The Longacres Mile was first run in 1935, at which time its purse of $12,350 made it the richest one-mile race in the entire nation. Since its inception, this has been the most coveted race in the Pacific Northwest.
Before I get to my picks for this year’s Longacres Mile, which will be held this Sunday (Aug. 13) at Emerald Downs near Seattle, I’d like explain why this is my favorite race.
The Longacres Mile is special to me for many reasons, such as what happened in 2011. Emerald Downs asked me to be the “honorary steward” for the race that year. It was such an honor for me to join a list of previous “honorary stewards” that had included former jockeys John Longden, Sandy Hawley, Gary Baze, Don Pierce, Laffit Pincay Jr. and Eddie Delahoussaye, plus Pete Pedersen and Ron Crockett.
Pedersen was a steward at Longacres when I saw my first Longacres Mile in 1967. He then became a highly respected steward in California. In fact, Pedersen and Keene Daingerfield are the only two stewards to receive the Eclipse Award of Merit.
Crockett is the person who was the driving force behind Emerald Downs being built and opening in 1996 after the closure of nearby Longacres in 1992.
Another reason the Longacres Mile is my favorite race is I had the pleasure of doing television commentary for it a number of times on Fox Sports Northwest. The last time I did that was when Sky Jack, with Russell Baze in the saddle for trainer Doug O’Neill, won by 6 3/4 lengths. It remains the largest margin of victory in the race’s history. Sky Jack’s final time of 1:33.00 broke the track record. O’Neill kindly gave me two of the shoes that Sky Jack wore in that race.
The last day I was at Longacres, Skywalker (who became the broodmare sire of Sky Jack) won the 1986 Longacres Mile by a neck with Laffit Pincay Jr. aboard. Skywalker would go on to capture the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year at Santa Anita.
I will never forget Skywalker’s trainer, Michael Whittingham, coming up with one of the best post-race quotes I’ve ever heard when he was interviewed by the local media after the colt’s Longacres Mile victory at odds of 3-5.
“I felt like if he got beat as such a heavy favorite, they just might hang me from the Space Needle,” Whittingham said.
After the 1986 Longacres Mile, I flew from Sea-Tac Airport to LAX in a chartered Alaska Airlines jet with Skywalker, Whittingham and the colt’s exercise rider and groom.
In 1987, Whittingham’s famous father, Charlie Whittingham, won the Longacres Mile with Judge Angelucci. Judge Angelucci went on to finish third to Ferdinand and Alysheba in the 1987 BC Classic at Hollywood Park.
I was the Daily Racing Form chart-caller for both the 1986 and 1987 BC Classics.
To be sure, one of my fondest Longacres Mile memories is when my father took me to see the race for the first time in 1967. I was 12.
I remember it being a hot day by Seattle standards. It also was pretty muggy. I can tell you that I drank several Cokes that afternoon. All these years later, I remember that Longacres had Coke, not Pepsi.
I still have my Seattle edition of the Daily Racing Form from that day.
“$25,000 Longacres Mile Headed By Kings Favor,” was the big front-page headline.
Two weeks before the 1967 Longacres Mile, when sitting in the grandstand with my dad as it got pretty close to post time, I asked him to bet $2 for me to win on Kings Favor in the 6 1/2-furlong Governor’s Handicap.
“No,” my dad said sternly.
“Please,” I begged to no avail.
“Sorry. I’m not going downstairs to go stand in one of those long lines just to bet $2 on a 2-5 shot for you,” he explained.
Kings Favor finished fourth.
“See, you saved money,” my dad said after the race.
Well, even though Kings Favor did not finish better than fourth as a short-priced favorite, I was eager to bet him two weeks later in the Longacres Mile. This time I made sure to not make the mistake of waiting until the last minute to make it known to my dad. Very early in the day, I handed him a $5 bill.
“I want to bet this on Kings Favor in the Mile today,” I said.
My dad did get my bet down this time. He also made a win wager for himself (I don’t recall how large) on Aurelius II, who had won the 1966 Longacres Mile for trainer Mel Stute.
Kings Favor became a star at Longacres as a 3-year-old in 1966. Going into that year’s Longacres Mile, he had put together a five-race winning streak at that track, highlighted by a nine-length triumph in the Longacres Derby. His final time in the Derby of 1:47 1/5 broke the track record for 1 1/8 miles.
Just seven days after his scintillating Longacres Derby performance, which had to take a lot of gas out of his tank, Kings Favor raced again when also asked to face older foes in the Longacres Mile. On a wet track listed as good, which Kings Favor didn’t like, he finished seventh.
Back on dry land in his next start, Kings Favor won the Seattle Handicap when again running against his elders. This time his outstanding final time of 1:46 3/5 broke his own track record and was just one-fifth of a second off the world record.
How good was Kings Favor? In his final 1966 start, the California-bred colt by Preakness Stakes winner Royal Orbit finished third to the great Buckpasser and Drin in Santa Anita’s Malibu Stakes, which, amusingly, is listed in the American Racing Manual as having been run on Feb. 31, instead of the actual date of Dec. 31.
In the 1967 Longacres Mile, Kings Favor and Aseel were coupled in the wagering and sent away as the 4-5 favorite. My dad was hoping that Aurelius II would win at odds of 9-2.
Yes, I was holding just a $5 win ticket. But when Kings Favor bounded home to a four-length victory, I was so excited. It’s a memory that I cherish to this day. Honestly, I wish I could somehow turn back the clock and be standing there alongside my father again for the 1967 Longacres Mile.
Kings Favor had the quality to later win the San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita in 1968 and again in 1969.
Okay, enough for the stroll down memory lane. What about this year’s Longacres Mile? Who’s going to win it?
I think Slew’s Tiz Whiz is going to be tough to beat. Trained by Tom Wenzel, Slew’s Tiz Whiz won the Governor’s Stakes at Emerald last year by 2 1/2 lengths. He was credited with an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. That was followed by a 2 3/4-length Longacres Mile victory, an effort that produced an 89 Beyer.
In his 2023 debut, Slew’s Tiz Whiz was far back on the backstretch and charged home to finish second. The 5-year-old Washington-bred Slew’s Tiznow gelding lost Emerald’s six-furlong Budweiser Stakes by one length to Bridleuptothebar on June 25.
Prior to this year’s Governor’s, which was contested on July 23, I said on an Emerald Downs podcast that I absolutely loved Slew’s Tiz Whiz to win that race again this year. He did, by 1 1/4 lengths, as the 9-5 favorite. His 84 Beyer was even higher than his figure in the 2022 Governor’s.
Regular rider Jose Zunino guided Slew’s Tiz Whiz to his 2022 Longacres Mile win and again will be in the irons Sunday.
All in all, it looks like Slew’s Tiz Whiz is poised to take a serious run at making it back-to-back Longacres Mile wins.
There have been only four two-time winners of the Longacres Mile. Amble In (1946 and 1948), Trooper Seven (1981 and 1982) and Simple Majestic (1988 and 1989) won the race twice at Longacres. Stryker Phd (2014 and 2015) has been the only dual winner at Emerald.
By the way, speaking of winning a race twice, the paternal grandsire of Slew’s Tiz Whiz, Tiznow, has the distinction of being the only two-time winner of the BC Classic (2000 and 2001). Tiznow was voted Eclipse Awards as Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male in 2000 and champion older male in 2001. He was inducted into the national Hall of Fame in 2009.
You’re probably thinking by now that Slew’s Tiz Whiz is my top pick in the upcoming Longacres Mile. Nope. He is not. I am going with Five Star General.
This will be Five Star General’s fourth try in this race. He finished second in 2020, third in 2021 and third again when Slew’s Tiz Whitz won it last year.
Why do I think the fourth time will be charm? Because the way I see it, Five Star General is coming into the race in better form than in his three previous times.
In his three most recent starts prior to the 2020 Longacres Mile, his Beyers were 82, 84 and 80.
In his three most recent starts prior to the 2021 Mile, his Beyers were 85, 73 and 88.
In his three most recent starts prior to the 2022 Mile, his Beyers were 85, 77 and 84.
His three most recent Beyers coming into the race this year were 96, 90 and 94.
Keep in mind, Slew’s Tiz Whiz has never recorded a Beyer Speed Figure higher than the 89 he got when he won last year’s Longacres Mile.
In all three starts this year, in which he’s won once and finished second twice, Five Star General has set the early pace. I think it’s a huge help pace-wise for him that the speedster Papa’s Golden Boy is not in this year’s Longacres Mile, as has been the case the last three years.
Last year, Papa’s Golden Boy set a pace that included running the first six furlongs in a sizzling 1:08 4/5. That set it up nicely for Slew’s Tiz Whiz, who blew right past Papa’s Golden Boy in the lane, though it was to the credit of Papa’s Golden Boy that he did hold on for second after going as fast as he did in the early furlongs.
Without Papa’s Golden Boy in the field, I’m expecting the pace not to be so fast this year. I think Five Star General, with the savvy veteran Joe Bravo coming in from Southern California for the ride, has a very good chance to lead from start to finish.
Grant Forster conditions Five Star General. Forster trained No Giveaway, who in 2005 scored the biggest upset in Longacres Mile history. No Giveway paid a whopping $122 for each $2 win ticket.
When this year’s Longacres Mile is over, I’m hoping that they are saluting a general in the winner’s circle.
Below are my Longacres Mile selections:
1. Five Star General (2-1 on Vince Bruun’s morning line)
2. Slew’s Tiz Whiz (9-5 favorite)
3. Il Bellator (6-1)
4. Seattle Bold (8-1)
Il Bellator, trained by Jose Bautista, could prove a tough customer. He finished third in the Grade III San Francisco Mile on the grass April 29 at Golden Gate Fields in his 2023 debut.
After the San Francisco Mile, Il Bellator finished a respectable fourth at odds of 68-1 in the Grade I Shoemaker Mile on Santa Anita’s grass course May 29. In his most recent start, the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred Shackleford gelding finished third in the Pleasanton Mile at one mile and 70 yards on dirt July 9.
In his three starts this year, Il Bellator has recorded Beyer Speed Figures of 95, 93 and 90. As is the case with Five Star General’s most recent three Beyers, Il Belator’s three figures this year are all higher than Slew’s Tiz Whiz’s top Beyer to date of an 89.
Il Bellator, who won the 2022 California Derby on Golden Gate’s synthetic surface, is racing on dirt for only the third time in his 12 career starts so far. Besides his third in the Pleasanton Mile, he ran fourth in Del Mar’s Shared Belief Stakes on dirt last year.
Seattle Bold makes his first start for trainer Dan Markle after getting claimed for $40,000 at Sacramento on July 28. The 5-year-old California-bred son of Bold Chieftain led all the way that day. On July 1, Seattle Bold also won at the $40,000 claiming level at Pleasanton. His Beyers of 91 at Pleasanton and 88 at Sacramento indicate he’s certainly not out of his league in the Longacres Mile (and he certainly has a good name to win this race).
At first glance, because Seattle Bold led early in his last two starts, you might think he will go with Five Star General in the early stages Sunday. But how fast they ran early in their last couple of starts suggests to me that probably won’t happen. In Seattle Bold’s most recent two races, he ran the opening quarter-mile in :25.04 and :25.06. By comparison, Five Star General stepped the first quarter in his latest two starts in :23.53 and :24.39.
A DAZZLING DEBUT AT THE SPA
Dropped jaws abounded when Ways and Means made her career debut at Saratoga last Sunday (Aug. 6). I am willing to go so far as to say it was Landaluce-like, at least in my opinion.
Daily Racing Form’s Marcus Hersh wrote that Ways and Means has “all the makings of a star,” which is high praise coming from someone who has demonstrated through the years that he’s not easily impressed.
On “Saratoga Live,” ex-jockey Richard Migliore noted how Ways and Means “floated through the stretch” while drawing off to win by a huge margin as the 3-5 favorite.
I was at Hollywood Park when Landaluce similarly floated down the stretch in her first career start on July 3, 1982. A daughter of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, Landaluce won a six-furlong maiden special weight race that day by seven lengths. Pincay rode the filly for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
In the book “Landaluce: The Story of Seattle Slew’s First Champion,” author Mary Perdue wrote this of Landaluce’s first race: “When the gate opened, Landaluce broke alertly, like a seasoned runner, rushing almost immediately into contention with Miss Big Wig, who was ahead of her on the inside, and Meet a Queen on her outside. In just several strides, Landaluce surged to the lead between horses, ahead a half-length by the first eighth, with Laffit urging her, but only mildly.
“Landaluce was running smoothly without really being asked, and she was drawing away from the field, extending her lead to a length and a half by the end of the first quarter in a sizzling :22 flat. It was no wonder the others could make little headway, yet, in a style that would become her trademark, Landaluce was running so apparently effortlessly that her speed was deceptive. She appeared to be relaxed, running within herself, and certainly nowhere near her top ability. Her stride was so long and smooth that it didn’t seem to anyone that she was moving as fast as she was.
“Laffit was happy with the way the race was unfolding. All the things that could ruin the chances of an unraced filly starting from an outside post position in a sprint hadn’t happened: she hadn’t broken badly, she hadn’t got boxed in behind horses, and she wouldn’t be pulled wide around the turn. Laffit had yet to ask her to run, but here she was, easily and happily on the lead, opening up ground on the rest of the field. By the time she ran the first half-mile, she was ahead by three lengths in a spectacular time of :44 3/5, and still without being asked for speed. Because she was already so far ahead of Miss Big Wig and Midnight Rapture, who had moved up to second, Landaluce was able to hug the rail around the turn and save ground, still striding easily. At the eighth pole, the field bunched behind her, Laffit tapped her lightly on the shoulder, and Landaluce continued to pull away in the stretch, winning under a hand ride by seven lengths.”
Landaluce’s final time was 1:08 1/5, which was believed to be the fastest for six furlongs by a 2-year-old filly in a race around a turn.
When Pincay saw the 1:08 1/5 clocking, he “could not believe it was correct, because the filly’s motion had been so smooth and effortless, and because 2-year-old fillies simply did not run that fast, especially in a first start,” Perdue wrote. “He thought the clock must have malfunctioned.”
Not only was that time of 1:08 1/5 correct, it essentially was validated just seven days later when Landaluce ran six furlongs even faster in one of the greatest performances in California racing history. She won the Hollywood Lassie Stakes by 21 sensational lengths in 1:08 flat, a crushing of the competition similar to Flightline’s goosebumps-producing 19 1/4-length tour de force last year in Del Mar’s Grade I Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles.
Just this week in an excellent interview with Sean Clancy in The Saratoga Special, Lukas was asked to name the fastest Thoroughbred he has ever trained.
“I’d say Landaluce,” Lukas responded. “...It was unreal the way she could do things.”
Later in 1982, Landaluce became gravely ill and died on Nov. 28. That same day she had been scheduled to run in the Grade I Hollywood Starlet Stakes, which that year had a purse of $518,850, making it the world’s richest Thoroughbred race for females ever run up to that time.
“To lose her was something else,” Lukas said in The Saratoga Special article. “She got a blood disorder that attacks the vital organs. She lasted five days…She died right in my lap, right in my arms.”
Landaluce’s “death seems particularly unfair because it has robbed Thoroughbred racing of one of its brightest stars at such a tender age,” I wrote in the Daily Racing Form four days following her death. “Fate did not even allow her to complete her 2-year-old campaign. Would she have gone on to beat the boys in the upcoming Hollywood Futurity? Would she have won next year’s Kentucky Derby? These are but some of the many questions that became unanswerable in the wake of her death.”
Landaluce, who won all five of her races by a combined 46 1/2 lengths, was posthumously voted a 1982 Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly. To this day, no filly during the Eclipse Awards era, which dates back to 1971, has ever been voted Horse of the Year, yet Landaluce received strong support in 1982, losing out to Met Mile and Belmont Stakes winner Conquistador Cielo.
According to Steven Crist, a longtime writer for the New York Times before spending a number of years at the helm of The Racing Times and then the Daily Racing Form, Landaluce evoked legitimate comparisons to the legendary Ruffian.
Many, including yours truly, regard Ruffian as the greatest female Thoroughbred of all time. She won all 10 of her starts when racing against fillies. Ruffian’s victories came at distances ranging from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/2 miles. In the eight stakes races in which she ran against members of her own sex, Ruffian broke or tied a track or stakes record every time.
Ruffian’s only defeat came when she did not finish due to fracturing both sesamoids in her right foreleg during a match race against Foolish Pleasure at Belmont in 1975.
Admittedly, Ways and Means’ final time for six furlongs of 1:10 2/5 (1:10.51 in hundredths) last Sunday was nowhere close to Landaluce’s first two victories in 1:08 flat and 1:08 1/5. But it should be kept in mind that Ways and Means did not have the best of starts and her winning margin of 12 3/4 lengths was much larger than Landaluce’s in her career debut.
Also, as easily as Landaluce won her first race while under a hand ride, Ways and Means was not being ridden at all in the final furlong, as noted in the Equibase chart comment for her, which states: “WAYS AND MEANS broke in and bumped hard with a rival, was rated just off the pace while into the bit, drafted in the two path early on the turn then shifted to the four path, rallied coming to the quarter pole, closed fast in the five path to take the lead into upper stretch then was shaken up briefly, kicked clear impressively shortly thereafter with the rider becoming motionless in the saddle and powered away in the final furlong with the rider poised like a statute in the irons to win handily.”
Seth Klaravich said after Ways and Means’ debut that she “is very, very special,” adding that her performance “blew us away.” Klaravich bred and owns the daughter of multiple Grade I winner Practical Joke and the stakes-winning Warrior’s Reward mare Strong Incentive.
Practical Joke is the sire of Practical Move, winner of this year’s Grade I Santa Anita Derby.
Strong Incentive has produced Grade III winners Highly Motivated (by Into Mischief) and Surge Capacity (by Flintshire).
On that same Saratoga card last Sunday, a talented 2-year-old filly, Brightwork, remained undefeated in three starts with a five-length victory in the Grade III Adirondack Stakes. She completed 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.85.
Brightwork recorded an 89 Beyer Speed Figure. Ways and Means’ Beyer was a 90. While the two figures are nearly identical, there was a considerable difference in how the fillies were ridden in the final furlong. Brightwork “drew away under steady urging,” the Equibase chart noted. As mentioned earlier, Ways and Means was under absolutely no urging at all.
The manner in which Ways and Means won her debut is yet another example of how I believe it would be a much truer reflection of Ways and Means’ performance if a plus symbol was added to her Beyer Speed Figure. For many years I have said that it would be helpful to bettors if Beyer Speed Figures added a plus symbol in those rare instances in which a horse wins while far from all out.
Heck, in the case of Ways and Means, I personally am going to consider her Beyer worthy of not one, but a pair of plus symbols, which would make her figure a 90++.
Chad Brown trains Ways and Means. He said he was not at all surprised by Ways and Means’ performance.
“Very rare, maybe not ever, have I ever given instructions, ‘Don’t let the horse run all the way to the wire.’ I warned [Flavien Prat] if she makes the front turning for home, don’t let her run,” the Daily Racing Form’s David Grening quoted Brown as saying. “There’s just too much stuff ahead of us. I’ve been doing it long enough to know what I have.”
What Brown has is a very exciting 2-year-old filly by the name of Ways and Means, who is “a real possibility” for Saratoga’s Grade I Spinaway Stakes on Sept. 3, according to the trainer.
MY LATEST 3-YEAR-OLD MALE RANKINGS
Forte remains in the top spot in my 3-year-old rankings this week. The Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male of 2022 and recent winner of the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes makes his next start in Saratoga’s Grade I Travers Stakes on Aug. 26.
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said he is aiming Geaux Rocket Ride for Del Mar’s Grade I Pacific Classic on Sept. 3, Daily Racing Form’s Steve Andersen reported.
Geaux Rocket Ride, who has won three of four career starts, won the Grade I Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 22. His lone defeat came when he finished second to Practical Move in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 4.
In big Travers news Tuesday (Aug. 8), Ramiro Restrepo, one of Mage’s owners, announced via Twitter that Luis Saez will ride the Kentucky Derby winner in the Travers.
Javier Castellano won his first Kentucky Derby aboard Mage, then won his firsst Belmont Stakes on Arcangelo. People have been wondering which 3-year-old Castellano would ride in the Travers.
The DRF’s Grening reported that Restrepo told Castellano and his agent, P.J. Campo, on Sunday that he and his partners wanted a Travers decision sooner than later.
“Restrepo said he understood the difficult decision facing Castellano, but didn’t want to be ‘left without a top rider,’ for Mage in the Travers,” Grening wrote.
“We are under the understanding the Travers is going to be a pretty full field, most of the riders are starting to be committed to their mounts,” Restrepo was quoted as saying. “Not wanting to be caught without a rider until the last minute, we decided to go with Luis, who had ridden the horse before and who is a top-level rider in his own right.”
Saez was Mage’s rider for a runner-up finish to Forte in the Grade I Florida Derby. In the Kentucky Derby, Saez rode Tapit Trice, who finished seventh. Tapit Trice is a candidate for the Travers.
In Mage’s most recent start, he finished second to Geaux Rocket Ride in the Haskell.
Below is my current Top 10 in the 3-year-old male division:
Rank Horse
1. Forte
2. Geaux Rocket Ride
3. Arcangelo
4. Mage
5. Saudi Crown
6. Arabian Lion
7. Arabian Knight
8. Angel of Empire
9. National Treasure
10. Scotland
WHITE ABARRIO WINS WHITNEY STAKES
Track announcer Frank Mirahmadi, who is doing such a splendid job calling the races at Saratoga this summer, noted that White Abarrio was “running the race of his life” while the 4-year-old gray colt was drawing off to a 6 1/4-length victory at odds of 10-1 in the Grade I Whitney Stakes.
White Abarrio has shown flashes of brilliance from time to time, going all the way back to his 6 3/4-length win in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Gulfstream Park on Sept. 24, 2021.
This year on June 10, in White Abarrio’s first start for trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., the Kentucky-bred son of Race Day finished third to Cody’s Wish and Zandon in the Grade I Met Mile.
Zandon and Cody’s Wish were no match for White Abarrio this time in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney. Zandon finished second, as he seems to like to do. Cody’s Wish ended up third as the 2-5 favorite, 10 lengths behind White Abarrio.
Cody’s Wish took a six-race winning streak into the Whitney, but he’s now lost both times he’s tried going farther than 1 1/16 miles. After Cody’s Wish could do no better than third in the Whitney, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said the 5-year-old son of Curlin will target the Grade I BC Dirt Mile instead of the Grade I BC Classic at 1 1/4 miles in early November at Santa Anita. Cody’s Wish won the BC Dirt Mile last year at Keeneland.
Dutrow has said that he has come to the conclusion that White Abarrio runs well fresh. Thus, the Whitney victor will not race again before the BC Classic on Nov. 4. Dutrow won the 2005 BC Classic at Belmont Park with Saint Liam. Three years later, Dutrow won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes with Big Brown, who was voted a 2008 Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male.
White Abarrio’s final time in the Whitney was 1:48.45. He recorded a 110 Beyer, his best figure to date. His previous top figure in the Beyer department was the 106 he got when third in the Met Mile.
The 110 Beyer posted by White Abarrio for his Whitney victory compares favorably to other recent winning Whitney figures, as shown in the list below that goes back to 1990 (the first year in which Beyer Speed Figures were listed in the American Racing Manual):
2023 White Abarrio (110)
2022 Life Is Good (107)
2021 Knicks Go (111)
2020 Improbable (106)
2019 McKinzie (111)
2018 Diversify (110)
2017 Gun Runner (112)
2016 Frosted (107)
2015 Honor Code (113)
2014 Moreno (109)
2013 Cross Traffic (108)
2012 Fort Larned (110)
2011 Tizway (111)
2010 Blame (111)
2009 Bullsbay (107)
2008 Commentator (120)
2007 Lawyer Ron (117)
2006 Invasor (113)
2005 Commentator (123)
2004 Roses in May (114)
2003 Medaglia d’Oro (114)
2002 Left Bank (121)
2001 Lido Palace (114)
2000 Lemon Drop Kid (118)
1999 Victory Gallop (116)
1998 Awesome Again (110)
1997 Will’s Way (126)
1996 Mahogany Hall (110)
1995 Unaccounted For (111)
1994 Colonial Affair (111)
1993 Brunswick (115)
1992 Sultry Song (112)
1991 In Excess (116)
1990 Criminal Type (115)
Reinier Macatangay of Horseracingnation.com believes White Abarrio has a very good chance of winning this year’s BC Classic.
“After his powerful win in the Grade I Whitney Stakes and the retirement of West Will Power, White Abarrio now arguably stands as the leading older horse pointing toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November,” Macatangay wrote. “White Abarrio surpasses West Will Power in terms of raw ability and power in the stretch. West Will Power gave consistent efforts, but he never stood out from the crowd of good Grade I horses” like White Abarrio did in the Whitney.
“If White Abarrio keeps building on his Whitney effort, he might become a star. White Abarrio got a 110 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form last weekend, and TimeformUS awarded the gray 4-year-old colt a 132.”
LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC RANKINGS
In the wake of White Abarrio’s emphatic Whitney triumph, there is a major shakeup in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings this week.
With Mott now saying that No. 1 Cody’s Wish will run in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile again rather than in the longer Classic after the loss by Cody’s Wish in the Whitney, Forte has risen to the top of this week’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings.
Whitney winner White Abarrio debuts on the Top 10 this week all the way up at No. 2.
Zandon, the Whitney runner-up, also is new on the Top 10 this week at No. 9.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held at Santa Anita on Nov. 3-4. The $6 milllion Classic will be on Nov. 4.
The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of voters comprised of members of the Breeders’ Cup Racing/Secretaries Panel, international racing and sports media, plus racing analysts.
The rankings will be updated weekly through Oct. 10.
The Top 10 in this week’s rankings are below:
Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)
1. 301 Forte (16)
2. 218 White Abario (3)
3. 212 Geaux Rocket Ride (3)
4. 210 Mage (1)
5. 185 Arcangelo (1)
6. 129 Cody’s Wish (3)
7. 99 Defunded (2)
8. 94 Rattle N Roll (3)
9. 66 Zandon
10. 64 Art Collector
TOP 10 IN THIS WEEK’S NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
Following White Abarrio’s Whitney Stakes victory, he debuted on the Top 10 at No. 5 in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll this week after being No. 29 last week.
Likewise new on the Top 10 this week after being No. 31 last week is the ill-fated 3-year-old filly Maple Leaf Mel, owned by Bill Parcells (August Dawn Farm) and trained by Melanie Giddings. I actually think it’s admirable that seven NTRA poll participants this week paid homage to Maple Leaf Mel by casting a first-place vote for her.
In an incident that cast a pall over the sport, just when the undefeated Maple Leaf Mel was about to extend her winning streak to six, the 3-year-old New York-bred filly tragically suffered a catastrophic injury in the final yards of Saratoga’s Grade I Test Stakes last Saturday (Aug. 5).
Maple Leaf Mel was born about 50 miles from Saratoga at Waldorf Farm. With the filly only a few yards away from a Test victory as the 2-1 second favorite, 81-year-old Parcells, a Hall of Fame NFL coach and enthusiastic Thoroughbred owner, was on the brink of winning his first Grade I race. Parcells’ first Grade I victory was going to be achieved by a filly that Parcells had named after Giddings, a 39-year-old who has battled stage 4 ovarian and endocervical cancer, which thankfully has been reported to be in remission.
Jeremiah Englehart was Maple Leaf Mel’s trainer for her first four starts. After Maple Leaf Mel won the Grade III Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 19, Giddings, who had been an assistant to Englehart, took over as the filly’s trainer.
In Maple Leaf Mel’s first start for Giddings, the gray daughter of Cross Traffic won the Grade III Victory Ride Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park on July 8.
But in the final fateful yards of the Test, what had been such an uplifting story abruptly turned into sorrow.
“Ten yards away from a certain victory, the unthinkable,” BloodHorse’s Tim Wilkin wrote. “Maple Leaf Mel, who had built up a three-length lead and was on the way to Grade I glory, stumbled in the shadow of the wire, pitching jockey Joel Rosario to the dirt and falling herself. Giddings’ screams of excitement turned to agony as she wailed as her brave gray got her feet, but the damage was done.”
The official winner of the Test became 9-5 favorite Pretty Mischievous, who finished a head in front of California invader Clearly Unhinged. Pretty Mischievous, owned by Godolphin and trained by Brendan Walsh, went into the Test off back-to-back Grade I wins in the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes.
In a classy gesture on the part of Godolphin and Walsh, the floral blanket that goes to the Test winner was taken to Gidding’s barn Sunday morning and placed at Maple Leaf Mel’s stall.
“It was the right thing to do and we feel terrible for them,” Walsh was quoted as saying in NYRA’s Saratoga notes Sunday. “If that happened to me and my filly, I don’t know what I would do. I would be distraught. She was the best filly on the day, too, and I feel terrible for Melanie, especially after all she’s been through. I can’t imagine she feels.
“We all got in this because of our love for the animals. They may think we’re doing this or we’re doing that, but we genuinely care for them. I’ve never seen the place so somber this morning or even after the races yesterday. Hopefully, we’ll all be able to pick up the pieces and put it all back together again.”
Below is the Top 10 in this week’s NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll:
Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)
1. 317 Elite Power (20)
2. 261 Cody’s Wish (6)
3. 232 Nest
4. 167 Up to the Mark
5. 157 White Abarrio
6. 137 Clairiere
7. 119 Forte (2)
8. 89 Maple Leaf Mel (7)
9. 52 West Will Power
10. 47 In Italian (47)
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