Doll wins Lindy Award; Martinez, Pimentel are Durkan co-winners | Emerald Downs

Jockey Connie Doll and trainers David Martinez and Martin Pimentel will receive special awards when Emerald Downs completes its 18th season of Thoroughbred racing this weekend.

Jockey Connie Doll and trainers David Martinez and Martin Pimentel will receive special awards when Emerald Downs completes its 18th season of Thoroughbred racing this weekend.

Doll is to receive the Lindy Award, named in honor of the legendary Clerk of Scales Lindy Aliment, while Martinez and Pimentel are co-honorees of the Martin Durkan Award, named in honor of the late state senator and longtime proponent for Thoroughbred racing in Washington.

Both awards will be presented during Saturday’s 11-race card.

Voted by the jockeys, the Lindy Award honors accomplishment and sportsmanship throughout the 2013 meeting, at which the 54-year-old Doll has ridden six winners (five Thoroughbred, one Quarter Horse) while setting a good example for her peers, including a large contingent of seven female riders.

A native of Ravensdale, Doll has ridden in recognized races since 1976, a 37-year career in which she has won multiple riding titles on the state’s Blue Mountain circuit of Sun Downs, Walla Walla, Dayton and Waitsburg. Doll also won titles at Harbor Park (Elma) and Kalispell, Mont., and has enjoyed success riding Arabians and Quarter Horses, in addition to Thoroughbreds.

The Martin Durkan Award, chosen by Director of Racing Bret Anderson and staff, honors trainers that exhibit leadership, cooperation, sportsmanship and excellence on and off the track throughout the 75-day meeting.

A 35-year-old native of Hidalgo, Mexico, Martinez has enjoyed a 15-win season including victories by 3-year-old gelding Mike Man’s Gold in the $50,000 Seattle Slew Handicap and 4-year-old gelding Until You in a $30,000 allowance race. Owned by Coal Creek Farm, Until You also gave Martinez his first starter in the Longacres Mile, finishing seventh in the race won by Herbie D. Martinez branched out two years ago, after stints with Vann Belvoir as assistant trainer and Howard Belvoir as groom.

A 46-year-old native of Michoacan, Mexico, Pimentel is a popular backstretch figure and has been instrumental in helping the track’s Quarter Horse racing program. A longtime assistant to the late Craig Roberts, Pimentel began his career in Southern California with trainer Jay Robbins in 1983. Coincidentally, Pimentel earned Trainer of The week honors for September 20-22, compiling a 2-2-0 record in five starts.