Arrowthegreat patiently takes rail route to Longacres Mile triumph

AUBURN, Wash. – During an Emerald Downs meet in which the impact of new arrivals from California has been felt so profoundly, it was fitting that Arrowthegreat - the winner of the track's signature $125,000 Longacres Mile on Sunday - hailed from the Golden State.

Breaking from the rail with plenty of early speed, it was reasonable to expect Arrowthegreat, based in Southern California with trainer Dan Blacker, might try and grab the lead. But with local jockey Manuel Americano aboard, the 5-year-old gelding settled into fourth place early, a half-dozen lengths behind the front-running trio of Masen, Clovisconnection, and What a Dude.

Americano kept Arrowthegreat on the rail, patiently awaiting an opening. And, boy, did he get one in the homestretch, encountering no traffic as he guided his versatile horse right on by Clovisconnection. Arrowthegreat wound up beating Clovisconnection by 2 1/4 lengths, with the late-running Bearings another three-quarters of a length back in third.

Arrowthegreat paid $5.08 to win and covered the mile in 1:34.41.

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"I thought he was gonna be closer than he was," admitted Blacker in the winner's circle after the race. "They didn't go super quick. Manny rode him well. He was patient and, thankfully, the rail opened up."

Co-owner Brian Malarkey, a celebrity chef who grew up in a Pacific Northwest racing family and whose surname graced Americano's silks, said the winning jockey told him after the race that he knew he had a ton of horse as he turned for home.

Slew's Tiz Whiz, the morning-line favorite and the only Washington-bred in the 10-horse field, wound up a disappointing seventh after winning the Mile in 2022 and finishing third the past two years. His main local stakes rival, Clovisconnection, was runner-up for the second consecutive year.

Sunday's Longacres Mile undercard, which featured five additional stakes races, produced plenty of upsets, the biggest being Chatty Leroybrown's victory in the 1 1/16-mile Washington Oaks, in which he paid $68.72 to win after going off at odds of 33-1.

Sunday's betting handle of $3,305,806 set a single-day Emerald Downs record, narrowly missing the state record of $3,339,087, which was set on Sept. 21, 1992, at Longacres.

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