Five Star General Surges to Second Longacres Mile Win

Five Star General  refused to lose Aug. 11 at Emerald Downs, surging past Clovisconnection  in the final stride for a head victory in the $150,000 Longacres Mile.

The betting favorite ridden by Joe Bravo, Five Star General ran the mile in 1:34.98 and paid $4.22 to win.

Grant Forster, saddling his third Longacres Mile winner, is the trainer for owner Ken Alhadeff (Elttaes Stable) of Seattle.

With the victory, Five Star General added the latest chapter to what is fast becoming one of the greatest resumes in the storied history of the Mile. For starters, he joins Amble In, Simply Majestic, Trooper Seven, and Stryker Phd as the only two-time winners, and even more remarkably has now finished first, second, or third in the last five runnings of the race. He also joins Little Rollo, Gigantic, and Awesome Gem as 8-year-olds to win.

Unlike last year, when Five Star General looked like a winner throughout, this one was anything but easy. Five-wide around the first turn, languishing an uncharacteristic sixth on the backstretch, four-wide on the second turn, and still with work to do into the stretch, Five Star General somehow mustered the energy to tag Clovisconnection with a late push to the wire.

A Kentucky-bred by Distorted Humor, Five Star General improved to 13-6-9 in 39 starts with earnings of $902,202. Sunday's win was worth $82,500, and Alhadeff hinted the horse is likely to be retired.

With so many of Alhadeff's family and friends in attendance, the traditional winner's circle picture was taken on the racetrack, and the winning owner was jubilant.

"The Thoroughbred is about courage, beauty, strength, and power, and the will to overcome the odds," Alhadeff said. "This horse and jockey willed this win today."

Forster, who cut his training teeth at Emerald Downs, saluted the winning horse as well.

"I'm over the moon for Five Star General," Forster said. "He's every trainer's dream and has earned his place in Mile history."

The 52-year-old Bravo, riding his 5,673rd winner, said Five Star General ran a gutsy race.

"This horse is a warrior," he said. "He overcame everything to win today."

Clovisconnection did everything but win the race for trainer Blaine Wright and owner/breeder William Hedrick. The 4-year-old California-bred by Vronsky  shook loose early, setting fractions of :23.14, :46.05, 1:09.68, and 1:22.02, was two lengths clear past mid-stretch, and just missed the victory.

Slew's Tiz Whiz , ridden by Jose Zunino, unleashed a furious late rally inside to finish third, 1 1/2 lengths behind Clovisconnection.