Runner-up in the race a year ago, Kool Odds took down the top prize Sunday in the ninth running of the $61,200 Bank of America Emerald Downs Championship Challenge at Emerald Downs.<\/p>\n
Ridden by Naka Ramirez – the first woman rider to win the race – Kool Odds finished a neck in front of For Sweet Jess, with 6-to-5 betting favorite Cm Boom Shakalaka three-quarters of a length back in third place.<\/p>\n
Kool Odds ran 440 yards in :22.02 and paid $7.60, $5.20 and $2.80. Mark Hanson of Chubbuck, Idaho is the winning trainer and co-owner with Robin Dunn of Rigby, Idaho.<\/p>\n
The victory capped a big afternoon for Hanson and Dunn, who also teamed with Thrill of the Cartel to win the $35,000 John Deere Juvenile Challenge for 2-year-old quarter horses.<\/p>\n
A native of Blackfoot, Idaho, Ramirez said she was grateful to ride Kool Odds in place of Nikeela Black, the jockey who rode the gelding to a runner-up finish last year and subsequently suffered severe injuries in a spill in eastern Idaho.<\/p>\n
“Last year when Nikeela rode him, (Kool Odds) ran a phenomenal race,” Ramirez said. “When he switched gears today, he just took off.”<\/p>\n
Racing on the far outside, Kool Odds led all the way and held off 19-to-1 long shot For Sweet Jess for the victory.<\/p>\n
A 4-year-old California-bred by Favorite Cartel, Kool Odds earned $26,322 and is 6-4-2 in 14 starts with earnings of $74,013. He also won the $50,000 Sandy Downs Championship Challenge last month in Idaho Falls.<\/p>\n
For Sweet Jess, ridden by Alex Anaya, dueled with the winner from gate to wire and paid $13 and $5, while Cm Boom Shakalaka, the fastest qualifier three weeks ago, held third under Javier Matias and paid $2.20.<\/p>\n
Rounding out the order of finish were L Bar D Razle Dazle, Favorite Bling, Wagonfullofdividends, Love to Reason Br, L Bar D Genuine Red, Tickle Ur Fancy and I Aint Callin.<\/p>\n
With the victory, Kool Odds earned a berth in the $250,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship (Grade 1) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Albuquerque Downs.<\/p>\n
Thrill of the Cartel captrures John Deere Juvenile<\/strong><\/p>\n Thrill of the Cartel tagged John Carter Cash and Senor Frogs in the final strides and scored a head victory in the $35,000 John Deere Juvenile Challenge for 2-year-old quarter horses.<\/p>\n Ridden by Jesus Canales, the winner ran 350 yards in :18.26 and paid $13.40, $4.80 and $4.60. Mark Hanson is the trainer for owners Hanson Racing of Chubbuck, Idaho, and Kevin and Robin Dunn of Rigby, Idaho.<\/p>\n A Texas-bred gelding by Favorite Cartel, Thrill of the Cartel earned $16,785 and is 3-0-1 in five starts with total earnings of $25,160.<\/p>\n John Carter Cash, the 6-to-5 favorite, finished second but was disqualified and placed fifth for interference leaving the starting gate.<\/p>\n Senor Frogs, 8-to-5 second choice, finished third and was elevated to second and paid $2.80 and $2.60. Royal Pay Bac finished fourth and was placed third and paid $9 to show.<\/p>\n Cm Once Ina Bluemoon wins distance challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n Heavily favored Cm Once Ina Bluemoon and jockey Javier Matias overcame the outside post and led gate to wire for a 3¼-length victory in the $23,000 Emerald Distance Challenge Stakes for older quarter horses.<\/p>\n Owned and trained by Nick Lowe of Ridgefield, Cm Once Ina Bluemoon ran 870 yards in :45.94 and paid $3.40, $2.40 and $2.10.<\/p>\n Breaking alertly from post No. 7, Cm Once Ina Bluemoon quickly cleared the field and found the rail, turned back L Bar D Bonnie Lee into the lane, and won with authority.<\/p>\n A 4-year-old Oregon-bred by Ivory James, Cm Once Ina Bluemoon is 2 for 2 at the meet and 9-5-4 in 26 starts lifetime. Sunday’s victory, worth $11,271, upped his bankroll to $64,771.<\/p>\n Heza Gamer finished second and paid $3.60 and $2.40, and L Bar D Bonnie Lee finished third and paid $2.40. Snowbound Preacher, Flyin Rocks, Jealous Jess and Candy Secret rounded out the order of finish.<\/p>\n Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n General Mach Four ($2.60) and Das Bear ($3.20) – both trained by Jorge Rosales – became the first five-time winners at the meet with victories in Sunday’s third and seventh races. Eddie Martinez rode both and is 17 for 53 this season combined with Rosales. … Kevin Krigger also rode two winners and has 21 wins in 12 days since arriving from Ohio earlier this month. … Washington Oaks winner Killarney Lass breezed three furlongs in :37 2\/5 Sunday and is being pointed to the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks on Saturday, Sept. 7. A victory in the 1 1\/8 mile B.C. Oaks would earn a $25,000 bonus being offered for a sweep of the Washington Oaks and B.C. Oaks. … Live racing resumes Friday with first post 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gelding from Idaho goes gate to wire in 440-yard showdown <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":41983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-41982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41982"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=41982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}