Emerald Downs goes to three-day schedule, adds Sundays

There are changes coming to the live racing dates at Emerald Downs in Washington state.

Until now there was live racing on Wednesday and Thursday, but the first Sunday card of the meet will be June 20, and for the next two weeks live racing will be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

Beginning the first week of July, Wednesday will be dropped with Saturday taking over in the three-day rotation. Post time on Sundays is 2:30 p.m. Pacific. Excluding July 3, (6 p.m.) the first race on Saturdays will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday stays the same with a 6 p.m. start.

“We’ve had a lot of requests for more weekend racing, and with the state opening back up we are able to make the change,” Emerald president Phil Ziegler said. “This works especially well heading into the good summer weather.”

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Ziegler is looking forward to seeing people walking around Emerald without wearing a mask or the need to sociallly distance.

“Once someone has verified their vaccination with us, they can enjoy the races without a mask throughout most of the facility,” he said. “For popular days such as Father’s Day and July 3rd, we will limit attendance and encourage fans to purchase their tickets in advance.”

July 3 is traditionally the largest day in terms of attendance at Emerald as fans turn out in droves to watch the fireworks extravaganza. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year was the first time the popular event was not held since it began in 1998.

Wednesday feature

Missed the Boat and Candy Zip look like the main players in a $10,000 claimer that will serve as the feature on Wednesday’s eight-race card. Washington-breds can run for $12,500 in the six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up that drew nine horses. It goes as race 7.

Missed the Boat is a four-time winner at Emerald and is coming off a fourth-place finish in an $8,000 starter race on May 21 at Golden Gate Fields. The 5-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding was making his first start for trainer Blaine Wright, who took him for $6,250 on May 7.

Wright has a 27 percent strike rate and $1.69 return on investment with horses second off the claim over the past five years. Plus, the veteran conditioner is off to a strong start at the meet, winning with three of his six starters.

Missed the Boat will break from post 5 and will likely stalk with Irving Orozco riding.

Candy Zip, trained by Robert Bean, is coming off a runner-up finish going 5 1/2 furlongs in a $10,000 starter race with a $15,000 claiming option in his first start at Emerald on May 26. A 6-year-old New York-bred son of Sidney’s Candy, Candy Zip raced just twice last year – winning going 870 yards in a $10,000 claimer also open to Quarter Horses on May 23 at Los Alamitos and repeating in an $8,000 conditioned claimer for Thoroughbreds on June 28.

Candy Zip could take a big step forward with a race under his belt and with his decent speed figures to get a nice trip from a forward position. He will break from post 7 with Juan Gutierrez riding.