In saving his best strides for last, Wasserman came home with another first.<\/p>\n
Matter of fact, he came home with three of \u2019em.<\/p>\n
A first for jockey Jennifer Whitaker.<\/p>\n
A first for trainer Howard Belvoir.<\/p>\n
And first in the Longacres Mile.<\/p>\n
The 6-year-old gelding, whose come-from-behind style has made him a fan favorite at Emerald Downs, didn\u2019t let down any of them on a muggy Sunday afternoon. Running 10th among the 12 horses in the early going and as many as 12 lengths behind, Wasserman, with Whitaker in the irons, surged up on the outside, pulled alongside the leaders down the stretch, then won the $300,000 Mile by a neck in front of 8,722 fans.<\/p>\n
That helped Whitaker make race history by becoming the first female jockey to win the event. And it made some personal history for Kent\u2019s Belvoir, who got to walk into the Mile winner\u2019s circle for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never wants to win by too far,\u201d Whitaker said with a laugh and a grin, her face still speckled with mud even though the track was dry and fast. \u201cThat makes it hard on me and Howard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Probably so.<\/p>\n
But Whitaker and Belvoir certainly have gotten used to it by now. The Mile triumph was Wasserman\u2019s third in stakes competition this season at Emerald Downs, and the three of them combined don\u2019t add up to even a full length. On May 26, he won the Fox Sports Net Handicap by a head, then took the Governor\u2019s Handicap on July 6 by a nose.<\/p>\n
Suffice to say Whitaker never assumes it\u2019s in the bag until she\u2019s across the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I think, \u2018I\u2019ve got this one,\u2019 someone sticks a nose in front,\u201d she said. \u201cYou just ride to the wire and hope you\u2019re there first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fan favorite though he is, Wasserman went off as just the fourth choice, at odds of 10-to-1 and carrying 118 pounds. But that turned out to be a nice price at the mutuel windows, as he returned $22.40, $7.60 and $3.20. True Metropolitan, the Canadian shipper ridden by James McAleney who went off as the second pick at 3-to-1, paid $4.60 and $3.20 for second, while 6-to-5 favorite Tropic Storm, up from California with Aaron Gryder aboard, was worth $2.60 for show.<\/p>\n
Wasserman\u2019s victory was worth $137,500, giving him lifetime earnings of $415,971, and a 8-9-5 record in 38 starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is good because it was Washington-bred,\u201d said Belvoir, who also bred and owns Wassserman, and was third with him in last year\u2019s Mile. \u201cTo beat the shippers, it shows we can compete here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have a horse who competes in so many different ways,\u201d added Belvoir, a four-decade veteran of Washington racing, \u201cand he shows up every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another fast finish<\/b><\/p>\n
In Wasserman\u2019s case, showing up every time usually starts as he approaches the stretch run. That certainly was true on Sunday, as he was 10th among the 12 horses going into the first turn and then was running ninth all the way up the backstretch as Flamethrowintexan \u2013 winner of the 2006 Mile and another crowd favorite \u2013 was setting the pace, with Tropic Storm second, Call on Carson third, and Honour the West fourth.<\/p>\n
Tropic Storm moved to the front heading into the turn. Tex and Call on Carson were still right there, and True Metropolitan began to move up through the field. Whitaker worked Wassserman around the pack from the outside, and went to the whip as the turn straightened out into the home stretch. Tropic Storm was keeping a nose in front, with Gryder and True Metropolitan in the middle and Wasserman a nose farther back on the outside.<\/p>\n
But in the last half-dozen or so strides, Whitaker pushed Wasserman past both of them, stopping the clock in 1:35.0 and becoming the fourth straight local horse to win the Mile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still can\u2019t believe we won. I will have to watch it about 10 times on the replay to really believe it,\u201d Whitaker said. \u201cAt no point did I think I was going to win \u2013 I never do that. I just concentrate on getting my horse to run as best as he can, and what will happen will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although she was the first woman to win the race, Whitaker wasn\u2019t inclined to shine any special spotlight on herself for that feat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is special,\u201d she said, then added later, \u201cA lot of it is the horses you get on, and this one was special.\u201d<\/p>\n
True Metropolitan jockey McAleney said his horse didn\u2019t have enough at the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were about eight lengths behind going into the backstretch, and I wanted to be a little closer to the leaders,\u201d McAleney said. \u201cHowever, he still dug in down the stretch when Wasserman was coming up to him. He was playing catch-up the whole race and just couldn\u2019t hold off the winner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wasserman\u2019s win qualified him for the Breeders\u2019 Cup Dirt Mile on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita. However, since he\u2019s not officially Breeders\u2019 Cup eligible, it would cost an $80,000 supplemental fee for him to enter that race. Belvoir isn\u2019t ruling it out, but indicated that Wasserman probably would take a pass.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be a long shot,\u201d Belvoir said. \u201cIf he was eligible for Breeders\u2019 Cup, I might think about it. And it isn\u2019t out of the realm yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
More likely, Wassserman will aim at the season-ending Washington Cup at Emerald Downs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe runs better on this track than anywhere,\u201d Belvoir said.<\/p>\n
Especially if it comes down to the wire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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