Emerald Downs Racetrack & Casino begins a new era Saturday when live racing begins with a seven-race program followed by an opening night fireworks show. First post is 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
The 70-day season features 32 stakes worth an aggregate $1.7 million including the 82nd running of the $200,000 Longacres Mile (Grade 3) on Sunday, Aug. 13.<\/p>\n
The 2017 season also marks the opening of a completely remodeled fifth floor that includes 15 card tables, sports bar, deluxe simulcast area and café. The Clubhouse Casino is open 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, including late night racing from Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Los Alamitos and Cal Expo Harness.<\/p>\n
“In addition to playing their favorite table games, guests can wager on horse racing from around the world,” said Emerald Downs Racetrack & Casino President Phil Ziegler. “The entire fifth floor is amazing.”<\/p>\n
On the racetrack, jockey Rocco Bowen is back to defend his 2016 riding title. A 27-year-old native of Barbados, Bowen won 110 races here in 2016 – 40 better than runner-up Leslie Mawing – but said he takes nothing for granted in 2017.<\/p>\n
“It’s great to be the defending champion, but we’re all starting off level,” Bowen said. “We all have zero wins on opening day.”<\/p>\n
Bowen, who said his goal is to be a top rider in Southern California, enjoyed a successful stint this winter at Golden Gate Fields, cracking the top five with 23 wins before heading north to prepare for Emerald Downs.<\/p>\n
Blaine Wright, who posted an exceptional 28.6 win percentage in 2016, is back to defend his training title. Wright won 39 races last year to dethrone three-time defending champion Jeff Metz and five-time Emerald Downs champion Frank Lucarelli, who tied for second at 37 wins each.<\/p>\n
Tim McCanna, No. 1 all-time with 920 wins at Emerald Downs, also has a string of runners here, as do Lucarelli (No. 2 all-time with 874), Howard Belvoir (No. 3, 717), Doris Harwood (No. 5, 525), Roy Lumm (No. 6, 418), Dan Markle (No. 8, 351) and Tom Wenzel (No. 10, 349).<\/p>\n
Top returning horses include 2016 triple stakes winners Barkley and So Lucky, the former a top contender for this year’s Longacres Mile and the latter a prime candidate in the 3-year-old stakes series.<\/p>\n
Other returnees include Blazinbeauty, a 3-year-old filly who defeated males while knocking So Lucky from the undefeated ranks in the Gottstein Futurity, and He’s Cagey, a 7-year-old that led the meet with six wins and was voted Top Claimer.<\/p>\n
The $50,000 Seattle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs is the meet’s first stakes on Sunday, May 7.<\/p>\n
Regular first post is 2 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and 6:30 p.m. on Fridays (beginning April 21). Saturday night racing returns in July with 6:30 p.m. posts on July 8, 15, 22 and 29. And the annual Fireworks Spectacular features a 5 p.m. post on Monday, July 3.<\/p>\n