Fleet Eagle invaded Emerald Downs Sunday and made it look easy, romping to a 6 ¾-length victory in the $50,000 Governor’s Handicap for 3-year-olds and up.
The outcome was stunning, considering the 6-year-old horse was by far the longest price on the board.
Ridden by Diego Sanchez at 118 lbs, Fleet Eagle returned a Governor’s Handicap record $81.40, $36.20 and $15.80. It also was the fifth highest stakes payoff in the track’s 19-year history.
“I’ve been getting on this horse every morning and I think he’s an amazing horse,” said Sanchez, who drove Fleet Eagle to the lead at the three-eighths pole. “He’s been doing so good in workouts, we just wanted to get him into the race and win.
He ran fast early but that’s just how good he is. I was expecting everything good.”
Shipped in from California, where his most recent result was an 11th in the Thunder Road Handicap on turf, Fleet Eagle earned $27,500 for the win, pushing his career ledger to 5-3-4 in 27 starts with earnings of $182,705. Paula Capestro is the winning trainer and co-owner with Francesca De La Flor of Alameda, Calif.
Noosito, the 9-to-5 favorite ridden by Julien Couton at 119 lbs, finished second but was disqualified and placed sixth for interference in deep stretch.
Trick Or Retreat, second longest shot on the board at 27-to-1, was moved up from third to second and paid $18.20 and $9.60. Mike Man’s Gold, third longest price at 23-to-1, was promoted from fourth to third and paid $13.80.
The $1 trifecta (4-8-10) paid $5,593.10.
Absolutely Cool was moved up to fourth place, followed by Mebossman, Noosito, Valiant Flame, Del Rio Harbor, Disruption and Scat Daddybaby, the early leader who faded after dueling with Fleet Eagle through fractions of :21.94 and :44.25.
For Fleet Eagle, the victory was his first in six tries on dirt. He faced some stellar company as a 2-year-old at Santa Anita, finishing fourth against eventual Kentucky Derby runner-up Bodemeister and second to graded winner Boat Trip. He then spent the past few years traveling the country, running at tracks like Mountaineer Park, Prairie Meadows and Presque Isle Downs. He returned to California this year, trying stakes horses on turf at Santa Anita and on Tapeta at Golden Gate.
Couton, rider aboard Noosito, said the 4-year-old colt dug in through the lane.
“We were in a good position right away,” he said. “We drifted a little bit out there, haven’t seen the video replay yet. We weren’t going to catch the winner but he really tried hard. He’ll be better next time for this race.”
NOTES: Julien Couton had his streak of consecutive days with a winner snapped at nine, but still leads the jockeys’ standings with 19 wins. . .Leslie Mawing, Javier Matias and Diego Sanchez rode two winners each on the 10-race program. It was the second straight multiple-win days for Mawing and Matias, and the first double for Sanchez. . .Dare Me Devil ($4.20)—Emerald Downs’ Top Claimer and Top Sprinter in 2014—came off the bench and scored a last-to-first victory in race five for $15,000 claimers. Ridden by Mawing for Rigoberto Velasquez and Jerry Carmody, the 7-year-old Washington-bred ran six furlongs in 1:09.42. . .Velasquez and Howard Belvoir led the trainers with two wins each. . .Jeff Metz, whose stable housed Fleet Eagle at Emerald Downs, tops the trainers’ standings with 10 wins, followed by Blaine Wright with seven wins and Frank Lucarelli, Mike Puhich, Velasquez and Belvoir with six apiece. . .Although Stryker Phd sat out the Governor’s, his little sister Rachae Leigh ($7.40) turned in a sharp Emerald Downs debut to win the $21,500 allowance sub-feature for 3-year-old fillies. By Bertrando-Striking Scholar, Rachae Leigh ran six furlongs in 1:09.83. . .Beduin Flights ($6.20) won the meet’s first Quarter Horse race in :16.07 for 300 yards. Ruben Camacho rode Beduin Flights for trainer Hector Magallanes. . .There is no Friday racing this week. Live racing resumes Saturday with first post 2 p.m. There also is racing Sunday and special holiday racing Monday on Memorial Day.
