LONGACRES MILE 2011
by Matt Gardner on Aug 15, 2011 9:11 PM EDT
in General Horse Racing
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This coming Sunday is the 76th running of the Grade 3 Longacres Mile, the premier race on the Pacific Northwest racing calendar. Noosa Beach will seek his second consecutive win and would join only two other horses to accomplish that feat in the race's history (Trooper Seven -1980/1981, and Simply Majestic - 1988/1989). Noosa Beach is the reigning Washington state Horse of the Year and one of the best horses in the state's history. If he successfully defends his Mile title in 2011 it is likely that his connections will point him towards a place in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs this November.
The Longacres Mile was first run in 1935 at the since torn-down Longacres Racetrack in Renton, Washington. After Longacres was closed in 1992 the Mile was run for three years at Yakima Meadows in Yakima, Washington. The MIle returned to Western Washington in 1996 with the opening of Emerald Downs in Auburn.
Emerald Downs, despite dealing with the same issues that many tracks are facing around the country, is having a much more positive meet than in recent years. According to a story in The Seattle Times a week ago, handle is up roughly 1% and attendance is up approximately 11.5%. (Seattle Times: Emerald Downs bucks national racing trends) Hopefully this Sunday's card will build on the progress that has occurred this meeting.
Last Friday Emerald Downs Director of Racing Brett Anderson released the assigned weights for all horses nominated to this year's Mile with Noosa Beach leading the potential field at 125 pounds. The last horse to carry 125 or more in the Mile was 1983 winner Chinook Pass. The weights of all nominated horses appears at the bottom of this post.
Awesome Gem was nominated to the Mile but is not expected to run. (As noted in the comments, it sounds like Awesome Gem is now likely to run. Definitely good news.) (UPDATE #2: Awesome Gem arrives at Emerald on Wednesday.)
I'll be out at Emerald Downs for the post position draw on Wednesday (11am), as well as spending all-day Sunday at the track.
Assigned weights:
| 125 | Noosa Beach |
| 122 | Awesome Gem |
| 122 | Our Nautique (NZ) |
| 121 | Indian Firewater |
| 120 | St Liams Halo |
| 119 | Run It |
| 119 | Slew the Man |
| 118 | Crew Leader |
| 118 | Dahoud (NZ) |
| 118 | Kevlar Kid |
| 117 | Almost Time |
| 117 | Assessment |
| 117 | Honour the Deputy |
| 117 | Rooster City |
| 117 | Spurrier |
| 117 | Winning Machine |
| 116 | Cherokee Notion |
| 116 | Don’twaitforme |
| 116 | Hollywood Harbor |
| 116 | Saratoga Boot |
| 116 | Whatsthescript (IRE) |
| 115 | Davos |
| 115 | Posse Power |
| 114 | J P Jammer |
| 114 | Our Minesweeper |
| 114 | Price |
| 112 | Seven Torrents |
| 112 | Wasserman |
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Win Place Show
Yesterday morning made it sound like Awesome Gem was likely running.
Very excited for the Mile and the card as a whole. I’m trying to get as many friends and acquaintances out to the track as possible, what better way to showcase horse racing, than on the best race day of the year at the track?
If EMD wants the handle to improve as well, it needs to do a better job setting up resources for new players to learn, and become more confident. We are getting a lot of new fans out ot the tracks and all they need is a push in the right direction, a friendly face to help explain some easy ways to handicap a race.
Furthermore I talked to some people yesterday that were new to the track, and leaving prior to the Emerald Downs Derby (3yr old stakes race) They didnt even realize what they were missing. Also I’ve noticed the track clear out a bit prior to stakes races. A lot of the new fans and people attending through groupon, or otherwise aren’t necessarily willing to put in the 3.5-4 hours until a stakes race comes up. Not sure how to rectify that.
That is good news about Awesome Gem (I'll make the edit above)
The last thing I read was that he probably wouldn’t go but I missed the Win Place Show yesterday while I was traveling.
You have an excellent point on stakes race timing, something that has some pros and cons to each side. When I was in England, the top race on the day would fall as the 2nd or 3rd race on the card, which is towards the front/middle of their typical six to seven race day. The build-up was quick and you weren’t waiting around for the “big race”. I think there are benefits to the later spot for the big races but only if you’re able to keep your audience around the whole time.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Aug 15, 2011 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions
unrelated....
In one of your posts a while back (sometime around the Kentucky Derby, but I can’t find it) you mentioned a resource (a book?) you used that showed some stats on sire’s ie: average distance the foals win at etc…. what was that? I’m trying to do some research for the upcoming WTBOA Sale, and could appreciate more resources thanks…
There are two that I've used in the past that I like a lot...
The first is Sire Stats from Brisnet. I’ve used this book last year and this year and it’s got a nice selection of data by sire (Average Winning Distance, purse index, and ratings for first timers, distance, surface, etc.) They publish an electronic version and a hard copy; I always get the hard copy because it’s a nice, small booklet that’s easy to take with me.
The second is a book published by Progressive Handicapping called Sire Ratings. Very similar book to the Brisnet one except that it doesn’t provide a AWD or purse index but instead a rating for class and distance. I’ve used this one many times in the past and found it useful.
Both book are about $40 each and either one is worth the money to me each year and I think they are a good resource if you are looking to employ a little pedigree analysis in your handicapping. I find at least several races a year where a turf or first time starting rating points me in the direction of a decent priced winner or horse that will run in the top three.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Aug 16, 2011 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions
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