One of a pair of horses in the field coming back from last month's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, Hoist the Gold took the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. two starts back with a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure Oct. 6. Consistently raced throughout his career, the 4-year-old entered the gate Saturday for the 26th time with eight of his nine starts this year in graded-stakes races.

Slightly chilly on the board at 8-1, the Dream Team homebred broke from the outside but possessed all the early speed and quickly moved down to race between Pipeline (Speightstown) and the lightly-raced Cascais (Into Mischief). But as the field of 12 came out of the Aqueduct chute and onto the main track, Hoist the Gold was left alone on the lead under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. Allowed to run free on the lead with only Pipeline keeping in touch, the colt zipped through fractions of :22.41 and :44.88 as the rest of the field struggled to keep the leader in their sights. Velazquez stayed motionless on his mount into the lane, not even drawing his stick until the furlong marker as Hoist the Gold drew away in hand with only a late-closing Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) cutting into the winning margin late to make it a Mineshaft-sired exacta.

“What a race,” said winning trainer Dallas Stewart. “Johnny [Velazquez] picked the right race for us. He told us at Breeders' Cup, the horse doesn't like dirt in his face. He said, 'just let me ride him the way I want–run him a mile at Aqueduct and he won't get beat.' He was 100 percent right. At the eighth pole, he kicked in another gear and got in front of them some more. He made that separation and that's the sign of a good horse. I just hate that they took the Grade I away, but he showed he's a good horse and we'll take the $500,000 and head down the road.”

Pedigree Note:
One of 61 stakes winner for the Lane's End stallion, Hoist the Gold is one of three winners from three runners out of the winning Tapit mare Tacit Approval, herself a $320,000 2-year-old. Her other two winners were both fillies sired by Hill 'n' Dale's Mucho Macho Man. She foaled a Vekoma filly last year and reported another foal by Mucho Macho Man, this time a colt, earlier this year.

Son of @LanesEndFarms stallion Mineshaft, HOIST THE GOLD, wins the Cigar Mile pres. by @NYRABets (G2) impressively with @ljlmvel up for @DallasStewart3! pic.twitter.com/yxCD66K6rH

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) December 2, 2023

Saturday, Aqueduct
CIGAR MILE H.-GII, $500,000, Aqueduct, 12-2, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:34.28, my.
1–HOIST THE GOLD, 121, c, 4, by Mineshaft
          1st Dam: Tacit Approval, by Tapit
          2nd Dam: Punch Appeal, by Successful Appeal
          3rd Dam: Okanagan Dawn, by Two Punch
($47,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Dream Team One Racing Stable; B-Dream Team Racing (KY); T-Dallas Stewart; J-John R. Velazquez. $275,000. Lifetime Record: MGISP, 26-5-6-3, $1,119,547. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Senor Buscador, 123, h, 5, Mineshaft–Rose's Desert, by Desert God. O-Joe R. Peacock, Jr.; B-Joe R Peacock Sr. & Joe R Peacock Jr. (KY); T-Todd W. Fincher. $100,000.
3–Castle Chaos, 116, g, 5, Palace Malice–Queen Victoria, by Flatter. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Sanford Goldfarb, Nice Guys Stables and Beast Mode Racing LLC; B-Dragon Slayer Stable (KY); T-Robert N. Falcone, Jr.. $60,000.
Margins: 4HF, 4 1/4, NO. Odds: 8.70, 3.80, 32.50.
Also Ran: Three Technique, Coastal Mission, Offaly Cool, Dr Ardito, High Oak, Pipeline, Accretive, Everso Mischievous, Cascais.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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“This is the best horse to retire in New York in a very long time,” said Rockridge Stud's Lere Visagie. “We all know we need top-class horses standing in New York to keep mares home. The winner of one of New York's most historic Grade Is for older horses is the way to do it. We can't wait to get started.”

Based on his Cigar Mile win, as well as wins in the New York-restricted Empire Classic H., Albany S., and New York Derby, Americanrevolution was named 2021 New York-bred Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male during the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc.'s annual awards ceremony in 2022. During his career, Americanrevolution also placed in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S., the GI Pennsylvania Derby, and the GII Stephen Foster S. The chestnut retired with a record of 12-5-2-1 and earnings of $1,286,810. Twice he registered Beyers of 108 and overall secured triple-digit Beyers five times.

“With Belmont being renovated, we feel it is time to re-enter the New York market,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar Farm's president, CEO, and racing manager. “WinStar Farm and CHC Inc. are staying in and committing 10 good mares to Americanrevolution to help launch his career in New York. We hope to breed another Funny Cide, one of the best New York-breds of all time.”

Bred by Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding in New York, Americanrevolution was acquired at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Select Yearling Sale in Saratoga out of the Taylor Made Sales consignment for $275,000 by CHC Inc. and Maverick Racing. He hails from the same family as MGISW Stop Traffic (Cure the Blues), who produced GISW and sire Cross Traffic (Unbridled's Song).

Americanrevolution will stand as a partnership between WinStar Farm, CHC Inc., Rockridge Stud, Taylor Made Stallions, Mill Creek Farm, and Fortune Farm in a deal brokered by Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting stallion prospect–probably the most exciting stallion to retire to New York in several decades,” said Ben Taylor of Taylor Made Stallions.

Former WinStar stallion and Breeders' Cup winner Tourist (Tiznow) stood his first New York season at Rockridge this year.

“I'm thrilled to see a Grade I winner sired by one of Kentucky's finest stallions retiring to New York,” said Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning. “This highlights the growing significance of the racing and breeding industry in the state. I'm eagerly anticipating the opportunity to sell his New York offspring at our Saratoga sales.”

Americanrevollution will stand his initial season for $12,500 S&N. He will be available for viewing at WinStar Farm in Kentucky throughout the November Sale and during stallion shows.

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Graded stakes action during the meet also includes the $200,000 GIII Pebbles S.–previously run at Belmont's fall meet–and the $300,000 GII Red Smith S. on Nov. 11 and the $300,000 GIII Long Island S. on Nov. 12. The $250,000 GII Hill Prince S. will be run Nov. 18.

Thanksgiving weekend at Aqueduct will feature a pair of Grade III events worth $200,000: the Nov. 24 GIII Fall Highweight H. and the Nov. 25 GIII Comely S.

The New York Stallion Stakes Series (NYSSS), open to progeny of eligible New York sires, returns to the Big A with four divisions offered in December. The Dec. 3 card will feature the $125,000 NYSSS Thunder Rumble for 3-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs on the main track, as well as the $125,000 NYSSS Staten Island for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at the same distance.

The NYSSS returns with a pair of $500,000 stakes for juveniles  Dec. 16 with a lucrative card that will see eligible New York-sired fillies contest the NYSSS Fifth Avenue at seven furlongs, alongside the NYSSS Great White Way going the same distance.

Following the conclusion of Belmont at the Big A fall meet, which runs from Sept. 14 through Oct. 29, the 31-day Aqueduct fall meet will run from Nov. 2 through Dec. 31.

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A $110,000 Keeneland September yearling from the first crop of Mr. Greeley, El Corredor was purchased by Bob Baffert and raced in the colors of Hal J. Earnhardt III. The dark bay won the Cigar Mile and GII Del Mar Breeders' Cup H. at three before adding a second edition of the Del Mar Breeders' Cup and the GII Pat O'Brien H. at four. Often brilliant but frequently plagued by quarter cracks, the Needham-Betz Thoroughbreds/Liberation Farm-bred retired with a record of 10-7-1-0 and earnings of $727,920.

After standing several years in Kentucky, as well as stints at Questroyal North in New York and The Stallion Station at Copper Crowne in Louisiana, plus shuttling several seasons to Argentina, El Corredor was purchased to stand in Turkey for the 2015 breeding season. He has 33 black-type winners bred in the Northern Hemisphere, including Grade I winners Adieu, Backseat Rhythm, Crisp, and Dominican, and five other graded winners.

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Mind Control won the GI Hopeful S. as a 2-year-old and the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. as a 3-year-old at Saratoga. “We are excited and looking forward to standing Mind Control at Rockridge Stud,” said Red Oak Stable racing manager Rick Sacco. “There was considerable interest from stud farms in the U.S., Japan and the Middle East, but given that his three Grade I victories were on the NYRA circuit, we believe Rockridge Stud in the state of New York is the perfect place for Mind Control to begin his stallion career.”

“Ultimately, Stephen Brunetti wanted the horse to stand in the U.S.  Sol Kumin agreed, a deal was struck with Rockridge Stud, Irish Hill Farm, and Dutchess Views Stallions, and a partnership was formed,” said Sacco.

Mind Control will serve stallion duty as the property of Rockridge Stud, Irish Hill Farm, Dutchess Views Stallions, and Waldorf Farm as well as Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stable.

“This is a significant development for Rockridge Stud, Irish Hill Farm, Dutchess Views Stallions, and for the breeding industry in New York,” added owner/operator Lere Visagie. “Getting this group of partners together to support Mind Control gives us a phenomenal opportunity to make him the most successful stallion to ever stand in the state.”

“I'm extremely proud of everything Mind Control accomplished on the race track,” said Brunetti. “I've been breeding horses for 25 years and he's the best one I've ever bred. From a breeding perspective, Mind Control has excellent conformation and size. He displayed fierce courage, he hails from a strong and active female family, and he won Grade I races from seven furlongs to one mile.”

Mind Control recorded victories in five of his final nine career starts beginning with his win at Belmont Park's $250,000 John A. Nerud Stakes (G2) going seven furlongs July 4, 2021. After his win in the Cigar Mile, Todd Pletcher told NYRA, “It was not only great for him to go out on a win,  but for him to do it in the style that defines his character in fighting off challenges from the Florida Derby winner on the inside and the American Pharoah winner on the outside.” “It was three Grade I winners battling it out across the track. Mind Control showed that signature move of his where he puts his head in front and won't be denied.”

Sacco described Mind Control's final career start as almost like a movie ending. “It was a fitting end to his impressive racing career and it was awesome that Johnny V came in from California to ride Mind Control in his final race. We're very proud of the horse, our breeding program, and the Red Oak Farm operation led by Barry Dolan. I just want to congratulate Todd and his entire team and to remember the excellent job my brother Gregg did with Mind Control earlier in his career winning two Grade I races,” concluded Sacco.

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The Woodward was, perhaps, the most surprising inclusion on the list of newly appointed Grade II races. Twenty winners of the race have made their way into the Hall of Fame, including Kelso, Buckpasser, Forego, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid and Cigar. But the race has struggled somewhat in recent years as the NYRA racing department tried to figure out where it fit best on the calendar on how to juggle a glut of late summer-early fall races for the handicap division, including the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. In 2006, the Woodward was moved from Belmont Park to Saratoga. The race was moved back to Belmont in 2021, trading places with the Jockey Club Gold Cup, which was switched to Saratoga. This year's Woodward was won by a top horse in Life Is Good (Into Mischief), but the race drew only four horses and the three challengers to Life Is Good were a fairly weak lot.

The Cigar Mile was inaugurated in 1988 and initially run as the NYRA Mile. Winners include Forty Niner, Cigar, Tonalist (Tapit) and Maximum Security (New Year's Day). This year's race did not come up particularly strong as Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) beat five others.

One race, the Stephen Foster S., was upgraded from Grade II to Grade I status. The race had been a Grade I through 2018 when it was downgraded. This year's winner was Olympiad (Speightstown).

A total of 97 Grade I races will be contested in 2023.

The committee reviewed 901 stakes races and assigned graded status to 440 of them, nine fewer than were graded in 2022.

Three races were upgraded to Grade II's, the Beaumont S., the Franklin S. and the Ladies Sprint S. Seven races were downgraded from Grade II to Grade III status for 2023: the Sorrento S. at Del Mar; Dinner Party S. at Pimlico; Monrovia S., San Carlos S., San Marcos S. and Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita Park; and Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs. Four races were upgraded to Grade III status for 2023: the Manila S. at Belmont Park; Blame S. and Shawnee S. at Churchill Downs; and Music City S. at Kentucky Downs. Twelve races were downgraded from Grade III to Listed status for 2023.

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Brought in to talk about his unique approach to training and owning horses (Cash owns every horse in his stable), Cash was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland.

“I personally think that 11 or 12 days between races is absolutely perfect and it works for me,” Cash said. “If you go 10 or 11 days between races you can get 98% out of what the horse has to give you back. That's enough for them to recuperate. They're ready to go. Usually, you're working the horse anyway after a race; you're giving him a work that is a lot like a race. I thought maybe we should just race them into fitness instead of working them into fitness.”

On Beverly Park, Cash said he is a horse who loves to get out there and run.

“He's just such a competitor,” Cash said. “An iron horse, that absolutely fits him. We've not had to do any work on him. He's just an incredibly sound horse. He's just the epitome of a workhorse. Every time he gives everything that he has. He's just such a such a sweet and amazing horse.”

Cash owns a roofing business, which was his primary source of income before getting into racing. He has turned the day-to-day operation of that business over to his sons, so that he can focus on racing. He couldn't be happier with the decision to change careers midstream.

“I'm having the time of my life here,” he said. “They say I've changed careers. But I don't know about that because I don't call this work. This horse racing, it is addictive.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the GI Cigar Mile H. win by the ultra-game Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), as well as last week's GII Remsen S. and GII Demoiselle S. They also discussed the latest news on alleged drug cheat Jason Servis, who appears ready to enter a guilty plea. Cadman and Finley also touched on the story of Maryland-bred star Post Time (Frosted), who is undefeated in three starts while being ridden in the afternoons by his regular exercise rider, Eric Camacho.

Click here to watch the show.

Click here for the audio-only version.

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With GI Pennsylvania Derby runner-up Zandon (Upstart) bet down to 3-5, Mind Control was dispatched as the 3-1 second choice, a gift to his faithful fans in his career finale. Away quickest of all, the bay was outrun by 58-1 shot Outlier (Not This Time) and was content to stalk that rival from second through a :23.26 first quarter. The 6-year-old veteran was patiently handled by John Velazquez through a :46.55 half-mile with Get Her Number (Dialed In) tracking intently to his outside in third and White Abarrio (Race Day) not far behind. Mind Control sidled up beside Outlier at the three-quarter pole with Get Her Number joining him on the outside and White Abarrio sneaking up the fence to join the fray, making it four across the track turning for home.

Zandon ranged up five wide just off their heels, looking like he might join the group as Outlier threw in the towel and retreated. Mind Control, White Abarrio and Get Her Number locked horns, battling down the lane as Zandon unsuccessfully tried to play catch up. Mind Control forged clear in the final sixteenth to complete his career on high note with a head success over Get Her Number. It was a half-length back to White Abarrio in third and another two back to Zandon in fourth.

“If you like horse racing, you've got to love this horse,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “He's cool. He's done it consistently year after year at multiple distances. He's a great horse to be able to train. He's remarkably consistent and shows up every morning.”

He continued, “When he broke well, I was happy and there was a moment in the first sixteenth of a mile where I wasn't so sure if he was liking the surface, which a couple of times in the past he hadn't cared for. But then once he got into a good rhythm down the backside, I was confident. He's the type of horse that if you get into a battle with him, he's going to fight.”

Pletcher added, “Stay Thirsty won [the 2012 Cigar Mile] in probably one of the best head bobs we've ever had in racing, so it's kind of cool that his offspring was able to win it.”

“The last two times he ran over a track like that, he was out of the pack,” Velazquez said. “The first sixteenth of a mile, he broke good and I was like, 'Oh, please. Don't do this to me.' He seemed like he was going to go, but he came out of the bridle. So, I passed the chute and kind of put him into the bridle and he got comfortable. I felt much better the way he was going towards the turn and when the other horse [Get Her Number] came to him, he got competitive. So then I felt like he was going to fight. When that horse put his head in front of me and didn't pass me, I was like, 'This is going to be a fight here.' And sure enough, I went left handed on him, he responded and put his head in front and it was a really good fight to the wire.”

On what Mind Control means to him, the Hall of Fame pilot said, “I've been around this horse for five years and he's been a really decent horse and shows up to the big dances with really tough horses–and he does it all the time. I'm a little sad to see him go because he's one of the horses that kind of keeps me in the game and kind of looking forward to these kinds of races. He's gone, so I'll have to start looking for something else to keep me in the game.”

Scoring his first Grade I win in the 2018 Hopeful S. at Saratoga, Mind Control took the Jerome S. and GIII Bay Shore S. in 2019, and captured his second Grade I that year with a gutsy score in Saratoga's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. Opening 2020 with wins in the GIII Toboggan S. and GIII Tom Fool H., both at the Big A for former trainer Greg Sacco, the homebred did not visit the winner's circle again until July of 2021, taking the GII John A. Nerud S. in his first start for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. He won the Parx Dirt Mile two starts later and was third in this year's GI Carter H. Off the board in the GI Churchill Downs S. in May, Mind Control scored a gritty victory over Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) in Monmouth's GIII Salvator Mile June 18. Completing the trifecta in the GII Charles Town Classic Aug. 26, he crossed the line a neck second in the Sept. 24 Parx Dirt Mile, but was promoted to first via DQ.

Pedigree Notes:

Mind Control is one of five graded winners by Stay Thirsty, who now stands in California, and is his only North American Grade I winner. He is also the sire of a Group 1 winner in South America. The winner is out of fellow Red Oak homebred Feel That Fire (Lightnin N Thunder), a stakes-winning half-sister to MSW & GSP King For A Day (Uncle Mo) and a full to MSW Ima Jersey Girl. Her 3-year-old filly Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft), retained by Red Oak and trained by Pletcher, ran second in both the GII Rachel Alexandra S. and GII Gulfstream Park Oaks this term. Feel That Fire's juvenile filly White Hot Gold (Candy Ride {Arg}) debuted at Tampa Saturday just eight minutes before her half-brother's swansong, finishing sixth. The 15-year-old mare failed to get in foal to Uncle Mo for 2021, but had a filly that sire in February of this year. She visited both Curlin and Uncle Mo this spring.

Saturday, Aqueduct
CIGAR MILE H. PRESENTED BY NYRA BETS-GI, $750,000, Aqueduct, 12-3, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:35.53, sy.
1–MIND CONTROL, 122, h, 6, by Stay Thirsty
                1st Dam: Feel That Fire (SW, $147,280), by Lightnin N Thunder
                2nd Dam: Ubetwereven, by French Deputy
                3rd Dam: Raysor Lake, by Private Account
O-Red Oak Stable (Brunetti) & Madaket Stables, LLC; B-Red
Oak Stable (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-John R. Velazquez.
$412,500. Lifetime Record: 29-12-3-6, $2,185,834. *1/2 to
Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft), GISP, $335,875. Werk Nick
Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Get Her Number, 120, c, 4, Dialed In–Fancier, by Bernstein.
($45,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Gary Barber; B-Philip & Brenda
Robertson (KY); T-Peter Miller. $150,000.
3–White Abarrio, 118, c, 3, Race Day–Catching Diamonds, by
Into Mischief. ($7,500 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21
OBSMAR). O-C Two Racing Stable & Antonio Pagnano;
B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $90,000.
Margins: HD, HF, 2. Odds: 3.15, 8.50, 3.65.
Also Ran: Zandon, Outlier, Double Crown. Scratched: O Besos.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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“[Double Crown] is chomping at the bit to get out there, he's probably got more energy than he's ever had,” said Cash, who owns the Maryland-bred with his wife, Lola. “I was wanting to find something either 14 days or 21 days out, so that he would be coming off of about three weeks' rest, but it just worked out that there was nothing we could really find that seemed like a good fit for him, so we just kept him on the shelf. He's training really well and we're hopeful.”

The 5-year-old bay gelding, sitting at 15-1 on the morning line, drew the rail, while Outlier drew the sixth post.

“This is only the second Grade I I've ever had horses in and the way it's looking, we have a mediocre chance, but then again, that's about as good as we've had. I've got [Outlier] in there that likes the front end, who will hopefully keep the pace honest,” said Cash. “In my mind sometimes, I have to pick things apart and find the strength of my horses and the weaknesses of others. I think there's a couple of them that like it a little shorter, that maybe the mile is the far end of their comfort zone, and I'm hoping that the deep mile in that deep track at Aqueduct kind of plays to our advantage.”

For Cash, the numbers speak volumes, especially when it came to Double Crown. So much so, that the Midway, Ky., resident, on a rare day with no horses running, took a special trip to Churchill Downs in early June to drop a claim slip on the Maryland-bred who was entered in a mile-long claimer for a $40,000 tag. Double Crown finished second, by a neck, while Cash came out on top in the seven-way shake.

“I'm stabled at Laurel Park and here in Lexington, and that was the first thing that made me look at him: he was a Maryland-bred and he had solid numbers,” said Cash. “He had won a couple of stakes early on in Florida [as a 3-year-old] and ran second in the Maryland Million Sprint [last year]. It's a small thing, but the extra 15% that Maryland pays for Maryland-breds, when you're trying to get your bills paid at the end of the month, sometimes things like that make a difference.”

Double Crown romped in the Kelso | Coglianese

Cash kept his new trainee in Kentucky for his next two starts, where the gelding picked up back-to-back seconds at Churchill, before shipping him up to his Maryland base. He tried running him at a variety of distances, over a range of surfaces, including the turf at Laurel for the Ben's Cat S. (going 5 1/2 furlongs) and the all-weather track at Presque Isle Downs for the Peach Street S. (going a mile and 70 yards), through the summer into early fall, with his best results a victory at Colonial Downs in allowance company and a runner-up finish in the Polynesian S. at Pimlico, both going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt.

All of this led to his start in the Oct. 22 Maryland Million Classic S., which resulted in a disappointing fourth, as he finished 6 1/4 lengths behind the winner Ournationonparade (Cal Nation).

And when it was time to look ahead for a potential next target, it seemed things began to fall into place, all pointing toward the mile-long Kelso, just seven days later.

“It was like he never really got out and was able to move in the Maryland Million Classic, when he ran fourth, and we felt like he just wasn't spent, that he had effort to go. We debated whether or not to put him in the Kelso, and finally, probably what made the decision was that I had [fellow Maryland-bred] Eastern Bay [E Dubai] in that same day, so I [already] had a van going. I called the racing office there in New York and they said they've got a five-horse field and I'm like 'Wow, how do you not go to that race?'” said Cash.

The rest was history, as Double Crown bided time near the back of the pack, found his opening while coming down the stretch, hit a second gear to catch Baby Yoda and flew past to cross the wire 1 3/4 lengths ahead, securing the first career graded stakes victory for himself and his owner/trainer.

The whirlwind of emotions hit Cash and his wife all the way in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they had traveled to attend a family member's funeral. They made it to their rental car just two minutes before the horses loaded into the gate, watched the race unfold on their iPad, felt their hope grow as the field turned for home and erupted in celebration as Double Crown and jockey J.D. Acosta, sporting the red and black silks of the Cash family's Built Wright Stables, crossed the finish line first.

Cash (middle) and his wife, Lola (right), at Turfway earlier this year | Coady

“We probably looked like we were crazy as people drove past, because we were laughing and high-fiving and jumping and pumping, just ecstatic over this. It was quite a day and then, an hour later, Eastern Bay missed the GIII Bold Ruler S. I bet by two or three inches,” said Cash. “I can assure you that nobody was more surprised with the win with me.”

Rising from the claiming ranks to stakes company and later the winner's circle following a Grade II victory, with a Grade I debut just ahead, Double Crown reflects the successful, albeit unique, training program by today's industry standards that Cash has developed since getting into the sport.

“You've probably noticed that we run our horses a little more frequently. If I could plan every race I had, every horse would have 11 or 12 days off. Any time I have to choose between a race [coming up] at nine days and another coming up at 19 days, where I either have to go two or three days before what I think is perfect, or seven days later than what I think is perfect, I go nine days every time, [depending on] the horse being sound and everything,” explained Cash.

Between the time he was claimed, June 5, and his most recent start, Oct. 29, Double Crown has averaged two starts a month, with his longest break the past five weeks leading up to the Cigar.

“He's a horse that runs his race, whatever level that is. Let's say we're doing speed ratings. He runs a 98 to 102 speed rating, and if the race falls below that because maybe the pace is too fast and they all are tired in the end and he can come get them, then he wins. If the race stays above that level, he gives you everything he has but that's what he can give you, and he comes in second, third. But he's definitely an honest horse, he leaves it out there for you every time, [off of a] short or long rest,” said Cash.

Another prime example is Cash's trainee Beverly Park (Munnings), who recently scored his 13th win of the year in his 28th seasonal start Nov. 28 at Mahoning Valley Race Course. Claimed for $12,500 Aug. 5, 2021, Beverly Park's number of starts this year also leads the continent, and if all bodes well, he isn't finished with his 5-year-old season just yet.

“I don't know if I'm a fan-favorite but I know the horse is,” added Cash.

Beverly Park in one of his 13 wins of 2022 | Coady

The growth of Cash's stable, his ever-increasing success on the track and his love of the horse fuels the passion that inspired him to turn a hobby into a fully fledged career in the first place.

“I do feel that horses know when they're loved and when they're not, and I feel like they produce better when they're treated [well]. I'm probably more handsy and 'huggy' and 'kissy' with my horses than most trainers are, maybe it's not a manly thing, but when I saddle, I'll be right there and I just kind of stand there and rub their neck underneath, just spending some time with them,” said Cash.

When it comes to the Cigar, Cash knows that Double Crown and Outlier will both likely be perceived as the underdogs, just as the Maryland-bred was in the Kelso, but he's okay with that.

“Sometimes it doesn't matter what the odds board says, what the speed rating says, whatever. It comes down to how the race goes and again, I think I have a hard-knocker here that will give his 100 speed rating performance.”

Though nothing is official yet, Cash says he's had a couple of phone calls about big races that are coming up, which may be on the horizon for Double Crown in 2023.

Despite the weight of what Saturday could bring, Cash continues with his regular day-to-day operation, overseeing the 45 to 50 horses in training, all owned by him and his wife, between his 27 stalls at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington and his 30 stalls at Laurel, along with his own 31-acre farm in Midway, which houses layups and a few mares.

“I'm a roofing contractor, a year and a half away from roofing contracting, that is having the time of his life and never dreamed any of this. I was just going to claim a few horses and have some fun when I got my trainer's license and it's just crazy how some of these horses have blossomed,” said Cash. “Eastern Bay, what an amazing 8-year-old that guy is, and Double Crown, I don't know if he's improved the most, but by type of races he's won, he certainly has. It seems like we're running in five, six, seven stakes a month, with different horses, and I've probably got five or six legitimate stakes horses. That's exciting.”

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For it was on the equivalent card last year that he began what has turned into a pretty frustrating sequence of races where, for one reason or another, he arguably hasn't quite realized his full potential. When you consider that these include the GI Kentucky Derby itself, that shows how much raw ability he has. Just as well, then, that some of us find Thoroughbreds a sufficient enigma to feel little need to bet on them, too. Because by this stage he's beginning to feel like one of those horses you follow over a cliff.

On his last visit to Aqueduct, for the GII Remsen S., we were obliged with a culprit; practically a pantomime villain. To be thwarted by just a nose, despite the antics of Irad Ortiz Jr. on Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), suggested that Zandon had all the attitude necessary to make the most of his talent.

Despite the lamentable abbreviation of his career, the winner that day would return to New York to beat the subsequent GI Preakness S. winner in the GII Wood Memorial S. and then take the city's own Classic. Yet Zandon has meanwhile teased his admirers with just that one day when everything came together, in the GI Blue Grass S.

What felt especially vexing in the Derby was that he should, in principle, have been ideally suited by the notorious pace meltdown that summoned Rich Strike (Keen Ice) to our startled attention. As it was, he cruised into contention on the turn only to falter almost perceptibly, though still classy enough to take third. And he has since only elaborated an impression that his closing style will always require a pretty specific scenario actually to restore him to the winner's circle.

In fairness, even as things stand Zandon unmistakably belongs among the elite of the crop, having never once sought sanctuary from the white heat of competition. In the circumstances, however, the return to a single turn for the first time since his debut looks a pretty pointed call, just a week after the option of the GI Clark H.

I always feel that a one-turn mile is not just a very specific metier, but one especially instructive of that elusive grail: equilibrium between speed and stamina. A two-turn mile is more about “turn” than “mile”, diverting energy to the switching of leads and redistribution of weight. One turn, in contrast, must be accomplished more or less on one breath, and duly showcases the kind of pulmonary capacity that makes the GI Met Mile such a trusted signpost to stallion potential. If you think back to the way an inveterate closer like Honor Code (A.P. Indy) responded to the demands of that race, perhaps the Cigar will similarly set up for Zandon to release his “slingshot” in time.

But oh dear, what's this? Who should be waiting for him, in this first meeting with older horses, but the ultimate counterfoil to his rather finicky profile? Can even Zandon's biggest fans find it in their hearts to hope that Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) is beaten on the final start of such an exemplary career?

Connections will apparently announce Mind Control's stud destination over the coming days. King For A Day (Uncle Mo), his dam's half-brother, has been warmly received in New York but make no mistake, Mind Control offers the kind of genetic teak that should be welcome anywhere, the Bluegrass included. People will quibble over his damsire, but they don't have an issue with another forgettable son of Storm Cat, Yankee Gentleman, behind American Pharoah; and how marvelous, if Bernardini's growing distaff legacy could be complemented by a viable male line through Mind Control's sire Stay Thirsty.

One way or another, the package has worked to splendid effect in Mind Control—a 10-time stakes scorer who could take his earnings past $2 million in this, the 29th start of his career. Here's a GI Hopeful S. winner who has held his form through FIVE seasons, keeping one generation honest after another. No easy pickings when you drop in class with this guy around, as Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) could attest after their Grade III encounter at Monmouth this summer; or Silver State (Hard Spun), equally, in a Listed race at Parx last year.

Mind Control | Sarah Andrew

The bad news for Zandon is that Mind Control has demonstrated a particular affinity for this environment. In five career starts at a mile, he has four wins and a second; while his overall Aqueduct record reads 4-2-1. Having twice won Grade Is at Saratoga over seven furlongs, he sets a formidable standard for the glossy sophomore experimenting with a new trip.

But you know what, the differences between the pair—greyhound versus bulldog, Spitfire versus Lancaster—only makes me appreciate them both more. It's the way these Thoroughbreds hold the mirror up to life, after all, that make them so captivating. In persevering stubbornly with Zandon, I suppose I'm showing a weakness for the kind of flair that meets the challenges of life in a fashion that itself gives extra color and value to existence. But Mind Control, equally, reminds me that I wouldn't just want charisma from the guy next to me in the trenches.

So let's just hope that these contrasts, in this race, operate as the sticks and stones to spark up a fire against the advancing winter; and that Zandon can lay down some kind of marker for his elevation, with maturity, through a handicap division depleted by numerous retirements.

Between them, Zandon and Mo Donegal have at least renewed the luster of the Remsen. This time round, that race will be monitored with anguished attention by the three farms standing the neck-and-neck protagonists for the freshman sires' championship. After Bolt d'Oro seized the initiative last weekend, both Good Magic and Justify field candidates to fight back here.

You have to go back 27 years to Thunder Gulch to find the last Remsen winner to add the Derby, albeit Go For Gin had done the double only the previous year. But in an era when trainers are so reluctant to give Triple Crown horses an old-fashioned grounding, a ninth furlong before Christmas surely comes at a premium.

Whether in the way they are campaigned, or the way they are bred, Classic racehorses need a foundation. It's wrong to think of “blue collar” virtues as somehow alien to the true “blueblood”. We don't just need the flamboyance of Zandon, nor only the mettle of Mind Control. Much as with the one-turn mile that draws them together, we need the best of both worlds.

Hopefully Zandon's story still has a long way to go. In the meantime, how timely that Red Oak Stable gives a debut, at Tampa Bay not 10 minutes before the Cigar Mile, to Mind Control's little sister by Candy Ride (Arg). If she is made of the same stuff as Mind Control, then she'll have exactly what the rest of us should all be seeking. As Clint Eastwood's Preacher put it, at the end of another memorable showdown in Pale Rider: “Nothing like a nice piece of hickory.”

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