Longacres Mile may get 12

AUBURN, Wash. - A field of 11 or 12, including defending champion Adreamisborn, is shaping up for Sunday's 70th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.

Adreamisborn, who is coming off an authoritative 3 1/2-length victory in the $98,000 Joseph T. Grace Handicap at Santa Rosa on Aug. 6, will be the co-highweight at 121 pounds. Russell Baze, who will be shooting for his third straight victory in the Longacres Mile, has the call from trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

Sharing highweight honors with Adreamisborn is Desert Boom, who has won his last three starts. Trained by Art Sherman, Desert Boom won the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap at Golden Gate Fields in June and the $138,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Canterbury Park on July 16.

Also expected from California are Harvard Avenue, the Doug O'Neill trainee who won Santa Anita's Grade 2 Potrero Grande in April, and perhaps Beau Soleil. Beau Soleil, who was claimed out of a win for $62,500 last time out at Del Mar, had space reserved for him on a flight from Los Angeles on Wednesday. His owner, Jeffrey Sengara, and trainer, Ted West, are waiting until the last possible moment before committing to the Mile, however.

Expected from Canada are Quiet Cash, a winner of 4 of 5 starts this year at Hastings Park, and R. Associate, who won the Grade 3 Lt. Governor's at Hastings before running third in Emerald's Mt. Rainier Breeders' Cup Handicap on July 31.

Heading the local contingent of Mile hopefuls is Flamethrowintexan, who posted his 10th win from 16 career outings in the Mt. Rainier. Flamethrowintexan, trained by Jim Penney, will be joined by stablemate Sabertooth, who won the 2002 renewal of the Mile and set a world record for 6 1/2 furlongs in this season's FSN Handicap.

The prospective field, with riders and weights: Adreamisborn, Russell Baze, 121; Desert Boom, Roberto Gonzalez, 121; Flamethrowintexan, Ricky Frazier, 119; Harvard Avenue, no rider, 119; Beau Soleil, no rider, 118; Quiet Cash, Chad Hoverson, 117; R. Associate, Kevin Krigger, 116; Sabertooth, Ben Russell, 116; Mr. Makah, Jake Barton, 115; No Giveaway, Juan Gutierrez, 113; Snorter, no rider, 112; and Grafton Square, Navin Mangalee, 111.