Orito nailed Prayer for Da Bric in the final stride for a neck victory Friday in the $14,375 Coca-Cola Purse for 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs. Ridden by Ronald Richard, Orito ran six furlongs in 1:09.89 and paid $6, $3.80 and $3. Terry Gillihan is the winning trainer and co-owner with William & DiMitri Sandeman of Shoreline, Wash.
In fourth place early, Orito angled off the rail in mid-stretch and wore down Prayer for Da Bric in the last jump. A Washington-bred by Private Gold, Orito has two wins at the meet and is 3-1-2 in eight starts lifetime with earnings of $32,658.
Prayer for Da Bric, ridden by Isaias Enriquez, took the lead in the opening strides and just missed a gate-to-wire victory. The runner-up paid $4 and $2.40.
Orito and Prayer for Da Bric were co-choices at 2-to-1 odds, although Prayer for Da Bric, with $65 more dollars, was technically the betting favorite.
On the Turn, a maiden ridden by Leonel Camacho-Flores, was 2 ½ lengths back in third place and paid $4.80. The Tom Squad, So Legit, Troop Ship and Bones Zee completed the order of finish.
NOTES: Richard and Leslie Mawing each rode two winners Friday. . .Poly Squat ($7.40) won the seventh race with a late surge to become the meet’s fifth four-time winner. A 5-year-old Raise the Bluff mare trained by Chris Stenslie and owned by One Horse Will Do Corp. and Dr. Mike Konecny, Poly Squat is 4-2-1 in 10 starts at the meet, and joined He’s a Cruiser (5 wins), Charlie’s Gold (4), Mr. Top Kat (4) and Cha Cha Latte (4) as horses with four wins at the meet. . .Doris Harwood, needing one victory to become the fifth trainer with 500 wins at Emerald Downs, did everything but achieve the milestone Friday. In race two, Three Olives Later led to deep stretch but was tagged late by Dr. Dr. Kate ($4.40). In race three, Suddenly Adele appeared home free past mid-stretch before yielding late to One Smart Girl ($28.20) and Silly Streak. Harwood’s next chance for 500 is Sunday when she has three horses entered on the 11-race Longacres Mile day card. . .Live racing continues Saturday with an eight-race program at 2:15 p.m.
