The Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs 2010
I had the privilege of having an exclusive interview with Robert Gellar, the clever and talented race caller for Emerald Downs (and Sunland Park). We discussed numerous topics including the deep field for the upcoming ‘Mile’ at Emerald on Sunday August 20, 2010.
Robert has been calling the races at Emerald from their beginning in 1996, when he was brought in from the racing world in Hong Kong. He got a lot of experience and exposure to turf racing there, along with the predominant run style of stamina and class that goes hand in hand with this type of racing. The turf courses in the Far East are typically bigger with more sweeping turns which encourage the late runners.
Interestingly, there was discussion of a turf course at Emerald Downs early on, and just has never come to fruition. The plans have been laid out, but it appears the timing just has not been right.
We discussed track surfaces and the early speed that typically dominates American racing, and whether or not that run style is always encouraged. The topic of synthetic (AW) racing surface came up, and whether that surface typically favors speed or not, and if horse injuries have gone down (as promised by the AW folks). An interesting point to note is that Santa Anita recently announced they were going back to conventional dirt, even after being mandated by the state of California in 2006 to switch to synthetic.
Robert is a strong Emerald Downs advocate and enjoys being on the team there. That team has done, and continues to do, a good job of building the fan base in spite of trends at many tracks going in the wrong direction. Emerald does this without casino help and is in a part of the country rather isolated from mainstream horse racing traffic. They continue to build on long term goals that are solid business building blocks, and I applaud them. I have followed Emerald since their inception also, (they are one of the tracks in my latest book, Bobby Zen’s Lucky 13) and I love the program there. Possibly a more important point, is the fan base being built is more of the younger crowd, making them potential long term customers.
Just one of their latest promotions is the Longacres Mile Top 4 to Score, an internet contest picking the top 4 order of finish in the big race. The top prize is a VIP trip for 2 to the Breeder’s Cup at Churchill Downs this year. They have had several promotions all week geared towards fun for the fans during this ‘Derby to Mile’ celebration, as the Emerald Downs Derby was last weekend.
Of course, we compared notes on the 12 horse field for the Longacres Mile coming up. At the risk of driving down the odds, here are the top 4 choices combined from the two of us:
1. Jersey Town – Jockey Kevin Krigger Trainer Tim McCanna
Lightly raced 4YO colt is coming in second off the layoff, won his last here in good fashion. Was a solid second in the BCDerby at Hastings in September.
2. Teide - Jockey Chad Hoverson Trainer Dino Condilenios
Solid running 6YO has several stakes wins to his credit. Ran third in this one last year.
3. Gallant Son - Jockey Leslie Mawing Trainer Frank Lucarelli
Late runner with a lot of stakes experience, and a horse for the course, winning 4 of 5 here.
4. Noosa Beach – Jockey Ricky Frazier Trainer Doris Harwood
Another horse for the course will deservedly get a lot of play, winning his last here by daylight.
There are many contenders here and this appears to be a wide open affair. One thing is certain, is that a good time will surely be had by a lot of race fans in Washington.
Be sure and check out my picks for the card on Sunday August 22 at www.bobbyzen.com. There is a free pick daily and selections available for the Track of the Day.
