Five Star General tries to repeat Sunday in Longacres Mile

Twelve older horses led by defending winner Five Star General and 2022 victor Slew’s Tiz Whiz square off in the 89th running of the $150,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

Fourteen horses entered the Mile with Papa’s Golden Boy and Canadian shipper Apprehend excluded based on total earnings in 2023 and 2024.

The top four finishers from last year’s race, including morning-line favorite Five Star General, Il Bellator, Slew’s Tiz Whiz and Arma d’Oro, all return for 2024.

Click here for Emerald Downs entries and results.

Five Star General is 5-2 in the program, Slew’s Tiz Whiz 4-1, Clovisconnection 9-2 and Arma d’Oro 8-1.

Owned by Ken Alhadeff and trained by Grant Forster, Five Star General bids to become only the fifth two-time winner of the historic race. The 8-year-old full horse by Distorted Humor already has finished in the top three in a record four straight Miles. With a victory he would join Awesome Gem in 2011 and Gigantic and 1959 as 8-year-olds to win the race.

Since his win at Emerald Downs last year, Five Star General has continued his trek as a traveler, winning $100,000 races in Louisiana and Kentucky. He has an overall ledger of 38: 12-6-9 with $819,702 in earnings. His 97 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form, in the Michael Schaefer Memorial last month at Horseshoe Indianapolis is tops in this year’s race.

Five Star General drew post position 9, which has produced just three wins from 40 starters in races at a flat mile during the last six years at Emerald Downs. With his speed and versatility and the experience of jockey Joe Bravo, Five Star General should be able to work out a trip.

Slew’s Tiz Whiz enters the race in peak form. The 6-year-old Tom Wenzel trainee comes off a dead-heat victory in the Governor’s Stakes, his third straight win in the 6 1/2-furlong lead-in to the Longacres Mile. The lone Washington-bred in this year’s race, Slew’s Tiz Whiz used his patented closing kick to score by 2 3/4 lengths in the 2022 Mile. He rallied from far back for third last year.

This year marks something of a tiebreaker between Five Star General and Slew’s Tiz Whiz. They each have a win and a third the last two years.

Owned by Slew’s Crew Racing and ridden by Jose Zunino, Slew’s Tiz Whiz has made all his career starts at Emerald Downs with a 22: 9-4-3 mark and $298,457 in earnings.

Clovisconnection has one of the best winning percentages in the race. The 4-year-old California-bred is 9-for-14 lifetime for 64 percent with five stakes wins, including a 2-for-2 record at Emerald Downs. The speedy Vronsky gelding has yet to negotiate two turns on dirt but led gate to wire in the Robert Dupret Derby at 1 1/6 miles on turf at Santa Rosa and finished a close second in the Silky Sullivan at one mile on turf at Golden Gate. Clovisconnection enters the Mile off two recent sprint wins, including the Oak Tree Sprint at Pleasanton.

In addition to Clovisconnection, trainer Blaine Wright saddles Prince Abu Dhabi, also a 4-year-old, with a 6-for-11 life mark including last year’s Muckleshoot Derby at Emerald Downs.

Trainer Justin Evans figures to be the busiest man on the grounds before the Mile. The meet’s leading trainer with 45 wins and a strike rate of 35 percent, Evans entered four in the race. The horses include Arma d’Oro, Neiman, Giant Game and Surprsinglyperfect.

Arma d’Oro and Neiman have been major factors in the local older horse division. Claimed for $25,000 two races back, 6-year-old Arma d’Oro has paid quick dividends for Evans and Rakoczy Racing with two straight wins, one being the meet’s fastest mile at 1:34.03 and the other a dead heat with Slew’s Tiz Whiz in the Governor’s Stakes.

Neiman figures to blast off from the no. 1 post on the stretch-out. The 4-year-old Munnings gelding ran the fastest six furlongs of the meet, 1:07.98, while scoring a $39.86 upset in the Budweiser Stakes. He was beaten by only 1 3/4 lengths finishing third after outdueling Papa’s Golden Boy in the Governor’s.

A recent private purchase, Giant Game comes off a seventh to The Chosen Vron in the Bing Crosby (G1) at Del Mar and has a résumé that includes a win the 2023 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker (G3). Surprsinglyperfect, the gray beard in this year’s Mile at age 10, has four wins in the current meet and 21 wins lifetime, including 12 at the mile distance. Sunday marks a steep step up in class.

Il Bellator, a solid second to Five Star General last year, comes off a fifth in the $150,000 Pleasanton Mile following a victory in a one-mile optional claimer on synthetic at Golden Gate.

Phantom Ride is a recent $62,500 claim with three route wins on his 2024 ledger. Deshambeau finished second to Prince Abu Dhabi in the 2023 Muckleshoot Derby. Muncey is conditioned by three-time Longacres Mile winning trainer Howard Belvoir.

Fourteen horses entered the Mile with Papa’s Golden Boy and Canadian shipper Apprehend excluded on the basis of total earnings in 2023 and 2024.

Sunday’s forecast predicts a mostly sunny day with a high of 80 degrees. The first post is at 5 p.m. EDT.