Playfair Opens With Appropriately Named Inaugural
Che Meza will carry jockey Frank Best and high weight of 124 pounds in the $5,000 Inaugural Handicap, the featured race of opening night at Playfair Race Course.
The track opens Saturday night with first post at 5 p.m.
The Inaugural, the eighth and final race on the card, drew a field of eight including Dunraven Pass, the second-high-weighted entry. He’ll carry 123 pounds and rider Lane Rennaker.
Dunraven Pass is handled by the successful connections of owners John Becker, Jim Egger and Roy Lumm, and trainers Kim and Dale Wright.
Che Meza was top-weighted in the 6-furlong sprint because of his past success at Playfair, director of racing Ted Martin said Wednesday.
Others in the feature are Mantis, ridden by Marty Wentz and trained by Bruce Wagar, who has recovered from recent heart surgery.
Ropugie (Jody Davidson the rider), Totem’s Demon (Dan Bryson), No Small Buzz (Gary Gavica) Black Treasure (Wesley Vincent) and Espirit Debogen (Vince Ward) are others to run.
Espirit Debogen, conditioned by Debbie Johns, ran third Sunday in a $20,000 claiming race at Emerald Downs, Martin said. A fit horse shipping in from Seattle with the veteran Ward up is a tough combination.
First post Sunday is also 5 o’clock. Racing resumes Friday, Aug. 22. Parking is free. General admission is $2.50. It’s $2 for seniors. People under 21 are admitted free.
Veteran Longacres announcer Gary Henson will call the races that have attracted mostly full fields, Martin said.
This is the first season Playfair can send its races out of state. Although convincing out-of-state venues to take Playfair’s signal has been a bit of a tough sell, the track has worked out agreements to go into Pennsylvania and Ohio, with 14 satellite locations statewide plus at least two Native American Casinos in the Puget Sound region.
Other out-of-state locations including Retama Park in San Antonio, Texas, are expected to take Spokane races at least part-time as the 47-day meet continues, GM Kim Rich said.
Preparations for opening night have been slowed by the United Parcel Service strike. “I can’t get (satellite) decoders out (to new out-of-state off-track sites),” Rich said,”and new TV sets we have on order are tied up.”
, DataTimes