Party Pooper overcame a tardy break and out-finished Swingshift Deputy and Grand Palais and scored a three-quarter-length victory Saturday in the $15,600 John Parker Racing Purse for 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs.

Ridden by Leonel Camacho-Flores, Party Pooper ran six furlongs in 1:09 flat and paid $4.60, $2.80 and $2.10.

An extremely consistent 5-year-old, Party Pooper is 4-3-3 in 10 starts at Emerald Downs and has won three straight races dating to last year.

Trained by Rigoberto Velasquez and owned by Matt Hughes, Party Pooper was claimed for $20,000 Saturday and will now race for trainer Tim McCanna and Royal Victory Thoroughbreds. A Kentucky-bred by Desert Party, Party Pooper is 5-6-4 in 16 starts lifetime with earnings of $90,962.

“We has such a good ride with this horse,” Hughes said. “Leonel Camacho-Flores and Jesse Velasquez did an awesome job, couldn’t have asked for anything better. I wish the new owner good luck.”

Grand Palais and Swingshift Deputy dueled through fractions of :21.80 for the quarter-mile and :43.92 for the half, with Party Pooper advancing into contention three deep on the turn. The stretch run turned into a three-horse battle with Party Pooper gradually reeling in Swingshift Deputy and Grand Palais for the victory.

Swingshift Deputy, ridden by apprentice Kevin Orozco, edged Grand Palais by a half-length for second and paid $4 and $2.40, and Grand Palais, ridden by Juan Gutierrez, paid $2.60.

Blue Law and He’s Cagey completed the order of finish; Eddington’s Star and Delineator Express were scratched earlier in the day.

Notes

Highly-touted first-time starter Daddyalwayssays ($4.60) caught Racy Rascal in the final stride and captured the $18,500 maiden special weight for 3-year-old fillies in 1:03.96 for 5½ furlongs on a wet-fast track. A $52,000 Sky Mesa filly, Daddyalwayssays is owned by Where We At and trained by Kay Cooper. … Howard Belvoir celebrated his 73rd birthday in style, winning the Howard Belvoir Birthday Purse with Vistarella ($6.60) in race five. … Apprentice Kevin Orozco had his streak of eight straight days with at least one victory snapped Saturday. … Rocco Bowen, Eswan Flores and Leonel Camacho-Flores rode two winners each on the eight-race card. Through 15 days of racing, Bowen leads Orozco 23-16 in the jockeys’ standings. … Roddina Barrett was the lone trainer with two wins Saturday including a breakthrough victory by Wicked Laugh ($3.60) in the nightcap. A 4-year-old Demon Warlock filly, Wicked Laugh broke her maiden in start No. 24, but the consistent filly had racked up 10 wins and five thirds before Saturday’s maiden score. … Trainer Joe Toye wasted no time picking up his first win of the meet as Angel de Amour ($13.60) rolled to a four-length victory in Saturday’s second race. It was the first start of the season for Toye, who had 16 wins at the Turf Paradise meet that concluded last Sunday…Veteran trainer Michael Bullene notched his first win of the meet as Sunshine Serenade ($27.20) raced to an easy victory under Natasha Coddington in the Saturday opener. … At Hastings Racecourse, 7-year-old Dear Lilly improved to 14-for-25 lifetime with a one-length victory in the $50,000 Vancouver Sun Stakes for older fillies and mares. … Live racing continues Sunday with the $50,000 Auburn Stakes for 3-year-old colts and geldings. First post on Mother’s Day is 2 p.m.