Pippa Bou Peep captures Shinpoch thriller | Emerald Downs

For the Reporter

Pippa Bou Peep edged Seeking the Light in a driving finish Sunday as jockey Eliska Kubinova scored her first Emerald Downs stakes victory in the $50,000 Barbara Shinpoch Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

Running 6½ furlongs in 1:17.23, Pippa Bou Peep prevailed by a head after a prolonged stretch drive with 4-to-5 betting favorite Seeking the Light.

Pippa Bou Peep paid $6.60, $3 and $2.60.

“I had a perfect trip, Kubinova said. “This horse is really professional and she did everything I asked of her. I wasn’t 100 percent sure I was going to get there, but once I got to next to the other horse, I was sure.”

Seeking the Light, ridden by Leslie Mawing at 118 pounds, set a pressured pace of :22.22 for the quarter and :45.11 for the half, shook off Jazz Queen into the lane, and resisted gamely through the stretch to just miss. Seeking the Light paid $2.20 and $2.10.

Val de Saire, ridden by Gallyn Mitchell at 118 pounds, finished four lengths behind Seeking the Light and paid $4.40 to show.

A 25-year-old native of the Czech Republic, Kubinova has been one of the top riders the last three seasons at Emerald Downs, setting an apprentice record with 75 wins in 2012 and finishing third overall as a journeyman in 2013. She ranks third again this year with 46 wins, but had never won an Emerald Downs stakes race before Sunday.

Trained by Charles Essex and co-owned by Essex and David and Linda Olson, Pippa Bou Peep has improved steadily this season at Emerald Downs. Although winless before Sunday, she had finished second twice and third twice, including a runner-up finish to Ethan’s Baby in the Angie C Stakes last month. Sunday’s win, worth $27,225, increased her earnings to $45,357.

After just missing his ninth stakes win of the meet, Mawing said Seeking the Light is a work in progress.

“Blaine (Wright) told me to ride her like she’s the best horse, get her into the race,” Mawing said. “I felt she ran well. She still hasn’t quite put it all together.

“It was bittersweet. I wanted to win the race, but also was happy for Eliska.”

Sneaking a Kiss, Jazz Queen, Bella Colomba and Seattles Best Copy completed the order of finish.

Notes

Chu and You, winner of the 2013 Barbara Shinpoch, scored an eight-length victory in the $18,900 allowance/optional claiming feature for 3-year-old fillies. With regular rider Juan Gutierrez up for trainer Robbie Baze and owners Mike and Amy Feuerborn, Chu and You ran 6½ furlongs in 1:15.25, and paid $4 to win. A Washington-bred by You and I, Chu and You is 5-for-10 lifetime with earnings of $118,279. … Trainer Doris Harwood had two wins – No’s 498 & 499 at Emerald Downs – and begins next week needing one win to become the fifth trainer in track history to win 500 races. Harwood ranks No. 1 in stakes wins with 64. … Razor-sharp Dare Me Devil ($4.20) made it three straight wins, all at 6 ½ furlongs, with a last-to-first victory in a $32,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up. A 6-year-old Devil On Ice gelding trained by Rigoberto Velasquez and ridden by David G. Lopez, Dare Me Devil is 10-for-37 lifetime with earnings of $103,100. … Lopez and Rocco Bowen each rode two winners Sunday. For Bowen, second in the standings with 56 wins, it was his 15th multiple win day of the meet. … Rocco also has a big week in store with a mount aboard undefeated Stopshoppingdebbie in next Sunday’s $65,000 Emerald Distaff at 1 1/8 miles. … Stopshoppingdebbie tuned up for the Distaff with a scorching five-furlong drill in a bullet :57 1/5 Sunday for trainer Tom Wenzel. … Also Sunday, Stryker Phd worked four furlongs in a bullet :46 for trainer Larry Ross in preparation for next Sunday’s $200,000 Longacres Mile (Grade 3). … Other Mile hopefuls to work Sunday included Disruption, five furlongs in :58 2/5 for trainer Monique Snowden, and I Keep Saying, six furlongs in a bullet 1:11 3/5 for five-time Longacres Mile-winning trainer Jim Penney. … Chicks Special Angel ($3.20) and Ambush Alley ($5.40) won qualifying heats for the $60,000 Bank of America Emerald Downs Championship Challenge on Sunday, Aug. 31. Chicks Special Angel, 14-for-21 lifetime, is the fastest qualifier at :21.846 for 400 yards. … Jockey Leonel Camacho-Flores and trainer Juan Sanguino also had two wins each Sunday each had two Quarter Horse wins Sunday. … Roger Clinton Jr., brother of President Bill Clinton, attended Sunday’s races and was interviewed by Joe Withee in the paddock before race five. Clinton is a lifelong friend of jockey Ricky Frazier, and attended Frazier’s induction Saturday into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame. … Josh Brown, paddock host at Hastings Racecourse, was guest announcer for Sunday’s fifth race. … Live racing resumes Friday with first post 6:45 p.m. Entries for the $200,000 Longacres Mile will be drawn Wednesday, with the 79th Mile and $65,000 Emerald Distaff run Sunday, Aug. 24.