Malibu Rum upped his lifetime record to 4-for-8 Friday with a convincing 3-½-length victory over Buddy Dave in the featured Johnsonville Purse for older 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs.

With Debbie Hoonan riding, Malibu Rum ran 5-½ furlongs in 1:02.66 on a sloppy track and paid $6.40, $3 and $2.10. Dan Markle is the trainer for owners Sue and Tim Spooner of Olympia, Wash.

A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding, Malibu Rum is now 3-for-7 at Emerald Downs for his current connections. The son of Grade 1-winning sprinter Kela began his career in 2009 at Hollywood Park with a gigantic 49-to-1 upset in a maiden $32,000 claiming race.

Friday, Malibu Rum powered to the lead into the lane, drew clear and won with complete authority. The winner’s share of $4,895 increased Malibu Rim’s career earnings to $26,898 for the Spooners, who rank No. 3 all-time with 141 wins at Emerald Downs.

The hard-trying Buddy Dave, winner of six races at Emerald Downs in 2011, ran well in his yearly debut while rallying into second place. Ridden by Leonel Camacho-Flores, Buddy Dave paid $2.80 and $2.20.
Sasha B, the 7-to-5 betting favorite ridden by Eliska Kubinova, held on to third place and paid $2.20. Win Photos Will Do and Its All About Jake completed the order of finish.

In the $0.50 Pick 5, buoyed by a carryover of $8,645, tickets with five winners paid $5,644.55.

NOTES: Win Photos Will Do was claimed for $7,500 by Hern/LePley Racing and Gordy Jarnig and will now be trained by Tim McCanna*William Antongeorgi, unseated from A K Racer on the backstretch in the seventh race, was uninjured and is expected to ride Saturday, according to the stewards*Jose Zunino and Juan Gutierrez each rode two winners on the eight race card. With 881 wins at Emerald Downs, Gutierrez is five wins from tying Ricky Frazier for second place on the track’s all-time list*Cielator, a 4-year-old Washington-bred filly owned by Ron Crockett Inc., rallied to win a $29,000 Maiden Special Weight in her career debut under Russell Baze at Golden Gate Fields. By Delineator-Cielo Otono, Cielator ($10.40) ran six furlongs in 1:12.06 on the Tapeta surface and is trained by Frank Lucarelli*Live racing resumes Saturday with first post time at 2 p.m. The featured $21,500 allowance for fillies and mares features the yearly debut of 2011 Top 3-Year-Old Filly Class Included, listed at 6-to-5 on the morning line.