Giuseppe G returned to the races with a flourish Friday evening with a 5 ¼ -length victory in the $13,300 Griffin Place Purse for 3 year olds at Emerald Downs.
Leader gate to wire, Giuseppe G set fractions of :22.14, :45.14 and :57.39 en route to the victory.
He straightened into the stretch with a three-length lead and poured it on late under a hand ride. Making his first start since an unplaced finish in the 2010 Gottstein Futurity, Giuseppe G earned $7,315 for the victory.
The Matty G gelding is 2-0-1 in five starts with earnings of $17,405.
Topper’s Trooper, with Luis Torres riding, rallied to finish in second place and paid $6.80 and $7.20. It was 2-¼ lengths back to Rainier Missile, ridden by Pedro Terrero, and a $5.20 show payoff.
Tactician, the slight favorite in the wagering, pressed the pace for a half-mile before fading in the stretch and finishing in fifth place. The Washington-bred gelding by Good Reward was claimed from the race for a meet-high $25,000 by trainer Mike Puhich and owner Glen Todd.
Tactician accounted for $3,096 of the $4,583 wagered in the show pool.
NOTES: Rich Debut ($6.80) won her eighth race in 2011 with a four-length victory in the third race under Joe Crispin for trainer Rigoberto Velasquez. The 7-year-old California-bred mare took over the national lead in wins with the victory…Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo and Leslie Mawing also rode two winners on the eight-race card…Jockey Joe Crispin was excused from his final two mounts after aggravating an eye in a mishap that occurred while he was unsaddling after finishing fifth aboard Chris Go in the fifth race. Crispin apparently was hit in the eye by the strap that goes around the girth…Valid Vixen paid a meet-high $19.60 with a last-to-first score under Hoonan-Trujillo in the fourth race…A race later Best Indy West ($19.40) rallied to score at 8-1 and gave jockey Leonel Camacho-Flores his first win of the meeting. The $1 Superfecta in the fifth of 1-5-2-6 paid $3,059.60…Hard Slider ($9.40), a 3-year-old City Zip gelding that debuted last September at Emerald Downs, scored a maiden-breaking win for a $32,000 tag in Friday’s second race at Golden Gate Fields for trainer Frank Lucarelli and owners Chris Randall and Nick Rossi. Chelsea’s Fame, owned by Remmah Racing, Inc, gave Lucarelli his second win at Golden Gate with a victory in the eighth race for a $6,250 claiming price …Sun Downs in Kennewick opens its six-day meeting Saturday. Local rider with mounts Saturday and Sunday include Connie Doll, A.L. Gutierrez and Luis Torres… Live racing at Emerald Downs continues Saturday with first post at 2 p.m.
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