Five Star General takes fourth shot at Longacres Mile win

Five Star General returns to Emerald Downs on Sunday as the horse to beat in field of 10 for the $150,000 Longacres Mile, the track’s premier event.

Trained by Grant Forster, Five Star General won an allowance at 1 1/16 miles last October at Keeneland. He won the Evangeline Mile on April 8 and came back to finish second in the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial on July 8 at Horseshoe Indianapolis, posting a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

Prior to the Keeneland victory, Five Star General was trained by Doris Harwood at Emerald Downs. After he went 0 for 5 at Emerald last year, including a third in last year’s Longacrces Mile, Elttaes Stable transferred the horse to Forster.

Elttaes Stable memorably won the Longacres Mile in 1942, 1967, and 1968 when representing Longacres founder Joe Gottstein. Elttaes Stable is presently owned and operated by Gottstein’s grandson Kenneth Alhadeff.

Few Longacres Mile favorites approach the event with a 0-for-7 record at the host track, but Five Star General had the misfortune of facing crack sprinter Papa’s Golden Boy in his first six local starts, including the last three editions of the Longacres Mile. Each time, Five Star General ceded the pace chores to his rival and was unable to finish better than second.

In his seventh and most recent Emerald start on Sept. 4, Five Star General was able to set pace, finishing second in allowance over a mile and 70 yards. He finished 2 3/4 lengths in front of 2022 Longacres Mile winner Slew’s Tiz Whiz that day.

On Sunday, Five Star General figures to set the tempo. His greatest threat may come from Il Bellator, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf in May at Santa Anita. In his next start, the Jose Bautista trainee broke sluggishly and then raced very wide on both turns in the Pleasanton Mile, finishing third while still earning a Beyer of 90.

:: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets.

Defending Mile winner Slew’s Tiz Whiz, trained by Tom Wenzel, has raced twice at Emerald Downs this year, having first finished a fast-closing runner-up to Bridleuptothebar off a long layoff in the Budweiser Stakes on June 25. Four weeks later, Slew’s Tiz Whiz repeated his 2022 win in the Governor’s Stakes with a strong performance, going 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.09, which translated an 84 Beyer.

Seattle Bold, a last-out $40,000 claim by Dan Markle on July 28 at Sacramento, boasts figures that could make him a prominent threat Sunday and has won both recent dirt starts in comfortable fashion. Pace, class, and field size cloud the issue with regard to the son of Bold Chieftain, though he merits strong consideration.

Another runner with considerable intrigue is Justin Evans-trained Zestful, who, while not a sprinter of any note, has been finishing strongly in Emerald Downs sprint stakes and perhaps crying out for more ground. The 8-year-old has known the highs and lows of racing, having once been claimed for just $8,000 and now sporting a career bankroll of $706,780.

Trainer Blaine Wright said 2021 Muckleshoot Derby winner Top Executive is “hopefully rounding back into his old self, and we are willing to take a shot.”

Debbie Van Horne trainee You’re the Cause won the Muckleshoot Derby last year on the Longacres Mile card, paying $115.60 to win. He will be long odds again on Sunday.

Others entered include Arma d’Oro, another trained by Markle, and the Jorge Rosales-trained pair of A Man’s Man and Exclusive Speaker.

First post Sunday is 2 p.m. Pacific, with the Mile expected to go at 5:30 p.m.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.