Category All Art Classes Classical Music Concerts DANCE Etc Exhibits Families Farmers Markets Film Happenings Holiday Holiday Lectures Music (non-classical) Theater

Submit events

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMERALD DOWNS

AT THE WIRE. Jennifer Whitaker, aboard Wasserman, wins a surprising victory at the Longacres Mile Aug. 17.

A plan that came together at Longacres Mile

By Rick Walter

Jockey Jennifer Whitaker had a good plan for her horse, Wasserman, in the Longacres Mile on Aug. 17 at Emerald Downs. But Whitaker apparently had no idea just how good it was.

“I still can’t believe we won,” Whitaker said. “I will have to watch it about 10 times on the replay to really believe it. It is an unbelievable feeling.”

Wasserman won at the wire in the $300,000 race, beating True Metropolitan from Canada by a neck. Favored California shipper Tropic Storm finished a close third.

Wasserman, the Washington-bred son of Cahill Road who races for breeder and trainer Howard Belvoir, came from 10th position in a field of 12 to be up in the last stride in 1:35 under a perfectly judged ride by Whitaker.

The running of the race was dramatic for what did happen, but not surprising, given the way in which it unfolded.

The track was fast and the temperature was about 85 degrees and humid. A 7-year-old gelding who had not raced in more than a year, Flamethrowintexan, set a very fast early pace.

Whitaker was not interested in sprinting with the Tex, who was coming off a leg injury anyway, and not likely to last in this race. So biding her time patiently, she ran the race she probably thought would get her a third. When True Metropolitan and Tropic Storm failed to have a burst down the stretch, she was able to launch a late rally with a horse under her with more heart at the finish. The winning time of 1:35 is not a historically fast time on a fast track in this race.

Story Tools