Runaway Speed took the early lead and never looked back en route to a 9 ¾-length victory Thursday in the $12,100 Ashbaugh Beal Purse for 3-year-old fillies at Emerald Downs.
With Gallyn Mitchell riding, Runaway Speed ran one mile in 1 minute, 36 1/5 seconds on a fast main track and paid $4.20, $2.60 and $2.60. Chris Stenslie is the trainer for owners Jody Peetz and Tony Lofton.
Miss Madavor, ridden by Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo, finished second and paid $4 and $3.80. Aquatic Cat, ridden by Inoel Beato, finished third and returned $3.20.
Ms. Lavender Blue, Xi Cephei and Feels Like Rain completed the order of finish.
Silna, in second place into the stretch, veered out sharply to unseat apprentice jockey Jorge Rosales and did not finish. Neither the horse nor jockey was injured in the incident.
Runaway Speed, rated nicely through fractions of 24, 47 3/5 and 1:11 4/5, extended her lead to three lengths into the stretch, and the rout was on from there. The Florida-bred by Roar of the Tiger became the 15th horse to win three races at the 49-day-old meeting; her overall mark is 3-0-1 in six starts with earnings of $26,610
Runaway Speed, however, will have a new trainer and owner, as Vince Gibson haltered the filly for $15,000 on behalf of Iron Horse Racing LLC and Mark Simpson’s Kingsport Syndicate.
News and Notes
• Phinney Ridge, second in all four starts at the meet, finally earned his maiden victory in the first race under Ricky Frazier. Off at odds of 1-to-2, Phinney Ridge accounted for $17,156 of the $18,685 wagered to show.
• Tom Bombadil ($5) became the 16th triple winner at the meet in the nightcap under regular rider Francisco Duran. The 4-year-old California-bred gelding is one of only six horses that are 3-for-3 at the meet. Trainer Dinos Apostolou, meanwhile, continues to enjoy his finest season at Emerald Downs with five wins in only 14 starts…Frazier was excused from his final mount, Silna in the feature race, due to illness.
• Anne Von Rosen also took off her final mount, Lux Luther in the seventh race, due to soreness.
• Favorites won 4-of-7 races with Cascade Cruiser ($10.80) in the fifth race the only horse to return double digits.
• Live racing continues Friday with first post at 6 p.m.
