Left untouched on the front end, breeder George Robbins and Darcia Doman’s
Herbie D set a frantic pace but left plenty in reserve to capture Sunday’s Grade
3, $200,000
Longacres
Mile at Emerald Downs.
The co-highweight at 121 pounds and the 2-1 second choice on the board,
Herbie D broke on top from post 10, set splits of :22 3/5, :45 and 1:09, and
drove home a 1 1/2-length winner under Amadeo Perez in a time of 1:35 over a
fast track. Herbie D returned $6.80 to win.
“I listened to the trainer’s instructions and he told me that the plan was to
go to the front,” Perez said through an interpreter. “I went to the front and
never looked back. I could hear horses coming from the back, but all I was
thinking was, ‘where is the wire?’ This is the best race I’ve ever won. I am
very happy right now.”
Stryker Phd, a 15-1 chance, rallied from far back to get second, a head clear
of California shipper Golden Itiz. Following the latter under the wire were
Jebrica, Gladding, Why Not Be Perfect, Until You, Tres Borrachos, 9-5 favorite
Politicallyincorrect, Winning Machine, Mr. Bowling, and Hoist.
The Longacres Mile was the 10th win in 13 career starts for Herbie D, a
five-year-old gelding trained by Robert Gilker. He registered his first
added-money scores in 2011 at Hastings Park in Vancouver, capturing the BC Cup
Stellar’s Jay Handicap and the CTHS Sales, both restricted. He added the Derby
Bar and Grill Express at Hastings last year, and this term landed the John
Longden 6000 Handicap and Lieutenant Governors’ Handicap, both at Hastings, and
the Mt. Ranier Handicap at Emerald, prior to the Longacres Mile. His record now
stands at 13-10-1-1, $337,928.
Herbie D, a son of the unraced Forty Niner stallion Orchid’s Devil, was bred
in British Columbia and produced by the Katowice mare Chilli Chines. His third
dam was the multiple stakes-winning Right Chilly, and this extended family has
also yielded Canadian champions Bold Ruritana and Stage Flite.
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