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THE HORSES ARE BACK!
Over 150 horses were on the grounds Monday as Thoroughbreds began training for the 2020 live racing season at Emerald Downs.

A familiar white face was the first horse on the track as Barkley jogged a mile under Jennifer Whitaker at 8 a.m. sharp. Winner of the 2018 Longacres Mile, the 7-year-old chestnut is 10 for 18 lifetime with six stakes wins and $363,625 in earnings for trainer Howard Belvoir and owner Rising Star Stable III.

Director of Racing Bret Anderson reports stall applications are practically even to last year’s total, with seventy-three trainers applying for 1,062 stalls. Among the expected newcomers is Juan Pablo Silva, currently the leading trainer at Turf Paradise with 59 wins through Sunday. A 43-year-old native of Tijuana, Mexico, Silva has applied for for 38 stalls at Emerald Downs.

In addition to Belvoir, other trainers on hand Monday included Tom Wenzel, Blaine Wright, Sharon Ross, Steve Bullock, Chris Stenslie and Vince Gibson. The trainer and horse population is expected to increase daily as runners gear up for the 25th season of live racing at Emerald Downs.

The current training hours are 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with no renovation break. Beginning February 19, training hours change to 7:30 to 12:30 with renovation from 10 to 10:30.

Opening day for the 63-day live racing season is Saturday, April 18, while the first stakes is the Seattle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on May 10. The 85th renewal of the $200,000 Longacres Mile (G3) is Sunday, August 9 and anchors a Championship Sunday quadruple-header featuring the Emerald Distaff, Muckleshoot Derby and Washington Oaks.

Thank you for your support of Emerald Downs and...

Here are today’s picks for our IdaBet players:

1ST RACE: 5-4-2-1

2ND RACE: 1-5-3-6

3RD RACE: 3-7-2-8

4TH RACE: 3-1-2-7

5TH RACE: 6-1-7-2

6TH RACE: 1-2-6-4

7TH RACE: 4-2-3-7

8TH RACE: 2-3-4-1

9TH RACE: 6-3-5-2

Thank you for your continued support of Monticello and IdaBet.com!

Attached are the program changes & tip sheet for today at Sunland Park for our IdaBet.com players:

Jan 31, 2020

Consider this a friendly reminder from Yonkers Raceway, where Friday night’s (Jan. 31^st) Pick 5 wager begins with a $4,645.88 carryover and $15,000 guaranteed pool.

The guarantee has been approved by the New York State Gaming Commission and is in conjunction with the U.S. Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program. If the wager was not hit (as was the case Thursday night [Jan. 30^th]), the entire pool (minus takeout) moves to the next racing program. Thursday’s sequence bombardier was courtesy of 47-1 Pecorino (Joe Bongiorno, $97.50), who closed from last off the final turn to win the $12,500, eighth-race pace in 1:55.3  

Thank you for choosing IdaBet.com as your place to wager!

Tonight’s “Lock” is at Cal-Expo on race 4 with the #5-Allmyx’slivetexas-Set track record last week at 150.2. Lemoyne Svendsen drives.

Last “Lock” won again! Howward’s record is now at: 527 of 842 wins with 152 seconds and 51 thirds.

Thank you for your support of IdaBet.com!

Some insights into tonight’s first-of-month racing program for our IdaBet players:

1 ST RACE – (5) PICKLED PREACHER is a number we’ve gazed at in past,
demanding value. Sees a spongy soft group this time around so nodded in opener.
3 RD RACE – (4) MARTY MONKHOUSER A comes off solid speed try for
this number, though path to lead again figures somewhat difficult here. Undaunted.
4 TH RACE – (2) HILL OF A HORSE would not have earned four-eyeball in
here with poor draw. Has generally raced well working up ladder, needs to earn it.
6 TH RACE – (5) FIREBALL leaves the land of high-end claimers, where he
was paying bills. Has no choice but to chase in here as few inside of him can leave.
7 TH RACE – (2) MANVERICK has been well-meant in pair of local efforts,
dusting lesser while fooling few at windows. Who’s to say he can’t maintain form?
10 TH RACE – (4) BETTOR MEMORIES is a bit of a reach in nite’s featured
pace. Returns off win at Dover though recent local starts were wholly inconsistent.
11 TH RACE – (2) UNICO LEGEND N sat to lane in a North American debut
before solid late lane interest. He won’t be near baker’s-dozen-to-one of week ago.

2020 $2 +/- (thru Tue., Jan. 28) – 30 wins ($162.60) from 104 ($208) selex
(-$45.40, does not include windfall from ‘Big Game’ prop bets)
highest-priced winner – SHEZALLAPPLES A ($12.40)
lowest-priced winner – ROCKIN’ THE BOYS A ($2.30)

Happy wagering and thank you for choosing IdaBet.com!