Nobody knows the Mile like trainer Jim Penney.
With a record five trips to the winner’s circle in the Northwest’s premier horse race, Penney is looking to add a sixth with 4-year-old gelding Jebrica.
The 77th running of the $200,000 Grade III Longacres Mile is Sunday at Emerald Downs.
“I train horses always with that in the back of my mind, ‘Hey, is this horse good enough to win the Mile?’” said the 78-year-old Penney, a local legend. “And you notice I just said ‘the Mile’. I don’t have to say the Longacres Mile because you know.
“The Mile has been a premiere showcase,” he said. “It is the big race in the Northwest. But not only in the Northwest, it’s also had national fame because it was the first race of any importance, a flat mile around two turns, which is its distinction.”
No stranger to racing in the Pacific Northwest, Penney has been a fixture for 58 years.
Starting out on the family farm in Yakima, Penney earned his first trainer’s license in 1954, taking over the reigns from his grandfather, A.E. Penney.
Since then he has found success up and down the West Coast, fielding horses at Golden Gate Fields, Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, B.C.
But his focus has always been on the home track, first Longacres and then Emerald Downs in 1996.
His first Mile win came in 1973 with Silver Mallet, but it was his second, with Theologist in 1977, that he remembers most.
“I had a good relationship with (trainer) Bobby Frankel,” he said. “He had won the Mile with You Wipi (in 1976), and I happened to go to Hollywood Park and he was running You Wipi, getting that horse ready. He said, ‘I’m going to go up and win the Mile again.’ And I said, ‘Good luck.’ He asked who was running up there and I told him about a couple horses. And I told him there was a horse called Theologist. He said he hadn’t heard of that horse, and I told him, ‘You better. I won four in a row with him here this winter. You come up there and I’ll kick your ass.’”
Penney’s prediction held true. Theologist held off the invaders to snag the victory.
“I will always remember saying you can do it and doing it, especially against Bobby Frankel,” Penney said.
In 2000, Penney won his first Mile at Emerald Downs with Edneator. Wins with Sabertooth in 2002 and Flamethrowintexan in 2006 followed.
Now he hopes it’s Jebrica’s turn. The horse was voted the track’s top 3-year-old in 2011 and comes into the race with a feature victory on July 29.
“Jebrica is a home bred, raised by one of our clients, Rick and Debbie Pabst and Blue Ribbon Farm,” Penney said. “We bought a colt that was a year older than him, Peaceful Reign, as a yearling. He ran well for us as a 3-year-old before we lost him in a claiming race. When we saw Jebrica, we liked him as a colt so we presented him. We didn’t have anyone really interested at that time. Ron Warren finally asked Rick Pabst what his bottom line was for the colt and he bought him.
“He’s just one of those silent little race horses,” Penney continued. “He’s not a flashy horse, or overly big. He’s not this and he’s not that, but when he’s right, he’s there. I’ve been very pleased with him. And I like that he’s a true route horse. He’s not a speed horse, so he won’t be on the front, but a mile is a distance he should be able to get up in time for.”
Jebrica, who will be ridden by Mile-winning jockey Juan Gutierrez, will have his work cut out for him in a field that includes defending Mile winner Awesome Gem and Grade II stakes winner Gladding.
“Awesome Gem is the true old warrior,” Penney said. “You can measure off him. If you can beat him, you can win the race. Horses like Gladding, those are all horses that if they get a good trip they can win the race. With Awesome Gem, you just lead him over there. The other horses have a few more quirks and things that have to go their way to win the race. Are things going to come up right from them? Who knows? That’s racing.”
Regardless of the outcome, Penney said, he was just pleased to have a chance to compete for another shot at the winner’s circle in the Mile.
“I’m very pleased to have owners who want a little better quality horse,” he said. “The Mile is always our goal and theirs. We may not win the most races, but I want to win the right races.”
77th running of the $200,000 Grade III Longacres Mile
At 5:45 p.m. Sunday, Emerald Downs presents the 77th running of the $200,000 Grade III Longacres Mile.
This year’s race features three returning champions, 2009 winner Assessment, 2010 champ Noosa Beach and last year’s winner Awesome Gem, as well as a Grade II stakes winner in Gladding.
The jockey field is also deep with 2012 Kentucky Derby winner Mario Gutierrez, the world’s winningest jockey Russell Baze and three-time Mile winner Juan Gutierrez.
Racing kicks off at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, with Mile coverage beginning live on the radio on KJR 950 AM from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. and on TVG and Comcast Sportsnet Northwest from 3 to 7 p.m.
Post position, horse, trainer, jockey, odds
1, Gladding, John W. Sadler, Juan Hernandez, 3-1;
2, Gallant Son, Frank Lucarelli,William Antongiorgi, 15-1;
3, Awesome Gem, Craig Dollase, David Flores, 5-2;
4, Winning Machine,Frank Lucarelli, Javier Matias, 8-1;
5, Hudson Landing, Blaine Wright, Frank Alvardo, 5-1;
6, Assessment, Howard Belvoir, Jennifer Whitaker, 20-1;
7, Jump Up And Kissme, Kerri Ravenl, Marlo Dunn,30-1;
8, Bailouttheminister, Keith Nations, Russell Baze, 6-1;
9, Jebrica, Jim Penney, Juan Gutierrez, 15-1;
10, Taylor Said, Mike Puhich, Mario Gutierrez, 6-1; and
11, St Liams Halo, Mike Puhich, Leslie Mawing, 10-1.
