Emerald Downs stakes schedule has familiar look

The Emerald Downs stakes schedule for 2014 looks almost identical to the one from a year ago, with 28 Thoroughbred stakes worth a combined $1,610,000 in purses. The schedule, released by the suburban Seattle track on Thursday, features 10 stakes for older horses, 10 for 3-year-olds, eight for 2-year-olds, plus one stakes for Quarter Horses.

The Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile will take place Aug. 24 as part of a stakes doubleheader that also includes the $65,000 Emerald Distaff for fillies and mares. The schedule has been tweaked slightly to place the Longacres Mile a week later than usual on the schedule. One consequence of moving the Longacres Mile is that horses who compete in the $65,000 Emerald Downs Derby on Aug. 10 could have the option of wheeling back in the Mile two weeks later – though it has been 46 years since a 3-year-old captured the Mile.

The stakes program for 2-year-olds has been back-loaded to place most of the key races near the end of the Emerald Downs 75-day meeting, which opens April 12 and runs for nearly six months. The Sept. 28 closing-day program includes two stakes for juveniles: the $65,000 Gottstein Futurity at 1 1/16 miles, and the $50,000 Cahill Road Stakes at six furlongs.

The $65,000 Washington Oaks, Emerald’s traditional championship for 3-year-old fillies, is Aug. 9, while Washington Cup XII – six races for statebreds worth an aggregate $300,000 – is Sept. 7.

Emerald Downs opened for training Feb. 1. The 2014 live-racing schedule begins with racing on weekends in April, with a post time of 2 p.m. Pacific, with Fridays added to the slate in May.