Win Place Show

September has arrived and the EmD schedule is Saturday-Sunday for the final three weekends of live racing. This Sunday, Sept. 3, is “Italian Day” with the usual Italian music, dancing, food/beverage and the popular Sorelli Pizza Eating Contest. Sorelli’s owner/operator Kelly Dougan joins Joe, Vince and Bill – talking pizza and horse racing. Prominent breeder/owner Keith Swagerty joins the crew to speak about an exciting future home for Emerald Downs all-time top winning horse, the Swagerty-bred Mike Man’s Gold. The 26-time winner will head to Kentucky later this month and his permanent home. Jockey Alex Cruz is on track to become the first rider to win four consecutive titles at a major Washington track that includes Longacres, Playfair and Yakima Meadows. Plenty of other stats, too, and the usual sports shorts, selection and trivia.

More great racing and entertainment this weekend at Emerald Downs! It’s our final Fab Friday, August 25, with its food/beverage specials and horseshoe toss sponsored by the Seattle T-Birds and KJR radio. Sunday offers two Washington Cup stakes races – one for juvenile colts/geldings, the other for two-year-old fillies. And, Sunday is Wiener Dog Day at the races – the doggies that started it all! Joe, Vince and Bill’s guests are Longacres Mile winning trainer Grant Forster and three-time EmD jockey champ Rocco Bowen. Forster is back at his Midwest base and Bowen will be here Sunday, riding two top chances in the Washington Cup stakes. “Sport Shorts,” selections and an easier trivia question, too, on “Horseracing NW.”

A memorable “Mile Day” is followed this weekend with three days of racing, including the meet’s two Quarter Horse stakes races. Plus, Sunday is “T-Rex Day” at the track. EmD is on a historical mission to find the top T-Rex runner going back tens of thousands of years! There’s going to be several heats, a championship dash and a T-Rex kids race too. All T-Rex’s get in free on Sunday. WTBOA President Dana Halvorson joins Joe, Vince and Bill for this week’s ‘cast. Halvorson and WTBOA staff put on the annual Summer Yearling Sale, next Tuesday, August 22 at 1 pm. Many highlights in this year’s sale including the first yearlings sired by 2018 Longacres Mile champion Barkley, a half-brother to Slew’s Tiz Whiz and a full brother to last month’s Sanford Stakes winner at Saratoga.

The race of the year is Sunday at Emerald Downs, the $150,000 Longacres Mile! Defending champion Slew’s Tiz Whiz is the morning-line favorite at 9/5 over Five Star General at 2-1. Friday night racing at 7 pm while Saturday begins just after 5 pm with the 2023 Washington Hall of Fame ceremony preceding racing. “Groove Nation” performs on the fifth floor after racing on Saturday. The traditional “Railbird Rally” starts at 11:30 am on Mile day morning with racing at 2 pm. See you at Emerald Downs! Sunday is “Championship Sunday” at Emerald Downs, presented by the National Thoroughbred League. There’s an all-stakes Pick-4 wager, concluding with the 88th Longacres Mile. Mile historian and handicapper Jon White joins Joe, Vince and Bill as does Bill Rapaport to speak to the up-and-coming National Thoroughbred League.

August has arrived and Emerald Downs is just over a week away from the 88th Longacres Mile! It’s Championship Sunday on August 13 with $150,000 Mile and three other $50,000 stakes – Emerald Distaff, Muckleshoot Derby and Washington Oaks. This Sunday, the track’s top juveniles are in action in the $50,000 WTBOA Lads and Lassies, for colt and fillies respectively. This weekend, enjoy a trip back in time. Sunday is “Turn Back the Clock” day, with a theme of 1970s Longacres in effect. Admission is just $3.00 with 70s music, racing videos, pictures and interviews remembering that era. Longacres all-time top jockey Gary Baze will be present and he, as well as Dean Mazzuca, joined Joe, Vince and Bill on the podcast.

The Longacres Mile is just three weeks away and further positioning for local starters happens this Sunday in the Governor’s Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs. Defending champion Slew’s Tiz Whiz is back after a furious runner-up finish in his seasonal debut June 25. Bridleuptothebar won that Budweiser stakes last month and he’s back along with eight others. It’s a stakes doubleheader that includes the Washington State Legislators Stakes as race #4. The first of three “Breakfast At the Wire” shows is this Sunday at 8 am on track level. It goes from 8-10 am and a free breakfast burrito is available for all attendees. Horse owner Dean Mazzuca is the affable host. Saturday night, first race is 5 pm and it’s "Ladies Night" at the races. Free admission for all gals, a complimentary chocolate bar upon entry and prize drawings for the distaffers, too. Sunday, one of the biggest attendances of the year, it’s Corgi Day at EmD!

This week’s “Horseracing NW” reviews and previews events on the track at Emerald Downs. Grant Forster, trainer of Five Star General, is the guest. Five Star General, with three placings in the Mile, 2020-21-22, comes back from the Midwest where he’s had another very productive season. Forster won the Mile in 2005 with 60-1 No Giveaway. There’s another EmD stakes doubleheader on Sunday with previous three-year-old stakes winners returning - Aloha Breeze is back in the Kent Stakes while Clovis Connection heads the field in the Irish Day Stakes. It’s “Equine Art” week at Emerald Downs. Displayed on Track Level through Sunday afternoon, it’s art with the horse as the central theme, in many different mediums. Co-chairperson Anne Sweet adds more details including that all art is free to view and able to be purchased. Saturday is British Night with live music and Sunday is Irish Day, food and drink specials each day.

The Emerald Downs racing surface plays host to the fastest two-year-olds in the northwest Sunday with the running of the King County Express and Angie C. Stakes for colts and geldings and fillies, respectively. Both races are at 5 1/2 furlongs with a purse of $50,000. Post time Sunday is 2 pm. Post time for Friday night is 7 pm while Saturday is 5 pm. Top national handicapper Chris Larmey is the guest, the Washington native speaks to the two podcasts he's involved with. This weekend is a Family Fun Weekend at Emerald Downs and the younger fans get another chance on the track in Sunday’s Kids Dash. Free ice cream for all participants! Next week, Equine Art 2023 begins on Thursday evening and runs through Sunday, July 16. “Breakfast At the Wire,” begins Sunday, July 23 at 8 am near the Paddock Grille on Track Level.

This week’s show recaps the top performances of last weekend in the Hastings Stakes and Budweiser stakes. Breeder/owner Holly Rydman of Bridleuptothebar, Budweiser winner, joins Joe, Vince and Bill. Also a guest is Steve Butler from Everett, the first winner ever in a “Grandparents Race,” last Sunday at EmD. Sport shorts, selections and trivia on “Horseracing NW.” Emerald Downs live racing schedule for this holiday weekend is: Saturday, first race 5 pm; Sunday, first race 2 pm; Monday, July 3, first race 5 pm. Gates open Monday at 12:00 noon with the Fireworks Spectacular after racing. Some July 3 tickets available at emeralddowns.com. The track is open seven days a week for full card simulcasting.

It’s a three-day weekend of great action at Emerald Downs! Friday night racing begins at 7pm with the first “$1,000 Horseshoe Toss” of the season. It’s free to sign up, turn in your entry black before post time of the the 3rd race. It’s also the first “Grandparents Weekend” themed promotion at EmD, all grandparents get in free on Saturday and Sunday. There’s a grandparents race down the stretch on Sunday, too. Racing excitement on tap this Sunday with the Hastings Stakes for fillies and mares and the Budweiser Stakes for four-year-olds and up. Both races are six furlongs. The Bud drew 12 horses including the return of 2022 Washington Horse of the Year Slew’s Tiz Whiz. Roy Brewer, a member of Slew’s Crew Racing, owners of Slew’s Tiz Whiz, joins Joe, Vince and Bill on the podcast. Last week’s trivia too tough? Try this week on Horseracing NW.