Salt Grinder & Willie the Cat shined 10 years ago

Ten years ago on April 20, 2002 two very quick horses lowered the 5 1/2-furlong track record in back-to-back races.

Race 7 that day had a firster named Willie the Cat entered to run. The WA-bred sailed to the lead and cut fractions of 21-4, 44-0, 55-4 and stopped the timer in 1:02-1. The Ron Crockett-owned runner broke the track record by 1/5th of a second and won by 1 3/4 lengths. He was trained by Tim McCanna and ridden to victory by Frank Gonsalves. Colony Lane was second and Tickletime finished third.

Thirty minutes later was an allowance race for 3-year-olds and trainer Jim Penney had entered Salt Grinder to make his 3-year-old debut with jockey Kris Prather aboard. The B.C.-bred hooked up with Bold Ranger in a nasty speed duel (21-1 and 43-4 splits) and went on to win by 1 1/2 lengths and finished 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:01 2/5. Bold Ranger held second and the favorite Chief Yatahay checked in third.

Flying Notes (who won 3 stakes at the 2002 meet and was named horse of the meeting) won the next race – the 9th – in 1:02 4/5 for the 5 1/2-furlong distance!

Both Willie the Cat and Salt Grinder had terrific careers at the Auburn oval, each winning two stakes races apiece.

 

 

 

First week at EmD in the books

Wrapping up Week 1:

Cat on Base blazed 5½ furlongs in 1:01 1/5 on Saturday. He’s the third horse at EmD to run 1:01 1/5. The other two were Willie the Cat (2004) and The Great Face (2007).

Top performances

Cat on Base (WA)  – Cruised to a big score tying track record for 5½ furlongs. (Howard Belvoir trainer).

Champali Lace (KY) – Exploded going into the turn to post an authoritative victory in a very, very quick 1:01 4/5 for 5½ furlongs. She was 9¾ lengths clear at the wire. (Junior Coffey trainer).

Colonel Courtney (KY) – The 12-year-old won his EmD debut and has now won at 10 different racetracks. His mile time was a snappy 1:35 4/5. (Trainer G. Dharma Khalsa).

Royal Moses (WA) – Made a big splash in his 3-year-old debut with a bold late run to get the money for the first time in his career. (Trainer Tim Harder).

Kool Comic (CA) – Dug in to win a three-horse photo after dueling on the lead throughout (Trainer Jim Nunnally).

Perfect Pie (KY) – Took care of business in her 5-year-old debut, beating 4-5 favorite Feeling Fancy by 2 ½ lengths in wire-to-wire fashion (Trainer Chris Stenslie).

Advancement (KY) – Wired six others in 1:02 flat for 5½ furlongs (Howard Belvoir trainer).

The Chalk rolls to the winner’s circle

The betting favorite ended up winning 16 of the 26 races contested over the weekend. That’s 62% with four others finishing second. The favorite was 7-8 on opening night and won five of the first six on Saturday.

Longshot winner – a familiar face

Leonel Camacho-Flores was the only rider to guide a 10/1+ shot to the winner’s circle. He did Sunday aboard Wave Rider in the feature race. Camacho-Flores led all jockeys last year with 10 wins aboard longshot runners. The other 62 lost with 13 finishing second or third.

EmD opens for the 17th time

Starting today I’ll give daily selections. You can find the picks on the right side under selections.

I made a public pick for every race Emerald Downs ever contested. From 1996 to last year, my selections were published in The Seattle Times newspaper.

I have a wealth of data on racing at the Auburn oval and spend hours watching race replays.

Opening day tidbits:

TRAINERS

Howard Belvoir has won 14 races on opening day, Tim McCanna is second with 10. Belvoir has 8 entered and he’s had terrific success on opening day winning at 19.2% and showing a $2.72 ROI.

Charlie Essex has five entered and he sits at 198 lifetime wins at EmD.

JOCKEYS

Gallyn Mitchell has made 12 trips to the winner’s circle on the first day of the meet. Juan Gutierrez is next best with eight.

Last year’s leading rider Leslie Mawing enters today with 398 lifetime wins at EmD. He has five mounts today.

Miguel Perez has the record for most wins on an opening day card – FIVE on 4/15/2000.

I will be tweeting on happenings at the track all meet. Follow @GaryDougherty.

Enjoy the 2012 opener as the weather will be beautiful.

Good Luck,

Gary Dougherty

 

 

 

 

Tough Knight blitzes rivals at Longacres

April 12, 1987

Tough Knight made his 3-year-old debut 25 years ago today in the William E. Boeing Stakes at Longacres.

What a smasher it was.

The maiden blitzed seven rivals, winning by 10 lengths in the 5 ½-furlong dash.

The 2-1 favorite was ridden by Corey Black and trained by Mike Chambers.

Tough Knight was sired by Knights Choice and was bred by John Roche in Yakima. Roche owned the fleet runner in partnership with Lawrence Wright and George Cross, also of Yakima.

Tough Knight would run just two more times in his career. He won the Tacoma Handicap and the Joshua Green Cup that same year at Longacres.

He took the Tacoma by 8 lengths and the Joshua Green by 3.

“He’s the best I’ve ever ridden,” winning rider Jose Corrales said to the local media after the Joshua Green Cup victory. “He gives you everything without asking.”

He had only three opponents in the Joshua Green and the last time Longacres had a race with four runners occurred in 1961.

Tough Knight went on to a solid stud career. He sired 19 stakes winners, including WA champion Tough to Crack and his runners made over $5 million in purses.

April 9, 2010 EmD Opening Day

Polish Dollar breezes to a “W” in the first race of the day and the Brad Varner-trained gelding would ring-up four wins at the meet. Debbie Hoonan becomes first jockey to win the first two races at an Emerald Downs meet.

Classielyte wins the 5th race, his first of five at the stand. He’s named top claimer of the meeting.

No Flies On Doodle doesn’t disappoint in the feature race of the night for trainer Vann Belvoir, who matches his dad with three wins on the first day of thee meet.

The WA-bred Sis’s Sis, owned by Mike & Amy Feuerborn, starts her big 3-year-old season with a hard-earned victory.

Emerald Downs

Frank Lucarelli tries to win consecutive trainer titles as Emerald Downs opens next Friday

Sonics hung 140 on the Nuggets 30 years ago today

April 4, 1982

The Supes easily defeated the Denver Nuggets 140-116 in front of 32,403 at the Kingdome. Jack SIkma led the way with 29 points.

Six other Sonics scored in double-figures: Bill Hanzlik 25, Gus Williams 19, Lonnie Shelton 16, Fred Brown 14, James Donaldson 13 and Wally Walker 10.

The Sonics improved to 48-26 on the season.

Denver was led by the 25 points by Dan Issel.

The Sonic score by quarter: 34-36-34-36.

Longacres Opens! April Fools

The Renton oval did open for the very last time on April 1, 1992. Exactly 20 years ago today.

With the sun out, a record opening day crowd of 18,559 packed into the house that Joe Gottstein built back in 1933.

The statewide handle was a robust $1.98 million on the 59^th and final opening day of racing at Longacres.

Jockey Gary Boulanger won the $40,800 E. R. A. Express Handicap aboard Broadway’s Top Gun. The 4-year-old rallied from last of 11, winning the 5 ½-furlong dash by a ½-length.

“Whether it’s the last year or the second-to-last year here, we’re not going to have a funeral procession,” said Lonny Powell,  COO of the group that operates Longacres, the Emerald Racing Association. “When the last day comes, it’s going to be a celebration.”

Broadway’s Top Gun, trained by Renton HS grad Mike Puhich, beat a solid group that included horses that combined to win 98 races and over two million in purses.

Barbaric Pleasure finished second, Snipledo third while the 2-1 favorite Time to Pass ended up seventh.

OPENING DAY WINNERS

Race 1 – Proud Drou 7-1 (Frank Gonsalves, Ron Glatt, K-4 Tuna Stable)

Race 2 – Bypassbobby 7/2 (Vicky Aragon, Ron Glatt, K-4 Tuna Stable)

Race 3 – Sniper 18-1 (Larry Lacoursiere, Bill Tollett, B. Hodkin & A. Conley)

Race 4 – State of Art 14-1 (Mark Hanna, Tanya Street, Shady Valley Ranch & Medallion Farms)

Race 5 –Gallently Happy 16-1 (Brian Eide, Roy Lumm, Emerald Acres Stable)

Race 6 – Karla’s Darlin 19-1 (Brian Eide, Terry Vincent, Wayne Hill)

Race 7 – Super Image 3-1 (Gary Baze, Ben Harris, George Layman, Jr.)

Race 8 – Takeagiantstep 4/5 (Jesus Castanon, Mark Molina, Mary Caldwell)

Race 9 – Peterhof’s Patea 9/5 (Tim Doocy, Bud Klokstad, Patty Strait & Roger Williams)

Race 10 – Broadway’s Top Gun 7/2 (Gary Boulanger, Mike Puhich, Romi Stables)

Race 11 – Double Absolute 4-1 (Dave Patton, Neil Knapp, Ron, John & David Taylor)

“The trees, the atmosphere, the beauty,” said trainer Dan Kenney to the opening day media. “It doesn’t come back immediately. Even if they get a new track, it’ll take 20 years to get the beauty out of it.”