Kind of Naughty held off The Gang and I and scored a half-length victory Friday in the $15,850 Ashbaugh Beal Purse for older fillies and mares at Emerald Downs.
Ridden by Isaias Enriquez, Kind of Naughty ran six furlongs ion 1:09.29 and paid $11.20, $5 and $3.60. Frank Lucarelli is the trainer for owners Chris Randall and Nick Rossi.
The victory lifted Lucarelli, the two time defending training champion, into a 30-29 lead over Jeff Metz atop the trainers’ standings.
Hustled to the lead from the inside post-position, Kind of Naughty dueled with Sis’s Sis through fractions of :22.04 and :44.36, shook clear past mid-stretch, and was fully extended to prevail.
A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Songandaprayer. Kind of Naughty has won three of five starts at the meet including two straight feature races, and is 4-3-2 in 15 starts overall with earnings of $67,747.
The Gang and I, ridden by Eliska Kubinova, stalked the leaders into the lane and rallied strongly for second place. The Gang and I paid $5.60 and $3.40. Perfect Pie finished third, paid $2.60, and was followed by Maggie’s Special, Sis’s Sis and Seventyprcentcocoa.
WASSY BACK ON TOP!
The track’s all-time leading money earner scored his first win of 2013 when Wasserman notched a dramatic victory over Bleu Tarp in race six for older $12,500 claimers.
Under regular rider Jennifer Whitaker, the 11-year-old Wasserman stuck his neck out and nailed Bleu Tarp in the final strides for a half-length victory, covering 6 ½ furlongs in 1:15.67.
Owned, trained and bred by Howard Belvoir, Wasserman paid $12.60 as the fourth choice.
Wasserman earned $6,408 for the win, increasing his track record total to $574,899*a large portion earned during his amazing 2008 Horse of the Meeting campaign that included four stakes wins and the Grade 3 Longacres Mile.
A Washington-bred by Cahill Road-Share the Knight, Wasserman has wins in eight different seasons and is 13-13-13 in 71 career starts at Emerald Downs.
Whitaker*who is estimated to have ridden Wasserman 2,000 times including jogs, gallops, workouts and races*said the key was getting Wasserman into contention earlier in the race.
“He didn’t have as much to do tonight,” Whitaker said. “He was in striking distance at the quarter-pole, and that’s how he has to do it.”
Including 13 races at other tracks, Wasserman has earned $598,966, good for sixth on the all-time list of Washington-breds.
Whitaker and Belvoir are on quite a roll, as they combined for three wins last Sunday. And on August 17, the night before the $200,000 Longacres Mile (G3), Belvoir will be enshrined into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame.
NOTES: Lorenzo Lopez rode two winners on the eight-race card*Defend Liberty ($36) in race two and Sheza Silver Moon ($6.40) in the nightcap*Juan Gutierrez and Enriquez each rode a winner and Gutierrez maintains a 72-71 lead over Enriquez atop the jockeys’ standings*Live racing continues Saturday with first post 2:15 p.m. The 34th running of the $65,000 Washington Oaks goes as Race 9 with unbeaten Stopshoppingdebbie 1-to-2 on the morning line as she seeks to cap a sweep of the 3-year-old filly division.
