WA Native Ward Ships Touchy West for Longacres Mile

In four decades as a jockey and trainer, Wesley Ward has won just about everything in racing except the Longacres Mile. That could change, however, when Ward sends out highly regarded Touchy in Sunday's $125,000 Mile at Emerald Downs. The 91st renewal of the Northwest's most historic race anchors a 12-race card featuring six stakes events. First post is 1:50 p.m. Touchy is the 7/5 morning line favorite, followed by top local threats Si That Tiger (2/1) and Slew's Tiz Whiz (4/1). Rounding out the field are Executive Chef (12/1), He's Not Talking (12/1), Adios Jojo (15/1), J. B. Books (20/1) and Catch a Breeze (50/1). With over 2,500 wins and $108 million in earnings, Ward has enjoyed spectacular training success, including 10 leading trainer titles at Keeneland, six Breeders' Cup victories, and an unprecedented 11 victories at Royal Ascot in England. Before switching to training, Ward was an outstanding rider and winner of the 1984 Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding Apprentice Jockey. Although it wouldn't be his richest victory, Ward would dearly love like to add the Longacres Mile on to his resume. A Washington native, Ward grew up in Selah, just north of Yakima. "I picked the (Longacres Mile) for Touchy because it's such an iconic race, especially for anyone from the state of Washington," Ward said. "I told the owners how much this race means to me. Monetarily it's not as much as the other races we considered, but I thought we would have a really live chance in here. They realize how much this race means to me." A 4-year-old by 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, Touchy is unraced since a dazzling June 10 allowance victory at Churchill Downs, running a mile on dirt in a blistering 1:33.93. Owned and bred by Three Chimneys Farm, Touchy is 3-3-2 in 10 overall starts including stakes placings at Saratoga, Turfway Park, Pimlico, and Sunland Park. Yedsit Hazlewood, a talented 18-year-old Panamanian, has the mount. "He's an uber-talented colt," Ward said of Touchy. "I thought highly of him from the first time I laid eyes on him, but he just hadn't really come through for me. He's got a nice race record, but I kept stressing to the Three Chimneys team that there's a lot more to this horse than what we've seen. In his last race, Jose (Ortiz) took him off the pace and the horse really came through for me. We beat a very good field." Si That Tiger and Slew's Tiz Whiz are the top local threats. Remarkably, both are out of the same broodmare (Ros's Girl). Trained by Blaine Wright, 4-year-old Si That Tiger has been the top older horse this season at Emerald Downs, compiling a 2-1-0 record in three starts, including a dominant gate-to-wire score in the 6½ furlong Governor's S. By Smiling Tiger, his overall mark is 7-1-0 in 11 starts with earnings of $166,770 for Gerald and Gail Schneider and John and Janene Maryanski. Si That Tiger has routed just twice, finishing fourth in the 2014 Gottstein Futurity and second in the 2025 Muckleshoot Derby. Trained by two-time Longacres Mile-winning trainer Tom Wenzel, 8-year-old Slew's Tiz Whiz is a three-time Washington Horse of the Year, two-time Emerald Downs' Horse of the Meeting, with an overall mark of 13-7-6 in 33 starts with earnings of $435,262. His strong closing kick netted a victory in the 2022 Longacres Mile and third-place finishes in 2023 and 2024. This year marks his fifth consecutive start in the Longacres Mile and he bids to become the fifth 8-year-old to win. Sunday's forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 73 degrees.