A field of 11 thoroughbreds is expected to run in the 81st edition of the Grade 3 Longacres Mile on Sunday at Emerald Downs in Auburn.
A field of 25 was nominated to run for the $200,000 stakes, horse racing’s Northwest jewel.
The race features the first-, second- and third-place finishers from last year’s Mile. Stryker Phd, the 7-year-old Washington-bred son of Bertrando, trained by Larry Ross, will attempt to win a third consecutive Mile carrying 121 pounds, a feat that has not been accomplished in the 80 times the race has gone to post.
Stryker Phd has earned $529,331, and the gelding did not lose a race at Emerald Downs during the 2014-15 meet. He also will attempt to become the top earner in track history. Wasserman holds the honor with $575,024 captured in purse winnings.
Stryker has not been as dominant this season, running two races – finishing third in the Budweiser and fourth in the Mount Rainier stakes.
In March, Ross planned to run him in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate, but he picked up a virus and was kept out of the race. Ross said Stryker has been training well coming into the Mile. Stryker’s regular rider Leslie Mawing will be in the irons.
Sammy Mandeville, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred, ran second last year and will carry 116 pounds. Last year Sammy Mandeville, conditioned by Doug O’Neil, came from 18 lengths back to take second. Rocco Bowen, the Emerald Downs leading rider, will be in the saddle.
O’Neil won the Mile with Sky Jack in 2003, setting a record in 1 minute, 33 seconds. O’Neil won the Kentucky Derby this year saddling Nyquist, and he won two legs of the Triple Crown in 2012 with I’ll Have Another.
The third-place runner last year, Alert Bay, the 5-year-old son of City Zip trained by Blaine Wright, will be carrying the high weight of 123. The gelding has won nine stakes in his career, earning $1.1 million lifetime. This year Alert Bay won the San Francisco Handicap.
Tyler Baze, who won the Eclipse Award as an apprentice jockey in 2000, will be looking for his first Mile victory in his home state.
Wright said the gelding is ready to go and “he deserves a shot” at winning the Mile.
The other high weight at 123 pounds is O B Harbor, 4-year-old Oregon-bred son of Harbor The Gold owned by One Horse Will Do Corporation. He should be one of the favorites. The O B name stands for Oregon bred. Trained by Chris Stenslie, the gelding has won his four starts this season at Emerald Downs, including all three Mile series stakes, the Governor’s at 6½ furlongs, the 1-mile Budweiser and the Mount Rainier at 1 1/16 mile.
O B Harbor’s lifetime earnings going into the Mile are $133,191. Jose Zunino will ride O B Harbor. The long-striding bay set the fastest time during the 2016 Emerald Downs’ meet at 5½ furlongs in 1:00.97, 6 ½ furlongs in 1:13.59, 1 mile in 1:34.73, 1 1/16 mile in 1:41.05.
Stenslie said she is “really please how he is coming into the race.”
Challenging the local runners is a Jerry Hollendorfer-trained 4-year-old Kentucky-bred Cyrus Alexander. Mario Gutierrez, winner of two Kentucky Derbys, will be in the irons and the colt will be carrying 119 pounds. Cyrus Alexander is the younger brother of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.
Cyrus Alexander most recently won the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap at 1 1/16 miles. He as earned $299,705.
Hollendorfer is no stranger when it comes to winning the Mile. He stood for win photos in 2004 with Adreamisborn. Gutierrez won the Mile aboard Taylor Said in 2012.
Hollendorfer also has Point Piper, a 6-year-old horse by Giant’s Causeway. The Kentucky-bred owned by Gatto Racing, J. Russo, M. Schlaich, J. Hollendorfer and P. Russo, is expected to be entered in the stakes. He has earned $279,135 lifetime and began racing in Ireland. He pulled off a 30-1 upset last year in the Harold F. Brubaker at Del Mar.
Emerald Downs’ all-time leading trainer in wins, Tim McCanna, has Indian Brut at 114 pounds, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred by Indian Charlie, owned by Charles E. Fipke, ready to run the Mile. McCanna and Fipke took second to Noosa Beach in the 2010 edition of the Mile with Jersey Town, and McCanna condition Poker Brad to a second-place finish in 2003, the year Sky Jack won.
The field for the 81st Longacres Mile (G3) with jockey, handicap weight and morning line odds:1-Stryker Phd, Leslie Mawing, 121 pounds, 5-1; 2-Dedicated to You, Eswan Flores, 116, 20-1; 3-Star Student, Amadeo Perez, 116, 20-1; 4-O B Harbor, Jose Zunino, 123, 3-1; 5-Alert Bay, Tyler Baze, 123, 7-2; 6-Sammy Mandeville, Rocco Bowen, 116, 12-1; 7-Cyrus Alexander, Norberto Arroyo Jr., 119, 6-1; 8-Point Piper, Mario Gutierrez, 118, 4-1; 9-Sabado Alegre (CHI), Juan Gutierrez, 116, 30-1; 10-Prime Engine, Isaias Enriquez, 117, 15-1; 11-Indian Brut, Erick Lopez, 114, 30-1.
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