A multi-millionaire from southern California ended a recent string of local dominance Sunday in the $200,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.
Awesome Gem won a stretch battle with local favorite Noosa Beach and edged clear late for a 1-1/2 length victory in the 76th renewal of the Northwest’s most prestigious race.
With David Flores riding at 122 pounds, Awesome Gem, the slight 8-to-5 betting choice, ran one mile in 1 minute, 34.80 seconds on a fast track and paid $5.20, $3 and $2.80. Craig Dollase is the trainer of Awesome Gem for Terry Finley’s West Point Thoroughbreds.
Noosa Beach, ridden by Enumclaw jockey Gallyn Mitchell at high weight of 125 pounds, paid $3.20 and $2.80.
Posse Power, trained by Enumclaw’s Frank Lucarelli and ridden by Russell Baze at 117 pounds, rallied for third and paid $5.20.
Crew Leader, Wasserman, J P Jammer, Winning Machine, also a Lucarelli trained horse, Assessment, Slew the Man, Honour the Deputy and Saratoga Boot completed the order of finish.
The victory was especially sweet for West Point Thoroughbreds since it had tried twice previously to win the Longacres Mile, finishing third with Tropic Storm in 2008 and second with Awesome Gem in 2009. The triumph also ended a streak of six straight Longacres Mile victories by local runners.
Awesome Gem, an 8-year-old Kentucky-bred, tied Little Rollo, the 1951 winner, and Gigantic, the 1958 champion, as the oldest horses to win the Longacres Mile. The well-traveled gelding has a lifetime mark of 46-9-14-5 with earnings of more than $2.6 million including $110,000 for Sunday’s victory.
“We’ve got something in common,” Flores said. “We’re getting old, but we’re still ticking.”
Awesome Gem, breaking from post-position 11, and Noosa Beach, breaking from post 10, both overcame their outside post-positions with little difficulty.
Noosa Beach led most of the race‚ setting fractions of :23.95, :46.62, 1:10.37 and 1:22.53, but finally yielded to Awesome Gem in the final furlong. The second-place finish ended a seven-race winning streak and a chance to become the first horse to win consecutive runnings of the Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.
Mitchell said Noosa Beach had a good trip.
“Everything went as planned,” he said. “He broke great and we got over to the fence without any problems. He was doing it easy on the front end just pricking his ears. I wanted to keep him off the fence a little bit because the rail was a little deep.
“He just kept digging in the whole way. This horse has never quit for me once this year. I’m really proud of him, and I’m glad to be a part of him. I take nothing away from the winner. That’s a nice horse.”
The $40,000 second-place check boosted Noosa Beach’s earnings to $520,722 for trainer Doris Harwood and owner Jeff Harwood. The 5-year-old Harbor the Gold gelding now ranks sixth all-time in Washington-bred earnings.
A leading rider in southern California, Flores knows Awesome Gem well. The two have combined for five victories topped a by a victory in the 2010 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1).
“The only horse I was concerned with was Noosa Beach,” Flores said. “Breaking out of the gate we had a huge advantage with the speed on the inside of us.
“I just followed Noosa Beach to the rail and settled behind the leaders. He’s such an easy horse to relax that if I let him relax too much, he’ll fall asleep. I wanted to keep my horse within range, with my eyes targeted on the leader. When I asked him to go, he started cruising. My horse was making such a big run that when we went by, I saw (Noosa Beach) fight back, but by that time it was too late. I never gave them a chance. I give all the credit to the horse. He shows up every time.”
In the $65,000 Emerald Distaff for fillies and mares, Hard Way Ten snapped a 14-race losing streak at the best possible time, edging away for a 1-¼-length victory in 1:50.09 for 1-1/8 miles. Owned and bred by Herman Sarkowsky and trained by Harwood, Hard Way Ten was ridden by Mitchell at 115 pounds and paid $24.20, $11.20 and $6.60.
“The added distance plus taking the blinkers off really helped her today,” Mitchell said. “My instructions were to stay within three lengths of the lead. If they were going really fast up front, then I’d stay within four lengths. She stayed close and relaxed the whole time. I started to ask her at the three-eighth pole. I knew I had a ton of horse, but I also saw Zenovit had a ton of horse too, but Zenovit wouldn’t relax. When we got up to (You Me and Ema B) my horse just took off.”
The victory came six years to the day after Sarkowsky’s No Giveaway scored the biggest surprise in Longacres Mile history. On Aug. 21, 2005, No Giveaway at odds of 60-to1 captured the 70th Longacres Mile.
Sweet Nellie Brown, a 19-to-1 long shot with Pedro Terrero riding at 118 lbs, edged You Me and Ema B for second and paid $20.20 and $11.60.
You Me and Ema B, a double stakes winner this season, took a clear lead into the stretch before weakening slightly to finish third. Ridden by Jose Zunino at 119 lbs, You Me and Ema B paid $4.80.
Rewritten finished fourth, followed by Private Fortune, 2-to-1 favorite U R All That I Am and Zenovit. During the stretch run, defending champion Kimmyv suffered a compound fracture of the left front cannon bone and was euthanized. Her rider, Chad Hoverson, was shaken but uninjured and rode Crew Leader to a fourth in the Longacres Mile.
