Twenty-one of the nation’s best Indian Relay teams will be at Emerald Downs for the three-day Muckleshoot Gold Cup June 9-11

FIELD SET FOR INDIAN RELAY WEEKEND JUNE 9-11

Over $75,000 in Total Payouts!

Auburn, Wash. – Twenty-one of the nation’s best Indian Relay teams will be at Emerald Downs for the three-day Muckleshoot Gold Cup June 9-11, 2017.

The field was expanded from last year by three teams and purses have been increased. $55,000 in purses will be awarded. With travel allowances and participation payments the total payout for the teams will be over $75,000!

Tribes from Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Oregon and Washington will be represented. Carlson Relay from Browning, Montana, will be looking to defend their championship from last year.

In Indian Relay—the nation’s oldest sport with a history that goes back 500 years—teams race twice around the Emerald Downs one-mile track and exchange horses every half-mile. Each team’s rider must leap from one galloping horse to another in their assigned exchange box while other team members assist in handling the horses.

The Muckleshoot Tribe will host the event as the owners and operators of Emerald Downs, and the Muckleshoot Casino is sponsoring the competition. There will be three relay races each day along with the regular full card of live Thoroughbred races.

New for this year is a bonus offered from Emerald Downs and Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. If the winning team at Emerald Downs also wins the Indian Relay event at Canterbury Park they receive a $10,000 bonus! Any team finishing in the top three in both locations will receive a $2,500 bonus.The Canterbury Park relay races, hosted by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, owners and operators of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, will be held August 24 through August 26, 2017.

Emerald Downs’ admission is just $7 for adults, and ages 17 and under are free. Box seats can be purchased in advance by calling 253-288-7711. More information is available at www.emeralddowns.com.

Emerald Downs, located in Auburn, WA, is the premier Thoroughbred racetrack in the Northwest. The 2017 season continues through September 17.

2017 Muckleshoot Gold Cup

Confirmed Teams

Abrahamson Relay, Omak, Wash; Blanket Bull, Garryowen, Mont; Carlson Relay, Browning Mont; Coby Team, Blackfoot, Id; DeRoche Relay, Browning, Mont; Grizzly Mountain, Omak, Wash; Lakota Warpath, Oglala SD; Little Badger, Browning, Mont; Mountain Crow Relay, Hardin, Mont; Mountain River, Hays, Mont; Northwest Express, Omak; Wash; Omak Express, Omak, Wash; Pikuni Express, Browning, Mont; Werk N Plain Feather, Hays, Mont; Rides A Pretty Horse, Billings, Mont; River Road Relay, Crow Agency, Mont; Starr School, Browning, Mont; Teton Team, Blackfoot, Id; Two-Tone, Pocatello, Id; Umatilla Express, Pendleton Ore; Wolf Mountain Express, Lodge Grass/Lodge Pole, Mont.