tiger in deep stretch but made no change in the order of finish.
Border Vigil, a third entrant from the Evans barn finished fifth while rounding out the order of finish were Big Bowie, Checkered Flag, Shesayshello, Thirsty Vision, and Nijinsky Halo.
He’s Not Talking was scratched at the starting gate and Impassable was scratched earlier in the day.
Jose Zunino rode for the final time Sunday at Emerald Downs and went out a winner, guiding A Skip in the Park to a last to first victory in race five for trainer Tom Wenzel.
One of the most popular jockeys in track history, Zunino rode 20 seasons and ranks 11th all-time with 470 wins at Emerald Downs and 12th all-time with 19 stakes wins.
A native of Argentina, Zunino was regular rider on some of the track’s top horses including two-time Washington Horse of the Year Slew’s Tiz Whiz, 2016 Horse of the Meeting O B Harbor, and 5 ½ furlong world record holder Hollywood Harbor.
Zunino, 55, has 978 wins overall and just shy of $10 million in career earnings.
Sunday’s first race—Jose Zunino Retirement Purse—was named in Zunino’s honor.
Zunino now begins a new job working full-time in the Emerald Downs’ maintenance department.