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Emerald Downs

Looking for that winning streak

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Tom Reese / The Seattle Times

I lean along the rail at Emerald Downs one morning until startled back on my heels by a hardy snort that sounds suspiciously like a scoff. Lulled by the panorama of the Auburn track set against pastel Mount Rainier, and the concerto of train whistles and jet engines, I hadn't noticed a Thoroughbred trotting counter-clockwise up the rail and just five feet in front of me. But he noticed me, and I think he was saying, back off, twerp. His rider grins — "It's all right!"

While race day and events like today's annual Longacres Mile are spectacles, track workouts are closer to real life. About 1,400 Thoroughbreds are stabled at the track in the summer, almost all of them weighing more than 1,000 pounds. As I watch riders take the horses up and down at various paces, I begin to understand what Susie Sourwine, vice president of marketing, means when she says, "Most people go, 'horse,' not realizing how different they all are."

They come in different colors, heights and lengths, all right, and have their own strides and builds. But it is their psychology that fascinates. Like people, some are born winners. Some are spacey. Some get spooked easily. Some act as if they were made for The Show. While some are lovable, at least one is ornery enough to bark at a puny writer.

A 3-year-old gallops past. All business. Neck bowed, head down. He's paying attention, like the guy in the weight room who controls his breathing and lifting rather than puffing and flailing.

The baby of a boss mare always seems to grow up to be No. 1, too, but a lot of training is re-educating. "There is a natural social pecking order amongst horses," Sourwine says. "We ask them all to compete for the top spot. If they aren't naturally the lead horse, we are asking them to become it."

Folks who know their way around the track can spot a champ inside a horse just trotting past. It can be a regal posture, the ease of its movement or the inexplicable: They seem to expect victory. Trainers see talent wasted, too. One fast filly could be a stakes winner, but she won't lead — ever, it seems. Near as anybody can figure, it is because she doesn't want to.

So that horse you bet on is at the starting gate. Is it intimidated? The cocky one? All talent but no purpose? One that's been waiting for this moment?

If I knew that, I'd be the winner.