(Reed Palmer Photography)

   Mount Rainier loomed high on the horizon as the Pacific Northwest biggest Thoroughbred events were set to happen: the 79th running of the historic Longacres Mile and the 48th annual WTBOA Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale - and this year the two main events would share bragging rights.

   A full field of 12 was given their posts positions for the $200,000 event at the Wednesday morning brunch preview where good food prevailed and excitement mounted. The final dozen featured five Hastings Racecourse invaders - Mr Bowling, Mysterious Soul, Shooting Jacket, Title Contender and Twistgrips; Southern California-based Boyett; New York winner Prohibition; and five Emerald-based stakes horses - Disruption, Dontmesswithkitten, Jebrica, Scat Daddybaby and local hero and 2013 Mile runner-up Stryker Phd.

   The starting gate blew open at 5:01 pm and three of the five local runners decided to try stealing the race from the front end. Emerald allowance winner Scat Daddybaby, in only his third start of the year, was quickly out of the gate and led the pack through early fractions of :22.52, :44.83 and 1:08.42. Disruption, another local stakes horse in only his third start of the season, chased right behind him for the first half-mile, and following at his heels was Mt. Rainier Handicap second Dontmesswithkitten.

   Meanwhile, race favorite ($1.30-to-one) Stryker Phd, who was partnered with 2014 meet leading rider Leslie Mawing, was ambling along in his favorite position at the back of the field, 15 lengths off the pace. By the half-mile marker he had passed two runners, but as the dozen runners reached the six-furlong mark, half the field lay in his wake. As the Larry Ross trainee reached the final turn, Stryker Phd surged boldly to impressively pass the leaders and hold off the strong bid of Dr. Rodney Orr's Boyett to defeat that rival by a half-length. Another half-length separated Boyett and Gordon Christoff's third place finisher Twistgrips (Benchmark-Victor's Secret). Early leader Scat Daddybaby finished fourth and he was followed by Shooting Jacket, Mr Bowling, Prohibition, Disruption, Dontmesswithkitten, Jebrica, Mysterious Soul and Title Contender.

   Stryker Phd's 1:33.67 final time - the fastest time for the distance at the 2014 meet and eclipsing the 1:34.15 mark he had earned in his Budweiser Handicap win - earned him a career high 97 Beyer and a 99 BRIS Speed Rating.

   "We knew there was going to be a lot of speed, so I let him break on his own," said Mawing, who was winning his first Mile in seven tries. "I wanted to be in a comfortable position, but I didn't expect to be in last.

   "I gave him a few taps at the three-eighths pole and he picked it up really nice. He was picking off horses one by one. I got them about the eighth pole and we took the lead.

   "It was a good race. I have to give all the kudos to the horse," Mawing added in his ninth stakes win of the season.

   It marked the second Mile winner to come out of the Ross barn. Twenty-nine years ago Ross trainee - and 2014 Washington Racing Hall of Fame inductee - Chum Salmon came from last to take the 1985 Mile.

   "It really did remind me of Chum Salmon," said Ross, who became Stryker Phd's conditioner in 2014 after the gelding had earned state championship handicap honors under trainer Margo Lloyd's care last year.

   Four-year-old Boyett, who was seeking to become the third Oregon-bred runner to win the Mile, had been a dynamic maiden special weight winner at Emerald Downs last year before heading to California in the fall. The son of Sharp Humor-Bella Cantu won a trio of races on the Southern California circuit and most recently ran fourth in the Wickerr Stakes this past July.

   Stryker Phd has now won all three of his 2014 outings for Jim and Mona Hour. The Bellevue couple had purchased their future champion from his breeders Char Clark and Todd Havens of Spokane at the 2010 WTBOA Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale. A $45,000 purchase, Stryker Phd has earnings of $292,751, including the $165,000 he added this year.

   It was an exciting, but bittersweet moment for Clark, who was in town with her final consignment of horses for the August 26, WTBOA sale. But talk about ending her breeding career on a high note! Clark also bred Stryker Phd's 2013 champion half-sister Madame Pele, the only distaffer other than a Northwest Farms runner to come close to unbeaten Stopshoppingdebbie, after finishing second to her in the Hastings Handicap in May.

   Four days after the pivotal race, Sharon Ross, the wife of Larry and his assistant trainer, reported that Stryker Phd came out of the Mile in fine fettle.

"He's acting like a monster, bucking, playing and squealing," said Sharon. "He came out of the race great."

(Reed Palmer Photography)

   Held two races after the Longacres Mile and the ninth race on the 11-race card, a field of five older stakes distaffers went to the gate for the nine-furlong stakes. As usual, Stopshoppingdebbie was the heavy favorite, going off at one-to-five odds.

   Stopshoppingdebbie (Curlin-Taste the Passion, by Wild Again), carrying a stakes record 124-pound highweight which included regular partner Rocco Bowen, sprinted to the lead and was clear by open lengths until her stablemate Goin to the Window (Tapit-Queens Full), ridden by Juan Gutierrez, came up to challenge her in the stretch. The two Northwest Farm colorbearers went stride-for-stride for much of the final yards, but the tenacious Stopshoppingdebbie held on to defeat her game rival by three-quarters of a length in a time of 1:47.45. Northwest Farms third entrant, Blueberry Smoothie (Giant's Causeway-Shampoo), finished another three lengths back in third place.

   The trio of well-bred fillies have now raced in each other's company eight times, with 2012 Emerald juvenile filly champion Goin to the Window finishing second in six of those occasions - including a head loss in the July 2013 Kent Handicap - and running third and fourth in the two other races. Blueberry Smoothie, who won the 2012 Barbara Shinpoch Stakes sans her stablemates, has finished third behind Stopshoppingdebbie and Goin to the Window in seven of their stakes meeting, but in the 2013 Washington Oaks, she managed to run second, defeating Goin to the Window by two lengths. All three fillies are trained by Tom Wenzel.

   "It was an incredible race," said Bowen. "Stopshoppingdebbie was doing it so easy and pricking her ears.

   "Goin to the Window never got the head in front of us. Once 'Debbie' saw her, she just drew away. I was never worried today. The other horse is a really good horse, so I never let my guard down. But at the end of the day, I knew I was on the best horse. I've won a lot of big races, but I have to say this is the best race I've ever won."

   Stopshoppingdebbie follows Elusive Horizon (2008-09) and Class Included (2011-12) to become the third distaffer to win both the Washington Oaks and Emerald Distaff Handicap. The Northwest Farms homebred, who has wins ranging from 5 1/2 to nine furlongs, also earned the record for most consecutive stakes wins in Emerald Downs history.

   With her ninth win, Stopshoppingdebbie, a half-sister to Emerald champions Shampoo and Smarty Deb, has earned $247,728. In comparison, bridesmaids Goin to the Window's record is 2-6-2 from 11 starts with $117,443 in winnings and Blueberry Smoothie has a 2-3-7 record from 12 starts and $119,592 in earnings.

   According to trainer Wenzel, Stopshoppingdebbie will now be sent to California where she will prep for a possible Breeders' Cup World Championship start at Santa Anita with a run in either the September 27 Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes or the October 4 LA Woman Stakes (G3), both at Santa Anita.

Gemstones

   One Horse Horse Will Do Corporation and Dr. Michael Konecny's Poly Squat, a five-year-old Washington-bred daughter of Raise the Bluff-Radio Caroline, by Siphon (Brz), became the meet's fifth four-time winner after her win on August 22.

   On August 23 Northwest Farms LLC unveiled another talented filly when two-year-old Herculette, a $230,000 2013 Keeneland January sale graduate, won her debut in a maiden special weight race. The Tom Wenzel-trained daughter of Indian Charlie-Seattle Shimmer, by Seattle Slew, is a half-sister to $206,800 Grade 2-placed Sway Away.

   Through August 26, trainer Jeff Metz's continues his win lead over Frank Lucarelli 45 to 34, while Lucarelli tops the trainer earnings category with $441,637. Jim Penney ranks second in money with $359,244 and is third in wins with 27. Metz's $334,841 ranks him third in earnings.

   Winning Mile rider Leslie Mawing currently outranks second place Rocco Bowen 81 to 61 in wins and $994,788 to $604,464 in earnings. Eliska Kubinova ranks third in wins with 48, three better than 2013 leader Isaias Enriquez, who ranks fourth in wins with 45 and in earnings with $479,328. Juan Gutierrez is in the number three spot on the money list with $503,637 and is fifth in wins with 39.