Twelve older horses led by defending winner Five Star General and 2022 victor Slew’s Tiz Whiz square off in the 89th running of the
$150,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. EDT.
Fourteen horses entered the Mile with Papa’s Golden Boy and
Canadian shipper Apprehend excluded based on total earnings in 2023 and 2024.
The top four finishers from last year’s race, including
morning-line favorite Five Star General, Il Bellator, Slew’s Tiz Whiz and Arma
d’Oro, all return for 2024.
Click here for Emerald Downs entries and results.
Five Star General is 5-2 in the program, Slew’s Tiz Whiz 4-1,
Clovisconnection 9-2 and Arma d’Oro 8-1.
Owned by Ken Alhadeff and trained by Grant Forster, Five
Star General bids to become only the fifth two-time winner of the historic
race. The 8-year-old full horse by Distorted Humor already has finished in the top
three in a record four straight Miles. With a victory he would join Awesome Gem
in 2011 and Gigantic and 1959 as 8-year-olds to win the race.
Since his win at Emerald Downs last year, Five Star General
has continued his trek as a traveler, winning $100,000 races in Louisiana and
Kentucky. He has an overall ledger of 38: 12-6-9 with $819,702 in earnings. His
97 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form, in the Michael
Schaefer Memorial last month at Horseshoe Indianapolis is tops in this year’s
race.
Five Star General drew post position 9, which has produced
just three wins from 40 starters in races at a flat mile during the last six
years at Emerald Downs. With his speed and versatility and the experience of
jockey Joe Bravo, Five Star General should be able to work out a trip.
Slew’s Tiz Whiz enters the race in peak form. The 6-year-old
Tom Wenzel trainee comes off a dead-heat victory in the Governor’s Stakes, his
third straight win in the 6 1/2-furlong lead-in to the Longacres Mile. The lone
Washington-bred in this year’s race, Slew’s Tiz Whiz used his patented closing
kick to score by 2 3/4 lengths in the 2022 Mile. He rallied from far back for
third last year.
This year marks something of a tiebreaker between Five Star
General and Slew’s Tiz Whiz. They each have a win and a third the last two
years.
Owned by Slew’s Crew Racing and ridden by Jose Zunino,
Slew’s Tiz Whiz has made all his career starts at Emerald Downs with a 22: 9-4-3
mark and $298,457 in earnings.
Clovisconnection has one of the best winning percentages in
the race. The 4-year-old California-bred is 9-for-14 lifetime for 64 percent
with five stakes wins, including a 2-for-2 record at Emerald Downs. The speedy
Vronsky gelding has yet to negotiate two turns on dirt but led gate to wire in
the Robert Dupret Derby at 1 1/6 miles on turf at Santa Rosa and finished a
close second in the Silky Sullivan at one mile on turf at Golden Gate.
Clovisconnection enters the Mile off two recent sprint wins, including the Oak
Tree Sprint at Pleasanton.
In addition to Clovisconnection, trainer Blaine Wright
saddles Prince Abu Dhabi, also a 4-year-old, with a 6-for-11 life mark
including last year’s Muckleshoot Derby at Emerald Downs.
Trainer Justin Evans figures to be the busiest man on the
grounds before the Mile. The meet’s leading trainer with 45 wins and a strike
rate of 35 percent, Evans entered four in the race. The horses include Arma
d’Oro, Neiman, Giant Game and Surprsinglyperfect.
Arma d’Oro and Neiman have been major factors in the local
older horse division. Claimed for $25,000 two races back, 6-year-old Arma d’Oro
has paid quick dividends for Evans and Rakoczy Racing with two straight wins,
one being the meet’s fastest mile at 1:34.03 and the other a dead heat with
Slew’s Tiz Whiz in the Governor’s Stakes.
Neiman figures to blast off from the no. 1 post on the
stretch-out. The 4-year-old Munnings gelding ran the fastest six furlongs of
the meet, 1:07.98, while scoring a $39.86 upset in the Budweiser Stakes. He was
beaten by only 1 3/4 lengths finishing third after outdueling Papa’s Golden Boy
in the Governor’s.
A recent private purchase, Giant Game comes off a seventh to
The Chosen Vron in the Bing Crosby (G1) at Del Mar and has a résumé that
includes a win the 2023 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker (G3). Surprsinglyperfect,
the gray beard in this year’s Mile at age 10, has four wins in the current meet
and 21 wins lifetime, including 12 at the mile distance. Sunday marks a steep
step up in class.
Il Bellator, a solid second to Five Star General last year,
comes off a fifth in the $150,000 Pleasanton Mile following a victory in a
one-mile optional claimer on synthetic at Golden Gate.
Phantom Ride is a recent $62,500 claim with three route wins
on his 2024 ledger. Deshambeau finished second to Prince Abu Dhabi in the 2023
Muckleshoot Derby. Muncey is conditioned by three-time Longacres Mile winning
trainer Howard Belvoir.
Fourteen horses entered the Mile with Papa’s Golden Boy and Canadian shipper Apprehend excluded on the basis of total earnings in 2023 and 2024.
Sunday’s forecast predicts a mostly sunny day with a high of
80 degrees. The first post is at 5 p.m. EDT.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | ML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Neiman Munnings | 0.00 | 3rd, Governor’s S. | 10-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 3rd, Governor’s S. | |||||
| 2 | | Clovisconnection Vronsky | 0.00 | 1st, Oak Tree Sprint S. | 9-2 | |
Last Race Next Race | 1st, Oak Tree Sprint S. | |||||
| 3 |  | Slew’s Tiz Whiz Slew’s Tiznow | 4.79 | 1st, Governor’s S. | 4-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 1st, Governor’s S. | |||||
| 4 | | Deshambeau Lea | 4.12 | 4th, Governor’s S. | 20-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 4th, Governor’s S. | |||||
| 5 | | Phantom Ride Candy Ride | 4.45 | 3rd, CD CLM (06/19/2024-R5) | 20-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 3rd, CD CLM (06/19/2024-R5) | |||||
| 6 | | Il Bellator Shackleford | 4.12 | 5th, Pleasanton Mile S. | 12-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 5th, Pleasanton Mile S. | |||||
| 7 | | Arma D’oro Violence | 0.00 | 1st, Governor’s S. | 8-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 1st, Governor’s S. | |||||
| 8 | | Giant Game Giant’s Causeway | 6.04 | 12-1 | ||
Last Race Next Race | ||||||
| 9 | | Five Star General Distorted Humor | 6.15 | 3rd, Michael G. Schaefer Memorial S. | 5-2 | |
Last Race Next Race | 3rd, Michael G. Schaefer Memorial S. | |||||
| 10 | | Surprsinglyperfect Perfect Soul | 0.00 | 1st, EMD AOC (07/27/2024-R8) | 15-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 1st, EMD AOC (07/27/2024-R8) | |||||
| 11 | | Prince Abu Dhabi Palace Malice | 4.45 | 3rd, Pleasanton Mile S. | 12-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 3rd, Pleasanton Mile S. | |||||
| 12 | | Muncey Munnings | 0.00 | 6th, Governor’s S. | 30-1 | |
Last Race Next Race | 6th, Governor’s S. | |||||