EMERALD DOWNS: Longacres Mile horses ring up the earnings

The 2009 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs featured one of the deepest and most talented fields in the 74-year history of the race. Horses exiting The Mile have performed exceedingly well in subsequent starts, posting eight wins and one second from a combined 11 starts. Collectively, the group has earned $463,687, topped by the $282,000 first-place check to Awesome Gem for his victory in the $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup, Grade III on Oct. 3.

October 5, 2009 9:24 pm

The 2009 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs featured one of the deepest and most talented fields in the 74-year history of the race.

Horses exiting The Mile have performed exceedingly well in subsequent starts, posting eight wins and one second from a combined 11 starts.

Collectively, the group has earned $463,687, topped by the $282,000 first-place check to Awesome Gem for his victory in the $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup, Grade III on Oct. 3.

For Awesome Gem, it was his second start since his runner-up finish to Assessment in the Aug. 16 Mile. The first was a troubled seventh-place finish in the Sept. 6 Pacific Classic, Grade I. He was beaten by 3-¾ lengths.

At Emerald Downs, Wasserman and Atta Boy Roy, fourth and fifth-place finishers in The Mile, both returned to win races on the Sept. 13 Washington Cup program.

Wasserman defended his title in the mile and one-sixteenth Muckleshoot Tribal Classic while Atta Boy trounced his rivals by nearly 11 lengths in the six-furlong Chinook Pass Sprint, establishing a track and state record time of 1 minute, 7 seconds in the process.

At Hastings Racecourse, Teide and Bank Emblem, the third and sixth-place Mile finishers, have bounced back with two stakes wins apiece at the Vancouver oval. Teide throttled foes by 4-¾ and 9-¼ lengths in the S W Randall Plate and Winston Churchill Handicaps while Bank Emblem prevailed in the PNE President’s Speed and the Derby Bar & Grill Express.

Autism Awareness, seventh in The Mile, subsequently finished second to Bold Chieftain in the $75,000 Governor’s Handicap at Sacramento. Bold Chieftain returned to capture the California Cup Classic at Oak Tree last Saturday.

And Gallon, eighth in The Mile, defeated Chhaya Dance in a $20,000 optional claiming race at Emerald Downs before finishing fifth to Teide in the Winston Churchill on Sept. 27.

All of this bodes well for Assessment, the 5-year-old son of Jump Start who ran the mile in 1:33 2/5 for a three-quarter-length victory under Gallyn Mitchell. Unfortunately, trainer Howard Belvoir reported the gelding sustained a chipped bone in an ankle following a Sept. 4 workout, and that surgery to repair the injury would likely sideline Assessment until next year.

Sierra Sunset, Kruger Park, Trumpet Player Jay and Crafty Power, the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th place finishers, also have yet to run since their efforts in The Mile.