A Mile-stone – and then some

In saving his best strides for last, Wasserman came home with another first.

August 23, 2008 12:00 am
The three horses barrel down the stretch toward the wire during Sunday’s Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs. Jockey Jennifer Whitaker and Wasserman (4) come up on the outside
The three horses barrel down the stretch toward the wire during Sunday’s Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs. Jockey Jennifer Whitaker and Wasserman (4) come up on the outside

In saving his best strides for last, Wasserman came home with another first.

Matter of fact, he came home with three of ’em. A first for jockey Jennifer Whitaker. A first for trainer Howard Belvoir. And first in the Longacres Mile.

The 6-year-old gelding, whose come-from-behind style has made him a people’s favorite at Emerald Downs, didn’t let down any of them on a muggy Sunday afternoon. Running 10th among the 12 horses in the early going and as many as 12 lengths behind, Wasserman, with Whitaker in the irons, surged up on the outside, pulled alongside the leaders down the stretch, then went on to win the $300,000 Mile by a nose in front of 8,722 fans.

That helped Whitaker make race history by becoming the first female jockey to win the event. And it made some personal history for Kent’s Belvoir, who got to walk into the Mile winner’s circle for the first time.

“He never wants to win by too far,” Whitaker said with a laugh and a grin, her face still speckled with mud even though the track was dry and fast. “That makes it hard on me and Howard.”

Probably so. But Whitaker and Belvoir certainly have gotten used to it by now. The Mile triumph was Wasserman’s third in stakes competition this season at Emerald Downs, and the three of them combined don’t add up to even a full length. On May 26, he won the Fox Sports Net Handicap by a head, then took the Governor’s Handicap on July 6 by a nose.

Suffice to say Whitaker never assumes it’s in the bag until she’s across the line.

“Every time I think, ‘I’ve got this one,’ someone sticks a nose in front,” she said. “You just ride to the wire and hope you’re there first.”

Fan favorite though he is, Wasserman went off as just the fourth choice, at odds of 10-to-1 and carrying 118 pounds. But that turned out to be a nice price at the mutuel windows, as he returned $22.40, $7.60 and $3.20. True Metropolitan, the Canadian shipper ridden by James McAleney who went off as the second pick at 3-to-1, paid $4.60 and $3.20 for second, while 6-to-5 favorite Tropic Storm, up from California with Aaron Gryder aboard, was worth $2.60 for show.

Wasserman’s victory was worth $137,500, giving him lifetime earnings of $415,971, and a 8-9-5 record in 38 starts.

“This is good because it was Washington-bred,” said Belvoir, who also bred and owns Wassserman, and was third with him in last year’s Mile. “To beat the shippers, it shows we can compete here.

“It’s nice to have a horse who competes in so many different ways,” added Belvoir, a four-decade veteran of Washington racing, “and he shows up every time.”