Red Ridge overcame a poor start and rallied for a 2 ¼-length victory Friday in the $14,900 Muckleshoot Casino Purse for 3-year-olds at Emerald Downs.
Under a heady ride by Javier Matias, Red Ridge overcame a 15-length deficit while running one mile in 1:38.73, and paid $7, $5.20 and $3.60. Howard Belvoir is the trainer and co-owner with Pegasus Too (Ray Loftis).
Bolshoi’s Bluff, ridden by Leonel Camacho-Flores, closed strongly for second and paid $8.60 and $5. Relatively Fast, Eliska Kubinova riding, finished third and paid $3.60.
Wine At Nine, 9-to-5 favorite Moby, Cadenza and Brewingtheblue completed the order of finish.
A 3-year-old Washington-bred colt, Red Ridge is 2-1-0 in five starts with earnings of $18,045, including $8,195 for Friday’s victory.
A victory appeared unlikely for a while Friday. Breaking from the No. 2 post, Red Ridge was off a step slow, and instead of being on the lead dropped back to last place, over 15 lengths off the pace, as Cadenza and Moby contested the lead through fractions of:23.34, :46.65 and 1:11.98.
Red Ridge saved ground while gathering steam on the last turn, angled to the outside into the lane, and closed with a rush to nail the leaders and win going away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7TzKmTPCUY
NOTES: Betting favorites were blanked Friday—going 0-for-7—and the winning $2 win mutuels were, in order, $8.20, $10.40, $12.40, $12.60, $13.60, $7 and $20.60. . .Nevertheless, three sharp handicappers nailed the $0.50 Pick 5 for $2,373.30 apiece. . .Leading rider Julien Couton rode two winners—already his 13th multiple win day of the meet—to extend his lead to 37-32 over Juan Gutierrez atop the jockeys’ standings. . .Joe Steiner also rode two winners and is 21-for-88 at the meet, a nifty 23.8 percent winners. . .Steiner’s second win Friday was aboard Gold Boom ($20.60) in race seven, the same horse that gave him his 1,000th career winner April 19. . .Sun City continues to fire bullets at Emerald Downs, the 11-year-old mare coming off the bench for a second-place finish in Friday’s third race won by B B’s Quick Action($12.40). Owned and trained by Joe Toye throughout her 128-race career, the Washington-bred daughter ofSnowbound has 23 wins, 33 seconds and 19 thirds, with earnings of $197,633. . .Seven different trainers had wins Friday. Belvoir’s win with Red Ridge moved him into third place at the meet with 11 wins. A member of the Washington Racing Hall of Fame, Belvoir also is No. 3 all-time with 669 wins at Emerald Downs. . .Live racing continues Saturday with a 10-race program at 2 p.m.
