Portland Meadows employees Marilyn Hughes, Mike Robbins, and Anita Dawson all owned winning horses at the Oregon track March 30. Hughes is the hostess in the Portland Meadows Turf Club, Robbins tends the paddock bar, and Dawson works at the Finish Line Café snack counter.
In race four, a $3,200 claiming event, the Hughes/Robbins-owned Teacher’s Rule sat just off the pace set by Catalina Harbor, but pounced on that rival turning for home and opened up for a powerful 3 ¾-length win.
“Today I was actually pretty confident,” said Robbins after the victory. “Our assistant trainer, Jacqui Fisher, said that yesterday she (Teacher’s Rule) was feeling so good and was sharp as could be.”
Another key factor was the return of jockey Javier Matias to the saddle aboard Teacher’s Rule. Matias is now a perfect four for four on board the 6-year-old California-bred.
“Javier certainly knows what she’s capable of doing,” Robbins said. “He kept her close and she made her move nicely.”
In the ninth race it was Dawson’s turn to cheer as she took a 5 minute break to watch her 6-year-old mare Nail Polish run. Nail Polish broke straight to the front and never looked back as she drew off to score by 4 ¼ lengths. The win was the second in a row for Nail Polish, who scored just last week at odds of 23-1.
“I didn’t expect her to win today because she was coming back so soon,” Dawson said. “But she was feeling so good and looked so good all week, we thought why not?”
When asked what she was thinking as the field turned for home, Dawson replied, “I was afraid she’d run out of breath!”
