Comebackers may be horses to beat in a small Longacres Mile field

It appears next Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile will have the shortest field since Kid Katabatic took a seven-horse field all the way in the premier race at Emerald Downs in 1997.

There are 17 horses nominated, but according to officials at Emerald on Thursday, there are just six horses confirmed for the race.

The top horse at Emerald this year, Riser, is out with an injury. Trainer Blaine Wright did not say what the injury was but that “it is serious enough that he will miss the races we had targeted for him.”

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer nominated four horses to the Longacres Mile, but he said he was going to have to miss the race.

“It’s too bad,” he said. “I love coming up to Seattle but it just isn’t going to work out this year.”

Point Piper posted a track record time of 1:32.90 when he gave Hollendorfer his second win in the Mile in 2016.

With Riser out, the possible favorites are horses that would be making their first start this year.

Curlin Rules, trained by John Sadler, is a definite starter, according to Emerald officials. He has not raced since he finished sixth in the Grade 3 Native Diver at Del Mar on Nov. 25.

Last year’s Longacres Mile winner Gold Rush Dancer will try to repeat for trainer Vann Belvoir. However, he hasn’t finished better than fifth in six starts since he crushed his opponents by 4 3/4 lengths in last year’s Mile. In his last race, the 5-year-old son of Private Gold finished 10th going a mile on turf in the $83,615 Wickerr at Del Mar July 22.

With Riser out of the race, Wright said that Alert Bay is a 50-50 proposition to run. Alert Bay would be making his first start since he finished third in the Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita 13 months ago. A $1.25 million earner, Alert Bay finished third in the 2016 Mile.

Barkley and Mach One Rules head the local contingent.

With a runner-up finish behind Riser in the $50,000 Mt. Rainier on July 15, Barkley appears to be peaking at the right time. He is trained by Vann Belvoir’s father, Howard Belvoir.

Mach One Rules did the heavy lifting of chasing Riser before he finished third in the Mt. Rainier for trainer Frank Lucarelli. He was the runner-up as the slight favorite over Gold Rush Dancer in last year’s Mile.

Kaabraaj will be the one they have to run down. He is coming off a front-running win in an optional-claiming sprint for leading trainer Jeff Metz at Emerald on July 8. The Washington-bred son of Abraaj has never won a race longer than 6 1/2 furlongs, though.

Oh Marvelous Me, who won an optional $40,000 claiming race with second-level allowance conditions for Wright on July 29, will also start.

◗ The Wright-trained Trump Itz looks like the one to beat in a first-level allowance race with a $32,000 claiming option that headlines Sunday’s 10-race card, which begins at 2 Pacific with a Quarter-Horse allowance race.