Portland Meadows employees have a banner day at the races

Portland, OR - March 30, 2011 - Portland Meadows employees Marilyn Hughes, Mike Robbins and Anita Dawson all have a smile on their face when working at their respective positions at Portland Meadows. Hughes is the hostess in the Portland Meadows Turf Club, Robbins tends the popular paddock bar, and Dawson works at the Finish Line Café snack counter. But all three had bigger smiles on their faces on Wednesday as they all owned winning Thoroughbreds on the race track this afternoon.

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 three and three quarter length win.

“Today I was actually pretty confident,” said Robbins after the win. “Our assistant trainer Jacqui Fisher said that yesterday she 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 six year old California-bred.

“Javier certainly knows what she’s capable of doing,” said Robbins. “He kept her close and she made her move nicely.”

In Wednesday’s 9th race it was Anita 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 four and one quarter lengths. The win was the second in a row for Nail Polish who scored just last week at odds of 23 to 1.

“I didn’t expect her to win today because she was coming back so soon,” said Dawson. “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 honestly, “I was afraid she’d run out of breath!”

All in a day’s work at Portland Meadows.