A trio of classy invaders – one from California and two from Canada – bring heightened intrigue to Emerald Downs’s richest race of the year, the $125,000 Longacres Mile, on Sunday.
While the 5-year-old Arrowthegreat is just 3 for 17 lifetime, all three of those victories have come at a mile. It’s a distance at which the Dan Blacker-trained gelding has earned his highest career Beyer Speed Figures, including a 92 and 91 in recent runner-up finishes at Del Mar and Santa Anita.
Arrowthegreat, the 5-2 second favorite on the morning line, is partially owned by celebrity chef Brian Malarkey, whose uncle Reed Palmer is Emerald Downs’s track photographer. Malarkey grew up in the Pacific Northwest and told the Emerald Downs press department that the decision to point to the Longacres Mile, a race he’s “known about [his] whole life,” was quite intentional.
The Longacres Mile has also “kind of been the goal all year” for Apprehend, according to trainer Barbara Heads. After winning the Grade 3 Premier’s going 1 3/8 miles at Hastings last October, Apprehend was given 11 months off before coming back to prevail by 3 3/4 lengths in last month’s Century Mile Handicap at a mile and 70 yards. Apprehend earned 81 Beyers for both of those triumphs.
Apprehend’s latest freshening qualifies as a short layoff when compared to his nearly year and a half absence from the racetrack after an impressive 3-year-old campaign in 2022 that saw him earn a 107 Beyer – the highest figure in the Longacres Mile field – in a Del Mar allowance before finishing second in the Zia Park Derby and sixth in the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita.
“He got a tendon injury and they gave him a significant amount of time off and then decided to bring him up here [to Canada],” said Heads, who is based at Hastings.
The English-bred Masen raced in even more elite company than Apprehend. After spending the first six races of his career in Ireland, Masen came to Chad Brown’s barn in 2022 at age 4 and proceeded to finish second in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile before winning the Grade 3 Poker at Saratoga and finishing third in the Grade 1 Fourstardave.
Now based at Hastings with Craig MacPherson, Masen’s no longer capable of posting the triple-digit Beyers of his youth but exits a nice allowance score at the Vancouver, B.C., track and figures to be on or near the lead at morning-line odds of 12-1.
The 9-5 morning-line favorite, Slew’s Tiz Whiz, is the only Washington-bred in a race that he won in 2022 before finishing third to two-time champ Five Star General in both 2023 and 2024.
“They were pretty good thirds,” trainer Tom Wenzel said of his 7-year-old closer, who has traded trips to the winner’s circle with his top local rival, Clovisconnection, in a pair of sprint stakes this year.
Like Arrowthegreat, Clovisconnection, who finished second by a head in last year’s Longacres Mile, is comfortable running just about any kind of race, and Wenzel is hoping he goes out hard.
“You’ve got to figure Clovis, they’re probably gonna let this horse bounce a lot more in this race,” said Wenzel. “The California horse showed some speed in his last race and he drew inside. I would think this would be a reasonably honest pace from what I saw.
“Last year, Clovis got away with a pretty comfortable pace and almost stole it. I was pretty happy that Slew closed into a pace that was kind of in the middle.”
Clovisconnection (5-1) will break from post 7 just inside Slew’s Tiz Whiz. Clovisconnection finished a disappointing fifth in his most recent race, the Governor’s Stakes on July 20, which was won by Slew’s Tiz Whiz.
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“I can’t explain why he ran flat last time, but hopefully he’ll rebound and run a big race for us,” said Blaine Wright, who leads all Emerald Downs trainers with $440,502 in local earnings this year.
The third-place finisher in the Governor’s, Bearings, will be saddled by Justin Evans, who has 24 wins from 76 starts this year. It’s not often bettors will find an Evans horse priced at 15-1 at Emerald, and the track’s winningest trainer in recent years thinks his late-runner, who finished second in this year’s Sunland Park Handicap, offers plenty of upside. Bearings will break from post 9 under Alex Cruz.
“With the speed drawn to the inside of him, if he’s not having to use the horse to get into position, given the big run he’s got, I love this horse,” said Evans. “I think he’s got a really good shot for a 15-1 horse on the morning line. It’s a deep, talented field. He’s gonna have to run his ‘A’ game to win, but I really think he’s got a big shot.”
The Longacres Mile goes as race 9 on an 11-race card that includes five additional stakes.
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