MIke Man’s Gold wins Saturday feature | Emerald Downs

Mike Man’s Gold, winner of four stakes at Emerald Downs, held off Botch for a three-quarter-length victory Saturday in the $21,000 Muckleshoot Casino Purse for 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs.

Mike Man’s Gold, winner of four stakes at Emerald Downs, held off Botch for a three-quarter-length victory Saturday in the $21,000 Muckleshoot Casino Purse for 3-year-olds and up at Emerald Downs.

Under regular rider Javier Matias at 121 lbs, Mike Man’s Gold ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03.06 and paid $3.20, $2.60 and $2.20. David Martinez is the trainer for owners Swag Stables and Gallo Stables.

Botch, a 13-to-1 long shot ridden by Julien Couton, rallied for second and paid $6.00 and $3.40. Redsolocup, ridden by Rocco Bowen, finished third and paid $3.30.

Fist Full of Green, Grinder Sparksaglo and Cantcatchme completed the order of finish.

Mike Man’s Gold is 8-3-2 in 22 starts with earnings of $187,524, including $11,550 for Saturday’s win. The 5-year-old Liberty Gold gelding won stakes here at ages 2, 3 and 4, including a victory last year in the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic.

Cantcatchme led through fractions of :21.89 and :44.66, but Mike Man’s Gold swooped to the lead into the stretch and held sway to the wire.

NOTES: Trainer Frank Lucarelli won with his first starter of the meet, Raised On Robbery ($10.20) in race two, and became the second trainer in track history with 800 wins. . .Lucarelli made it a double as Doctor Susan ($6.20) turned in a sharp EmD debut with a gate-to-wire triumph in the $21,500 co-feature for 3-year-old fillies. Roy Schaefer (R.E.V. Racing) claimed Doctor Susan for $50,000 in January at Santa Anita. . . Joe Steiner rode both of Lucarelli’s winners, career victories 1,001 and 1,002 for the veteran jockey. . .Trainer Jeff Metz also had two wins and already has five wins at the three-day-old meeting. . .Juan Gutierrez rode two winners and leads the jockeys’ standings with four wins. . .TrainerBeverly Hamilton saddled her first Emerald Downs winner as Own It ($10.60) rallied to win race three under Eliska Kubinova. . .Cha Cha Latte ($5), a four-time winner here last year, improved to 5-for-8 at Emerald Downs with a victory under Rocco Bowen in race seven. . .Ain’t Tellin’ ($2.20) delivered as the 1-to-5 favorite in Saturday’s opener, also accounting for $54,945 of $58,571 in the show pool. . .G.G. Ryder ($8.20) and jockey Ricardo Gonzalez captured the $100,000 San Francisco Mile (G3) on the turf at Golden Gate Fields. The winner is co-owned by George Todaro and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who also saddled second-place finisher Summer Hit. . .Live racing resumes Sunday with a nine-race card at 2 p.m.