Sis holds on to capture $50,000 Irish Day Handicap | Emerald Downs

Sis’s Sis fought off a wall of challengers and scored a half-length victory Sunday in the $50,000 Irish Day Handicap for 3-year-old fillies at Emerald Downs.

It was the third straight win and the first stakes victory for Sis’s Sis, a Washington-bred filly by Cahill Road out of Carni Gal. With Juan Gutierrez riding at 118 pounds, Sis’s Sis ran one mile in 1-minute, 36 3/5-seconds on a sloppy track and paid $8.60, $4.80 and $3.20. Jim Penney is the trainer for owners Michael and Amy Feuerborn of Maple Valley, who paid $11,000 for the filly as a yearling in 2008.

Tapit So Lightly, a California invader ridden by Anne Von Rosen at 114 pounds, rallied inside to finish second and paid $7.80 and $5.40. It was a neck farther back to Zenovit, with Seth Martinez riding at 121 pounds., and a $4.60 show payoff.

Soul Custody, Have’n a Wild Time, Knight Raider, Ghost Girl, Runaway Speed, Private Fortune and Hearts Valentine completed the order of finish. Feeling Fancy, the 3-1 morning line favorite, was scratched earlier in the day with a foot abscess.

Ghost Girl, the 2-to-1 betting favorite, and Knight Raider, the 3-to-1 second choice, both faded after dueling for the early lead. Knight Raider, ridden by Ricky Frazier, set pressured fractions of :23, :47 1/5 and 1:11 2/5, with Ghost Girl in hot pursuit. The paid the price, as Knight Raider tired after six furlongs while Ghost Girl gave way after five furlongs.

Sis’s Sis, who had stalked the leaders, moved to the lead at the quarter-pole, was one length clear into the stretch, and gamely held off Tapit So Lightly to the wire

“I knew I had a lot of horse because I could feel it,” said Gutierrez, third all-time with 29 stakes wins at Emerald Downs. “I could hear Tapit So Lightly coming up on the inside for the last sixteenth, and I didn’t know if I was going to make it. She was pretty green last year, but she’s improved a lot. She’s a nice filly.”

Penney ranks third among trainers with 34 Emerald Downs stakes wins, and the Hall of Fame trainer is enjoying an outstanding season with 19 victories in 64 starts. However, the Irish Day Handicap marked his first stakes victory in over 21 months, or since Gallon was awarded the victory via disqualification in the 2008 Emerald Derby.

Tapit So Lightly, primarily a California campaigner though she did finish second in the Oregon Oaks at Portland Meadows, ran well in her Emerald Downs debut. She overcame a slow start and was running well in the stretch.

Sis’s Sis ran three times as a 2-year-old, winning her debut vs. $30,000 maiden claimers before finishing fifth and seventh in stakes won by Knight Raider. Her first out as a 3-year-old was a three-quarter-length victory in a $17,500 claiming race, which was followed by an allowance victory over stable mate Sweet Nellie Brown. The Irish Day victory was worth $27,500 and increased her earnings to $52,385. She has compiled a 4-0-0 mark in six starts.

NOTES: The record will have to wait for another day: West Seattle Boy, who would have been trying for a record 17th victory at Emerald Downs, was scratched from the fourth race Sunday by trainer Rigoberto Velasquez…The 2-year-old colt Marvin’s Magic appears to have a bright future for trainer Frank Lucarelli and owners Chris Randall and Rossi Racing. By Aptitude out of the triple Emerald Downs stakes winner Marva Jean, Marvin’s Magic ran 4-½ furlongs in :51 1/5 while defeating Seattle Sniper by one length…Mandurah, conditioned by former Emerald Downs trainer Grant Forster, set a world record of 1:31.23 for one mile on turf Sunday in a $50,000 starter handicap at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred by A.P. Indy, Mandurah was ridden by Alex Solis and paid $23.40…Almost Time ($16.20) rallied for a 2-¼ length victory over Teide in the $50,000 John Longden 6000 at Hastings Racecourse…Pedro Terrero owns a 30-29 lead over Ricky Frazier, Juan Gutierrez and Gallyn Mitchell… Former riding champion Kevin Krigger scored his first Emerald Downs winner since 2006 aboard Dress Code ($10) in the seventh race. The victory by the 4-year-old gelding also was trainer Steve Bullock’s first win of the season…Reminder: Thursdays are added to the Emerald Downs schedule this week. First post is 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.