Point Piper's rally gives him Longacres Mile victory

With Mario Gutierrez riding, Point Piper rallied to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile in a track record time of 1:32.90 at Emerald Downs on Sunday.

He paid $12.20.

With the favorite O B Harbor carving out quick fractions of :22.66 and :44.70, Gutierrez had Point Piper sitting comfortably mid-pack. He started to make a move along the inside, but ran into traffic on the stretch turn. Gutierrez found a hole coming out of the turn and then Point Piper accelerated to win going away by 4 3/4 lengths.

His stablemate, Cyrus Alexander, made a strong move to reach the leader at the top of the stretch but hung. O B Harbor held the lead until almost the sixteenth pole before tiring to finish third. Stryker Phd, who was going for his third straight win in the Mile, finished fifth.

The winner and runner-up are trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

“He broke well and relaxed nicely for me,” Gutierrez said. “We found a good spot and then he just exploded in the stretch.”

It was Gutierrez’s second win in the most prestigious race in the Pacific Northwest. His other win came aboard Taylor Said in 2012.

“It is a real honor to have won the Mile twice,” Gutierrez said.

Point Piper is owned by Hollendorfer, Gatto and Russo Racing.

Dan Gatto spoke on behalf of the group.

“We really wanted super Mario on this horse,” he said. “Everything he rides for us wins.”

It was the second win in the Mile for Hollendorfer. His first came in 2004 with Adreamisborn.

Perhaps a Pie wins Distaff

Perhaps a Pie paid $42.40 for her front-running win over Chronologic’sghost in the $65,000 Emerald Distaff.

With Eswan Flores aboard, Perhaps a Pie set moderate fractions of :23.76 and :47.42 seconds in the 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares.

She held a length advantage over Chronologic’sghost after six furlongs in 1:10.91. The pair hooked up at the eighth-pole with Perhaps a Pie prevailing by a neck. All Star Bub, the 2-1 favorite, rallied to finish third.

The final time was 1:47.59.

Perhaps a Pie is owned by Jody Peetz and trained by Chris Stenslie.