Eyes On My Heart, perfectly rated by jockey Francisco Duran, held off stable mate Escorted and notched a 2 ¾ -length victory Friday in the featured Morgan Stanley, Chad Stalder Purse for 3-year-old fillies at Emerald Downs.
Eyes On My Heart ran one mile in 1 minute, 37 seconds on a fast track and paid $9.80, $4.40 and $3.20.
Duran, winding down a successful first season at Emerald Downs, guided Eyes On My Heart through fractions of 24 1/5, 48 3/5, 1:12 4/5 and 1:24 1/5 en route to the victory.
Escorted, the 6-to-5 betting favorite ridden by Kevin Krigger, chased the winner throughout and settled for second place. Escorted paid $3 and $2.20. Vann Belvoir trains both the winner and runner-up.
Orange Sherbet, making her meet-high 12th start, rallied to finish third under Gallyn Mitchell and paid $2.80. Pistolpackin’gal, Fly Away, Amokitten and Tribute to Sissy completed the order of finish.
Eyes On My Heart has won two of her last four starts and has an overall mark of 3-1-5 in 13 starts with earnings of $18,855.
Duran rode two winners and Belvoir saddled two winners on the eight-race card. Duran has 74 wins to rank fourth in the jockeys’ standings while Belvoir has 53 wins and is second in the trainers’ standings.
News and Notes
: Friday’s fourth race was named in honor of the late trainer Allen Hoksbergen, who died of brain cancer Sept. 8.
Apprentice Leonel Camacho-Flores, who had only eight wins all season, rode three winners on the eight-race card. Camacho scored on Elvie’s Boy ($4.20) in the second, added a 20-to-1 stunner on Lonely and Free ($42) in the fourth, and completed the hat trick on Tonight At Eleven ($8.80) in the fifth.
Tim McCanna was blanked and needs four wins in the final two days to break his own single-season training mark of 66 wins.
Leading rider Ricky Frazier completed a two-day suspension and enters closing weekend with a 111-91 cushion over Juan Gutierrez…Live racing continues Saturday with an 11-race program at 2 p.m.
The first-ever Quarter Horse race at Emerald Downs—$10,000 John Deere Bonus Challenge—goes as the 11th with a full-field of 12 racing 350 yards. Snip N Dale, a 5-year-old Oregon-bred with 18 wins in 25 starts, is the 9-to-5 morning line favorite.
The 6th race, the $5,100 Blue Mountain Championship, is for horses that have competed on the Washington fair circuit. Five Star Promise is the 7-to-2 morning line favorite.
