Chaching Pete exploded late and scored a 2 ½-length victory over Advancement in Saturday’s $9,800 Johnsonville Purse for 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs.
With apprentice jockey Eliska Kubinova riding her second of three winners Saturday, Chaching Pete ran six furlongs in 1 minute, 8.58 seconds, the second fastest time this season at the distance, and paid $14, $7.60 and $4.60. Preston Boyd is the winning owner and trainer.
Advancement, ridden by Leonel Camacho-Flores, gamely held second place and paid $7 and $4. It was neck back to Immigration, ridden by Jennifer Whitaker, and a $5 show payoff.
Howard Belvoir trains both the second and third-place finishers, and with a victory would have pulled to within one victory of Frank Lucarelli heading into Sunday’s closing day card.
Belvoir did saddle two winners on the card,
Country Square in the third and Be There Joe in the seventh, to trim Lucarelli’s lead to 52-51, but Lucarelli countered with a victory by Who’s Calling Now in the ninth, and owns a 53-51 lead into Sunday when both trainers have seven horses entered on the getaway day program.
Kubinova, a 22-year-old native of the Czech Republic, began riding at Emerald Downs three weeks ago and was one-for-18 prior to Saturday. She quadrupled that total with victories aboard Leanna’s Blast ($37.60) in the second race, Chaching Pete in the 10th and Hannibal Lector ($6.40) in the 11th and final race, which also was the final Quarter Horse race of the meeting.
Chaching Pete has been a study in consistency. The 4-year-old Petersburg gelding is 4-4-2 in 12 starts with earnings of $26,365. Saturday’s race was his first start for Boyd, who claimed the horse for $7,500 Sept. 2.
NOTES: Vann Belvoir also enjoyed a big day, scoring with long shot winners Leanna’s Blast ($37.60) and Stormin’ Patrick ($38.20). Both horses are owned by Keith Swagerty’s West Coast Racing LLC.
Jockey Leonel Camacho-Flores made it eight straight days with at least one win with a last-to-first victory aboard Platinum Stiletto ($18.60) in the sixth races.
Sunday marks closing day of the 82-day meeting with an 11-race card at 2 p.m. The ninth race is the 74th running of the $65,000 Gottstein Futurity for 2-year-olds. The five-horse field includes three colts and two fillies, with Mike and Amy Feuerborn’s Chu and I the 9-to-5 morning line favorite for trainer Jim Penney and jockey Juan Gutierrez. Also Sunday, the annual Ashbaugh-Beal Claiming Challenge for the top claimers at the track. There are 54 horses entered in the six Ashbaugh-Beal races including full fields of 12 in the fifth and sixth races.
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