Perhaps a Pie wore down Ethan’s Baby in the final stride for a head victory Monday in the $25,000 Muckleshoot Casino Purse for 3-year-old fillies at Emerald Downs.
Ridden by Julien Couton—his fifth winner on the card—Perhaps a Pie ran 6 ½ furlongs in 1:15.26 and paid $4.60, $2.60 and $2.20. Chris Stenslie is the winning trainer and co-owner with One Horse Will Do Corporation and Will Brewer.
For Couton, the victory provided the exclamation point to a superb afternoon of riding. The 34-year-old Frenchman was 5-2-1 in 10 mounts Monday and became the first rider with a five-win day at the 2015 meeting, boosting his season-leading total to 85 wins.
In the feature race, Perhaps a Pie advanced four-wide into the lane, engaged Ethan’s Baby past mid-stretch, and prevailed in a hard-fought battle. A Florida-bred by Tale of Ekati-Royal Stimulus, Perhaps a Pie has three wins at the meet and is 3-0-1 in eight career starts with earnings of $45,825.
Ethan’s Baby, ridden by Javier Matias, overhauled Seeking the Light into the stretch and battled gamely to the wire, dropping a narrow decision. The runner-up paid $2.60 and $2.10.
Ethan’s Baby was a slight favorite in the wagering—she had $11,725 in the win pool, while Perhaps a Pie had $11,103 wagered to win.
Seeking the Light, ridden by Gutierrez, was 2 ½ lengths back in third and paid $2.60 to show. Sneaking a Kiss and Pippa Bou Peep completed the order of finish.
NOTES: Couton’s five-win day is the 29th in track history. . .Leslie Mawing and Rocco Bowen rode two winners eachMonday and Bowen now has wins on 10 consecutive cards. . .Distinguished Miss ($8.20) took Monday’s opener to give trainer Jeff Metz his 54th win of the season. He needs 12 wins over the final nine days to tie Tim McCanna’s track record of 66 wins set in 2008. . .Canadian trainer Robert Maybin scored his first Emerald Downs victory as Lornefivehundred($12.80) nailed Chaching Pete in the final strides in Sunday’s eighth race. Lornefivehundred, a 9-year-old B.C.-bred, and Chaching Pete, an 8-year-old Washington-bred, both have 16 career victories. . .Alert Bay, coming off a third in the Longacres Mile, rolled to a powerful victory under Russell Baze in the $50,000 Rolling Green Stakes at Golden Gate Fields. The 4-year-old California-bred ran 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:42.23 and paid $4.80 as the betting favorite. . .Longacres Mile winner Stryker Phd worked five furlongs in a bullet :57.40 in advance of Sunday’s $60,000 Muckleshoot Tribal Classic at 1 1/16 miles. Entries for all six Washington Cup races including the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic will be drawn Thursday. . .Live racing resumes Friday with first post 6:45 p.m.
