Longacres Mile a summer target for Riser

Riser received a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his dominating win in the $50,000 Governor’s Stakes at Emerald Downs Sunday. The 4 1/4-length front-running victory over Barkley and Mach One Rules stamped him as the local favorite for the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile, the most important race at the meet. The Mile will be held on Aug. 12.

The Governor’s was Riser’s second start as a 4-year-old and first at Emerald since he won the Emerald Downs Derby last September. In his first start as an older horse, he finished eighth after being part of a hotly contested duel in the Grade 3 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on May 4.

Trainer Blaine Wright said Riser came out of the Governor’s in excellent shape and will be pointed to the $50,000 Budweiser at Emerald on June 24, and then the Seattle Slew on July 8.

“Everything looks good,” said Wright. “We’ll see what happens, but our main idea for bringing him back to Emerald is the Longacres Mile. We’ll sharpen him up to go 6 1/2 furlongs for his next start and then settle him down a bit to go a mile and a sixteenth in the Seattle Slew. If all goes well, we’ll sharpen him up again for the Mile.”

An Ohio-bred colt by Mizzen Mast, Riser has natural speed, and in all five of his wins he led all the way. Wright doesn’t think he’s just a one-trick pony, though.

“He’s quick and he breaks fast,” he said. “If you’re in front you’re not going to take back. I know he is going to hook other fast ones, so we have been putting him behind horses in the mornings and he seems fine with it.”

Wright thinks Riser’s demeanor will also help him when he does have to rate in a race.

“I wouldn’t say he’s an easy horse to train, but he’s not a hot-studded colt,” he said. “When he came back this year he was bigger, stronger, and had really bulked up. He was running against some nice horses Sunday, but I thought he might run the race he did and now it’s my job to keep him going.”

Wright is looking for a good effort on Friday from Kota Copy, who will be among the favorites in a $15,000 conditional claimer. The six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up drew nine horses and goes as race 6 on a seven-race card that begins at 6:30 p.m. Pacific.

Kota Copy is coming off a runner-up finish in a $10,000 open claimer on May 12, his first start of the year. He will break from the rail with Julien Couton riding.

He can stalk and there should be a fast and contested pace to set him up.

The speed of the speed is Capital Expense, who set the pace before finishing third going six furlongs for trainer Robert Baze in a $15,000 claiming race for nonwinners of three on May 26.