Budweiser next step to Longacres Mile

AUBURN, Wash. – With the Emerald Downs handicap division in a relative state of disarray, 17 horses were nominated for the next stepping-stone to the Grade 3 Longacres Mile on Aug. 24 – Sunday’s $50,000 Budweiser Handicap at one mile.

Why Not Be Perfect, who stormed to a $59.80 upset in the 6 1/2-furlong Governor’s Handicap on May 18, tops the list of nominees and no doubt will start as one of the favorites. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96 for his Governor’s victory, the fastest effort of his 50-race career.

He’ll be joined by Stryker Phd, the runner-up to Herbie D in the 2013 Longacres Mile who will make his first start since November. Transferred to trainer Larry Ross over the winter, Stryker Phd has created a stir with his powerful morning workouts and is another who could be heavily backed in the Budweiser.

But the locals will have company, with at least one sharp horse from Hastings joining the fray. Twistgrips, a late-developing 5-year-old, will make the van trip south after knocking heads with Title Contender and Taylors Deal, the top handicap horses in Vancouver, in his first two starts of the year.

In his first outing of the year, Twistgrips finished second behind Title Contender in the 6 1/2-furlong George Royal Stakes. He then was fourth, beaten less than three lengths by Taylors Deal, in the 6 1/2-furlong John Longden 6000. He might have been closer in the Longden if not for a traffic jam at the top of the stretch.

“He’s coming into it really good,” trainer John Snow said of Twistgrips’s preparation for his first start at Emerald. “I opted to freshen him a bit, and he runs really well when he’s fresh. This guy is really a late bloomer. We didn’t get started until late in his 3-year-old year. He’s been behind maturity-wise, but he’s really starting to put it together this year. I’m pretty optimistic.”

Twistgrips has earned $57,463 for owner-breeder Gord Christoff. With Title Contender the clear division leader at Hastings, it might be easier to grab a piece of a purse at Emerald. If Twistgrips runs his race, Snow said, that piece could be the big one.

“It’s really tough up here,” Snow said of the stakes competition at Hastings. “The top horses up here are really tough right at the moment. With a little more maturity, I think we can deal with these guys up here. But he’s a big horse, and I don’t mind trying him on a one-mile racetrack. And the distance, a flat mile, hits him right between the eyes.”