EAST BOSTON — A murky Saturday didn’t deter more than 6,000 racing fans from descending upon Suffolk Downs, and the a sunny Sunday kept the patrons lining up at the betting windows and food trucks.
The crowd swarmed to 6,929 at its height over the weekend, and those who attended Sunday saw jockey Tammi Piermarini notch six winners out of a 14-race card. Piermarini also swept the three stakes races on tap for the afternoon.
Piermarini kicked off her day in the $50,000 Louise Kimball Stakes, which was run as an exhibition race at the beginning of the day with a victory aboard Frosty Nurse for trainer Karl Grusmark.
The three-year-old daughter of Freud is owned and bred by Joseph DiRico and was moved up to first via disqualification to earn her first victory.
As the remainder of the card got underway, Piermarini continued her success with a win in the first race aboard Charlie Riffic ($7.60) for longtime local trainer Bobby Raymond. She returned to the winner’s circle after Mr. Grey ($18.00) prevailed by a nose for trainer Antonio Arriaga.
In the $50,000 Last Dance Stakes, Piermarini was aboard Dr. Blarney ($2.10) remained undefeated at Suffolk Downs with an 8 ¾ length romp for trainer Karl Grusmark and owner Joseph DiRico. The chestnut son of Dublin is out of the mare Dr. Capote and is a half-brother to Louise Kimball Stakes winner Frosty Nurse.
“He is just such a cool horse,” said Piermarini. “Knowing we were going a little longer today, I tried to save him for the stretch. He is a very classy horse.”
Piermarini continued her clean sweep of the stakes races and teamed up again with Antonio Arriaga to win the $50,000 First Episode Stakes with Miss Wilby ($6.20). The 4-year-old daughter of Imperialism won by seven-lengths and earned her fourth state-bred stakes victory.
“I have had just an awesome day,” said Piermarini, who ranks as the third all-time leading female rider. “Miss Wilby felt like a different horse today. The trainer has done a great job with her. It feels even sweeter to have such a big day at home.”
She capped off her day with a victory aboard Simply Classic ($17.80) in the final race on the card for trainer Brenda McCarthy.
Also Sunday, the track hosted a handicapping tournament which yielded two qualifiers for the National Handicapping Championship, which is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas in February. Adam Aiken of Springfield finished first with a bankroll of $2290.95 while Christopher Ahl of Hingham, Massachusetts finished second with $1672.40.
Saturday, Bellavais rallied to win the $75,000 Drumptop Stakes.
Trained by James Toner and ridden to victory by Michael Luzzi, the 3-year-old daughter of Tapit stalked the pace and launched a strong bid on the turn. She hit the lead and drew off to win by 2 3/4 lengths to complete the mile in 1:42 4/5. Toner also won the Drumptop Stakes in 1997 with Gastronomical.
“I had been only on this filly once before,” said Luzzi. “I got on her in the morning to get a feel for her because she can be a little tricky – she can be mouthy and wants things her way. The pace slowed down a little bit and I knew we were in a good position and she finished really strong.”
Bellavais returned $6.80, 4.00 and 3.20. Notapradaprice paid $14.20 and 5.80 while Cool returned $5.80.
Also on the card, jockey Brian Pedroza rode four winners, three of which came for trainer Michael Stidham. The jockey and trainer combination started their successful day in the third race with Great Captain ($4.40) and continued in the seventh race with Golden Story ($8.40). They capped off their day in the eighth race with Charged ($9.20).
Pedroza also won the sixth race with Adversary ($7.60) for trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon.
The live racing and food truck festival will continue Sept. 2-3.