Anyportinastorm to train up to Longacres Mile after impressive win

With a romp in the $50,000 Budweiser Stakes at Emerald Downs last Sunday, Anyportinastorm made it clear he is the horse to beat in the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile on Aug. 11. Trainer Blaine Wright said Anyportinastorm will skip the $50,000 Mt. Rainier Stakes on July 21 and train into the premier race in the Pacific Northwest.

“It looks like he’s doing it easily, but he lays it all down, and he isn’t the kind of horse you want to bring back in three weeks,” said Wright.

“Easily” is the key word when it comes to Anyportinastorm’s performance in the Budweiser. Breaking alertly with Juan Hernandez aboard, he was well in hand while posting interior fractions of 22.66 and 44.92 seconds in the 6 1/2-furlong dash. He opened a clear lead turning for home and increased his three-length margin at the eighth-pole to 6 1/2 lengths at the wire. He posted a final time of 1:14.35 and equaled his career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

Anyportinastorm appeared to have plenty in reserve, and Wright is confident he will be able to carry his substantial speed around two turns in the Mile.

The only time he went a middle distance, he finished third in a one-mile race on turf at Golden Gate Fields. Three of his siblings are route winners, including Thunder Run, who won four races going long on dirt and had a third-place finish going a mile on turf in the $100,000 Sunday Silence at Louisiana Downs.

“We have always felt he could go long – maybe not a mile and an eighth, but certainly a mile,” said Wright. “He’s such a good sprinter, and the races were there. He has 45-and-change speed and can carry it. He also doesn’t need the lead. I feel blessed to have a horse like him.”

Wright has had other nice horses, including the millionaire Alert Bay, who finished second to Barkley as the favorite in the Mile last year. Alert Bay and Anyportinastorm are owned by Peter Redekop. Wright and Redekop are hoping Anyportinastorm will give them their first win in the Mile.

“Peter and I talked it over earlier this year, and that’s why we brought Anyportinastorm to Emerald,” said Wright. “The Mile is a race we would both love to win.”

Wright said Oh Marvelous Me, who finished second to his stablemate in the Budweiser, would make his next start in the Mt. Rainier. The 7-year-old son of Bluegrass Cat, who races for Todd and Shawn Hansen, finished third in the Mile last year.

“He’s a pretty classy horse, and if we hadn’t brought Anyportinastorm to Emerald, he would be a stakes winner now,” said Wright.

Wright doesn’t have any horses entered on the seven-race Friday card that begins at 6:30 p.m. Pacific. After Sunday, Wright was second in the trainers’ standings. His 22 wins leave him seven behind Frank Lucarelli.

Lucarelli, the all-time leading trainer at Emerald, has solid chances with a couple of first-time-starting 2-year-olds in the third and fourth race Friday.

Earlyinthemorn looks particularly attractive in race 3, a $15,000 maiden claimer for 2-year-old fillies. Her half-brother Havermeyer Street won his debut, and she is by Paynter, who has solid numbers with first-time-starting 2-year-olds.

She will break from post 7 in the five-furlong race with Javier Matias riding.