The 4-year-old Washington-bred filly remained perfect with a neck victory over Sweet Nellie Brown in the $50,000 Hastings Handicap for fillies and mares. Kimmyv, the 6-to-5 betting favorite, settled for third place in the field of 10.

With Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo riding at 117 lbs. for trainer Margo Lloyd, You Me and Ema B splashed six furlongs in 1:10.35 on a sloppy track and paid $23.20, $11 and $6.40.

Undefeated in three starts, You Me and Ema B earned $27,500 to push her bankroll to $45,265 for co-owners Lloyd of Auburn and Patrick Hoonan of Bonney Lake.

Sweet Nellie Brown, ridden by Pedro Terrero at 118 lbs., rallied to finish second and paid $10.20 and $5.20. Kimmyv, with Chad Hoverson riding at high-weight of 121 lbs., ran evenly to finish third and paid $3.40.

Sis’s Sis was a nose back in fourth, and it was another neck back to Rewritten in fifth place. Feeling Fancy, Crocodile Tuff, Dream Sweeper, Include the Baby and No Flies On Doodle rounded out the order of finish.

You Me and Ema B pressed the pace as defending champion No Flies On Doodle led through an opening quarter-mile in :21.70 seconds. The winner gained the lead nearing the quarter-pole, after a half-mile in :44.35, and Hoonan-Trujillo said the race unfolded beautifully.

‘We wanted to try and teach her how to sit off the pace,” said Hoonan-Trujillo, who has ridden You Me and Ema B in all three races.  “I just tried to keep her relaxed, because she is so competitive and aggressive. All I had to do was stop pulling on her. Once I let her go, she took off.”

You Me and Ema B straightened into the stretch with a two-length lead and then was fully extended to hold off a wall of closers.

“I saw the other horses roll right up on us in the stretch, so I pulled (You Me and Ema B) right up to them so she could see them,” Hoonan-Trujillo said. “Then she just dug back in and held on. She’s a natural-born winner.

“I can’t think of a more deserving trainer than Margo Lloyd. She is so patient, and she treats her horses so well.”

It was the 10th Emerald Downs stakes win for Hoonan-Trujillo, and especially meaningful since her father co-owns the winner.

Terrero said Sweet Nellie Brown ran a great race, and for a moment he thought the Jim Penney-trained filly would win the race.

“There were a couple horses in front of us, so I had to be really patient,” Terrero said. “I just kept waiting and waiting, and then finally I just took her to the outside. I thought we were going to win.

If we didn’t have to wait so long, maybe we would have gotten there.”

 

NOTES: West Seattle Boy was back on the beam Sunday with a strong second-place finish behind Stormin’ Peter ($6.80) in the fourth race. The 12-year-old gelding is the track’s all-time leader with 18 wins, and in two weeks celebrates the 10th anniversary of his career debut at Emerald Downs

The fifth race produced some of the biggest payoffs of the meet with Sarah Mac the winner at 12-1, followed by Notes of Freedom at 31-1, Curvey Star at 26-1 and Sendipity at 10-1. The $1 trifecta—5-10-8—paid $4,994.60 and the $1 superfecta—5-10-8-all—paid $7,227.60.

Speaking of big payoffs, a tip of the hat to Seattle Times handicapper Gary Dougherty for nailing a cold trifecta in the Hastings Handicap. The 2-8-3 combination paid $368.40 for $1…Untilifindyou ($3) with Leslie Mawing riding for Howard Belvoir became the first triple winner at the meet with a two-length victory in the seventh race. The winner was claimed Sunday for $3,500 by trainer Mary Pirone for owner Blue Mountain Stables.

Seattle Sniper ($3.20) capped a big weekend for trainer Tom Wenzel and owner Northwest Farms with a clear victory in the $18,600 co-feature for 3-year-old at 5-½ furlongs. Saturday, Wenzel and Northwest Farms finished first and second with Rossi Reserve and Tasya in the $18,600 feature for 3-year-old fillies.

Five jockeys rode two winners each on the 10-race card: Leslie Mawing, Juan Gutierrez, Joe Crispn, Javier Matias and Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo… Mawing leads Crispin 22-19 though 15 days of racing…Live racing resumes Friday at 6:15 p.m.