The very public, deep-stretch tragedy on a huge day of racing is comparable to the fatal fall of Go For Wand, who shattered her right front ankle while holding a slim lead and battling at the sixteenth pole in the 1990 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Belmont Park.

The next evening, in an unannounced ceremony that was closed to the public, Go For Wand was buried in the infield at Saratoga. Her connections had declined a New York Racing Association offer to inter the two-time champion filly in the Belmont infield, wishing instead to have her final resting place be the site of her two greatest triumphs, nine days apart in August 1990, in the Test S. and GI Alabama S.

Thirty-three summers later, the way this sort of heart-wrenching racetrack news spreads is vastly different.

In 1990, Sunday newspapers provided the bulk of next-day coverage nationwide, with racing's two weeklies and a long-form piece in Sports Illustrated anchoring the follow-up coverage.

In 2023, both the news of Maple Leaf Mel's demise–and public commentary on it–were available via social media within seconds of the tragedy.

Although that particular medium in this day and age is notorious for amplifying the most cruel and callous aspects of any subject it touches, acts of compassion and class have managed to shine through, and Maple Leaf Mel's owner (retired football coach Bill Parcells's August Dawn Farm) and namesake trainer (Melanie Giddings) were flooded with online condolences.

One poignant show of kindness and respect involved the connections of 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), who inherited the Test win when Maple Leaf Mel fell, opting not to enter the winner's circle after the race and pose for celebratory photos.

The next morning, those same connections–owner/breeder Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh–honored the fallen filly by placing the unworn Test floral wreath in front of Maple Leaf Mel's empty stall in Giddings's barn 69 on the Saratoga backstretch.

“Thank you everyone for your messages. I can't even pull myself together right now or know when I will ever be able to,” Giddings wrote Sunday morning on Twitter, punctuating her gratitude and mourning with a broken-heart emoji. “Maple Leaf Mel's health and happiness took priority over my own for the last two years and now I'm lost without her. She was a true Grade I champion.”

Maple Leaf Mel won her first two races at the Spa last summer before breaking through the New York-bred ranks and beating Grade III company in back-to-back starts at Pimlico and Belmont. She won every single one of her first five starts on the lead, and died trying the same way in her first attempt against Grade I company.

Perhaps NYRA will consider extending an invitation to Maple Leaf Mel's connections to have this special filly, too, grace Saratoga in perpetuity with a burial spot alongside Go For Wand in the track's infield.

Classic next for White Abarrio

Cody's Wish (Curlin), sent off at .45-1 in the wagering while seeking his first win beyond a mile, had the look of an overbet favorite in Saturday's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga.

Trouble was, it was difficult to discern which of his five rivals was going to step up and produce the triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure that seemed required to halt the middle-distance specialist's six-race win streak that extended back 15 months.

Bettors who landed on White Abarrio (Race Day) got rewarded at 10-1 for figuring out he was going to uncork the race of his life (110 Beyer).

At his best when prominently paced, White Abarrio sat just off the pacemaker under Irad Ortiz, Jr., stalking opening splits of :24.21, :23.86 and :23.54 before seizing the lead just before the quarter pole.

Cody's Wish was winding up for another one of his patented loop-the-group moves from last, but jockey Junior Alvarado would later concede he was “very worried” on the far turn that the favorite wasn't travelling as confidently as he usually did.

White Abarrio surged in the stretch, extending his margin to 6 1/4 lengths at the wire for a 1:48.45 finish. He was ridden out through a :24.48 fourth quarter and a :12.16 final furlong.

With the Whitney carrying “Win and You're In” berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, White Abarrio's connections are now mulling training him up to 10 furlongs on the first Saturday in November.

White Abarrio, who hammered for relatively affordable prices at auction ($7,500 OBSWIN; $40,000 OBSMAR), was an underdog Triple Crown prospect last season. His pros have always been efficiency, athleticism, and a knack for finding ways to win even when overmatched on paper. A chief con, though, was that up until Saturday, he was strictly a horse-for-course at Gulfstream, where he was 5-for-6 lifetime while going 0-for-7 at all other tracks.

White Abarrio now owns two Grade I victories over nine furlongs (the other was the 2022 Florida Derby).

Skeptics might question his ability to get 10 furlongs in the Classic based on his only other try at that distance, a 16th-place finish in last year's GI Kentucky Derby.

But that Derby effort wasn't as poor as it appears on paper.  White Abarrio got lost in the shuffle early on when a couple of bigger horses outmuscled him for position, then journeyed five- and seven-wide through both turns before getting hooked 10 wide for the drive. He kept plugging away until the eighth pole, but got wrapped up for safekeeping when it was apparent he wouldn't attain a significant placing.

Months Morph into Years

Jockey Juan Hernandez, currently topping the Del Mar standings in both wins and purse earnings going into Sunday's racing, made the most of his one and only riding opportunity there on Saturday when he guided Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) to an easy win in the GI Clement L. Hirsch S.

Hernandez would have been in demand for additional mounts, but he was serving the first of a three-day riding suspension on Saturday for altering course without sufficient clearance that resulted in a disqualification earlier in the Del Mar meet. California rules, however, allow suspended riders to participate in “designated” stakes races.

The informative Twitter site Racing Stats & Info (@GaryDougherty) comes up with the occasional esoteric data nugget that you won't find anywhere else, and a posting from last week highlighted the longest current streaks by jockeys in terms of consecutive months in which they've won a graded stakes.

Updating Dougherty's list through Saturday's races, Irad Ortiz now leads with 26 straight months winning at least one graded stakes. Hernandez is second with 23. Flavien Prat ranks third with 12. Luis Saez is fourth with 10.

Those are remarkable numbers considering it takes not only horsepower, but the good fortune to remain injury-free for such an extended period of time in such a dangerous profession.

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Yes, the big three–basketball, football, baseball–but also soccer, hockey, and, of course, horse racing.

I've attended a Summer Olympics, where I witnessed amazing track and field, swimming, and boxing. I also saw two sports for the first (and last) time–judo and team handball.

My father, before the interstate was even finished, would drive my siblings and I to Crosley Field in Cincinnati to watch our beloved Reds. As a youngster he took us to Kentucky football and basketball games in Stoll Field and Memorial Coliseum.

Many of my childhood heroes were athletes.

During the 1970s and early '80s, I attended many Cincinnati Bengals games with my longtime friend Chuck Oliver, who inherited season tickets from his father. In 1985, when Chuck moved from Indianapolis to Atlanta, he graciously passed the season tickets along to me. I've had them ever since.

I've rooted for the Bengals. And, during many seasons, rooted for the Bungles. My four children are Bengals (and Reds) fans. Interestingly, two now live in Cincinnati. Another resides in Ft. Thomas, Ky., about a five-minute drive to the baseball and football stadiums on the banks of the Ohio River.

In the old Riverfront Stadium, my four Bengals seats were 14 rows up from the field. Two seats were on each side of the 50-yard line. Today, in Paycor Stadium (formerly Paul Brown Stadium), I am at the 20-yard-line, two seats in row 21, two directly in front in row 20.

I rarely attend games on Thursday, Sunday or Monday nights for two reasons: 1) it is about a 90-minute drive home; and 2) though I enjoy a beer as much as the next guy, some fans tend to over-imbibe for late-starting contests.

Monday night, however, I was in the stadium because my close friend, Donna, is a longtime Buffalo Bills fan and the thought of being together to watch Joe Burrow versus Josh Allen was too enticing.

My daughter, Jennie, and her friend, Cole, were in attendance with us.

Wearing my Bengals hat and three layers of Bengals shirts, I was excited when “we” won the coin toss and elected to take the ball. We aren't deferring to the second half. We want the ball.
When my favorite player, Tyler Boyd, caught the game's first touchdown, it was game on.

Unfortunately, after Buffalo kicked a field goal and the Bengals began their second drive, the unimaginable happened. Tee Higgins caught a pass on a slant pattern and was tackled by safety Damar Hamlin.

I was looking right at Hamlin when he stood up for just a few seconds, then fell to the ground. I knew this was no torn ACL, no stinger, no concussion.

This was serious.

You really knew so when they asked players to surround the 24-year-old former Pitt player so fans could not see what was happening.

Being a horse racing fan, my thoughts turned to times when track personnel bring out a barrier so fans don't witness a horse being euthanized on the track.

Minutes seemed like hours as emergency personnel worked on Hamlin. We saw them get out the paddles. We could not see them performing CPR, but wondered aloud with other fans if that is what was happening.

We were disturbed that it took the league so long to cancel the game. A friend on Facebook reminded me it takes “corporations” a long time to make decisions.

Indeed, NFL teams and the league itself are corporations.

Thankfully, the right decision was made. After watching players openly crying on the field, how could they possibly compose themselves to carry on?

But what if it had been a playoff game? Or the Super Bowl? Would a different decision have been made? Would they have agreed to play the next day?

What happened to Hamlin is simply not a scenario you expect to happen.

There were many things in play–television ad revenues, playoff implications, players working at their craft for future contracts, etc. But the players, teams, league all realized first and foremost that ahead of the business of the game was concern, care and respect for Damar Hamlin.

Racing fans are often reminded of this relationship of sports and business, such as when colts are rushed off to stud and mares are mated more with the sale ring in mind than the racetrack.
In 1990, I was with my two brothers at the Breeders' Cup at Belmont Park. We had wonderful seats outside at the sixteenth pole. The Distaff was a thrilling duel between champions Bayakoa and Go For Wand, until the latter broke down right in front of us and had to be humanely destroyed.

My younger brother, not a huge racing fan, bid us farewell. He headed to the train station and departed, unable to remain after watching the tragedy unfold.

My older brother and I stayed. We had come to see Unbridled, who did win the Breeders' Cup Classic. Also, I think, being racing fans, we more easily accept that horses, sadly, do sometimes break down.

I wonder now, however, what would have happened had jockey Randy Romero, who was not seriously injured, lay on the track as long as Damar Hamlin lay on the field?
In football, the players are the athletes. In racing, there are two athletes – the human athletes and the equine athletes.

All athletes–and in the case of horses, the owners and trainers–know there is some degree of risk in what they do.

There is, however, a wide range in that degree of risk. Certainly horses and jockeys have a greater degree of risk than someone competing in ping pong.

While football players have a high degree of risk, it did not appear Hamlin's tackle of Higgins was particularly hard. Listed at the time of this writing in critical condition, medical professionals will hopefully shed some light on the cause of his cardiac event.

What I witnessed in Paycor Stadium was horrific. It left me stunned, dazed, bewildered.

It also left me to remember something important. Though I am a sports fan, and root for certain teams and against certain teams, at the end of the day, it's just a game.

The health and welfare of the athletes should always come first.

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Miss Marissa, trained by Jim Ryerson, was a last-out third in the Grade 2 Beldame on October 10 at Belmont where she finished behind the victorious Royal Flag and Horologist, both of whom are entered in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff.

When Miss Marissa captured the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on July 10, it prompted Ryerson to try the 4-year-old daughter of He's Had Enough in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign seven weeks later at Saratoga, where she finished a distant eighth.

Ryerson said a good effort by Miss Marissa on Saturday would result in a start in the Grade 3, $250,000 Go for Wand on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct.

“I thought she battled well to try and be second in the Beldame and ran really well that day,” Ryerson said. “Hopefully, we can do well and then go to the Go for Wand from there going a flat mile. We made our mark going a little further than that, but it's in our backyard.”

Miss Marissa shipped to Pimlico Race Course to capture the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan last October. Ryerson said Miss Marissa has developed well into her 4-year-old season.

“Going from three to four, you like to see them get a little stronger, faster and have some more maturity in them,” Ryerson said. “I think she's done that. They don't always do that. We'll see how we finish the year and see what Mr. [Alfonso] Cammarota wants to do with her next year. Hopefully, we can finish the year well. She's sound and if she races well finishing up this year, I think he'll plan to race her.”

Ryerson said Miss Marissa, who has won over five different ovals, gets a lot out of her training at Belmont.

“The one thing that I've noticed is that she really likes to train here,” Ryerson said. “I was a little disappointed with how she trained at Saratoga and to have the results we had, but we've gone out of here and run a number of places and she's run well.”

Kendrick Carmouche will ride Miss Marissa from post 2.

Three-time winner Jilted Bride seeks to make the grade for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

The ultra-consistent 4-year-old daughter of Wicked Strong has never finished out of the money in a dozen lifetime starts. She arrives off a runner-up effort in a seven-furlong allowance optional claimer on October 2 at Churchill Downs, which came three months after earning black type when third in the Lady Jacqueline at Thistledown.

“There's very few that try every race, and she is a model of consistency,” said Peter Bradley of Bradley Thoroughbreds, who owns Jilted Bride in partnership with Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron, Brady Carruth and Zane Carruth.

Bradley expressed optimism in Jilted Bride being competitive at graded stakes level.

“This race will tell us,” Bradley said. “She ran a very solid race in her comeback at Churchill. She certainly needed the race. She's a filly that has definitely matured and gotten better physically.”

Ruben Silvera will ride Jilted Bride from post 1.

Gibberish, trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr for e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, will attempt a fifth career win. The 4-year-old Lea filly earned graded stakes black type two starts back when second to Miss Marissa in the Delaware Handicap ahead of a fourth in the Summer Colony at Saratoga. Her last victory took place in the Treasure Chest last November at Delta Downs.

Gibberish will break from post 5 under Dylan Davis.

Completing the field are So Darn Hot [post 3, Manny Franco] and Firing Carol [post 4, Eric Cancel].

The Turnback the Alarm is carded as Race 3 on Saturday's 10-race program, which also includes the $200,000 Mohawk; the $100,000 Stewart Manor; and the $100,000 Chelsey Flower. First post is 12 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Offering total stakes purses of $4.9 million, the fall meet will be highlighted by a four graded-stakes card on Saturday, December 4, headlined by the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap for 3-year-olds and up.

The stacked Cigar Mile undercard will also include the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen for juveniles going 1 1/8 miles with 10-4-2-1 qualifying points to the 2022 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on the line. Its counterpart for 2-year-old fillies, the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle, will offer 10-4-2-1 points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Also on tap for the December 4 card is the Grade 3, $250,000 Go For Wand Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up competing at one mile.

The Big A fall meet stakes action begins on Opening Day, November 5, with the $150,000 Tempted for juvenile fillies going one mile and the $100,000 Atlantic Beach for 2-year-olds at six furlongs on the turf. Opening weekend at the Big A continues on Saturday, November 6, with the Grade 3, $150,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles and the $100,000 Stewart Manor for juvenile fillies at six furlongs on the grass. The Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua will bookend the Opening Weekend stakes offerings.

Following the $150,000 Artie Schiller and $150,000 Winter Memories on November 13-14, the Grade 2, $200,000 Red Smith highlights a strong weekend on November 20-21, which will include the $100,000 Key Cents and $100,000 Notebook on Sunday, November 21.

Thanksgiving weekend will offer ten stakes over three days beginning Friday, November 26 with the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles; the $150,000 Gio Ponti for sophomores at 1 1/16 miles on the turf; and the $150,000 Forever Together for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

Four stakes will be contested on Saturday, November 21 including the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in a marathon 1 1/2 miles on the turf; the $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs; the $150,000 Discovery for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the main track; and the $100,000 Central Park for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Thanksgiving weekend racing at the Big A will close with three stakes on Sunday, November 28, including the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight Handicap for 3-years-olds and up at six furlongs; the $150,000 Autumn Days for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at six furlongs on the turf; and the $100,000 Tepin for juvenile fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

The Big A fall meet will conclude on Sunday, December 5 with a pair of $150,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series races going seven furlongs on the main track, with the Thunder Rumble for 3-year-olds and up and the Staten Island for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up.

The Aqueduct winter meet will commence on Thursday, December 9, with seven stakes carded through the end of the calendar year. The first stakes of the winter meet will be the $100,000 Garland of Roses for fillies and mares 3-and-up at six furlongs on Saturday, December 11.

The following Saturday will again showcase a pair of NYSSS contests with half-million dollar purses for juveniles competing at seven furlongs, with the $500,000 Great White Way for males and the Fifth Avenue for fillies.

The next day, Sunday, December 19, will offer the $125,000 Queens County for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles and the $100,000 Gravesend for 3-years-old and up sprinting six furlongs in the final stakes action before a 10-day holiday break.

Live racing will resume Thursday, December 30 with the $100,000 Bay Ridge for New York-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles. New Year's Eve will feature the $100,000 Alex M. Robb for state-bred 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles.

For the complete Aqueduct fall meet stakes schedule, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule/.

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“She definitely likes the track, but I think she likes the one-turn mile a little bit better,” said DePaz. “It set up for her. I was happy she could repeat that last effort. Even in her two-turn races, she wants to put herself there, but she has those bad starts and afterwards she can’t get up there. She’s breaking so much better and getting herself into the race. The way she breaks and gets herself close, she’s able to finish up nicely.”

“They were running her two turns and she was breaking a little slow,” said winning pilot Jose Ortiz. “Last time, when we brought her back to a one-turn mile, she broke well and that suited her better. They stuck with that racing style today. She broke sharp. She was there for me every time I asked her.”

Breaking her maiden at fourth asking in a state-bred event at Belmont July 2, Sharp Starr was second in an NY-bred allowance at Saratoga 20 days later and was third next out in the Empire-bred Fleet Indian S. at the Spa Sept. 4. Seventh in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. at Pimlico Oct. 3, she demolished a New York-bred allowance over track and trip Nov. 7, winning by 15 3/4 lengths.

Pedigree Notes:

Sharp Starr is the 43rd black-type winner and 18th graded stakes winner for her sire Munnings. The victor is a half-sibling to MSP Papa Shot (Distorted Humor). Their dam Mindy Gold–a half-sister to GISP Noble Causeway (Giant’s Causeway)–is also responsible for the 2-year-old colt V Pattern (Street Sense); a yearling filly by Twirling Candy; and a weanling colt by Cairo Prince. The 13-year-old mare was bred back to Cairo Prince this spring. Sharp Starr’s third dam is MGISW Classy Cathy (Private Account). This is also the family of Grade I-winning New York-bred Audible (Into Mischief).

Saturday, Aqueduct
GO FOR WAND H.-GIII, $100,000, Aqueduct, 12-5, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.75, sy.
1–SHARP STARR, 117, f, 3, by Munnings
                1st Dam: Mindy Gold, by A.P. Indy
                2nd Dam: Mimi’s Golden Girl, by Seeking the Gold
                3rd Dam: Classy Cathy, by Private Account
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Barry K.
Schwartz; B-Stonewall Farm (NY); T-Horacio DePaz; J-Jose L.
Ortiz. $55,000. Lifetime Record: 9-3-2-2, $174,015. *1/2 to
Papa Shot (Distorted Humor), MSP, $510,668. Werk Nick
Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Portal Creek, 119, f, 4, Shanghai Bobby–Silent Stream, by
Tricky Creek. ($22,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP). O-Ten Strike Racing;
B-White Fox Farm (KY); T-Juan Carlos Guerrero. $20,000.
3–Nonna Madeline, 123, f, 4, Candy Ride (Arg)–Cool Storm, by
Storm Cat. ($130,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP). O-Teresa Viola Racing
Stables & St. Elias Stable; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $12,000.
Margins: NK, 12, HF. Odds: 1.25, 7.60, 1.25.
Also Ran: Stand for the Flag, Graceful Princess, Overheated.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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The Munnings sophomore, trained by Horacio DePaz, arrived at the Go for Wand from a commanding 15 3/4-length score in a state-bred allowance mile on November 7 at the Big A that garnered a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Leading rider Kendrick Carmouche sent Portal Creek to the lead with Sharp Starr assuming a stalking position to her outside as slight 6-5 mutuel favorite Nonna Madeline hustled up the rail to gain third through an opening quarter-mile in 23.26 seconds on the sloppy and sealed main track.

Sharp Starr continued to press Portal Creek, who maintained a one-length lead into the turn, as Graceful Princess improved her position outside rivals through a half-mile in 46.72. Portal Creek opened up through the turn and attempted to kick clear of Sharp Starr, but Ortiz kept to task on the New York-bred filly as the duo locked up for the length of the stretch with Sharp Starr earning a hard-fought neck victory in a final time of 1:36.75. It was 12 lengths back to Nonna Madeline in third with Stand for the Flag, Graceful Princess and Overheated rounding out the order of finish.

The victory marked the first graded stakes score for DePaz, who is enjoying his first season of training full-time on the NYRA circuit. The 35-year-old conditioner said he was pleased to see Sharp Starr make amends last out at the Big A following an off-the-board effort in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan in October around two turns at Pimlico Race Course.

“She definitely likes the track, but I think she likes the one-turn mile a little bit better. It set up for her. I was happy she could repeat that last effort,” said DePaz.

Sharp Starr graduated in July at Belmont Park and hit the board in a pair of nine-furlong events going two turns over the summer at Saratoga Race Course, including a closing third in the restricted Fleet Indian. DePaz said Sharp Starr's improved efforts from the gate have made a significant impact on results.

“Even in her two-turn races, she wants to put herself there, but she has those bad starts and afterwards she can't get up there,” said DePaz. “She's breaking so much better and getting herself into the race. The way she breaks and gets herself close, she's able to finish up nicely.”

Ortiz, who captured the 2013 Go for Wand with Royal Lahaina, was aboard Sharp Starr for the maiden win and her two Saratoga efforts. He said he felt confident in the filly going a one-turn mile as he returned to the saddle.

“They were running her two turns and she was breaking a little slow,” said Ortiz. “Last time, when they brought her back to a one-turn mile, she broke well and that suited her better. They stuck with that racing style today. She broke sharp. She was there for me every time I asked her.”

Carmouche said Portal Creek, an eight-time winner invading from Parx for trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero, was valiant in defeat.

“The horse ran well,” said Carmouche. “Coming from Parx, running on this track, she ran awesome. She made every pole a winning one but the final jump.”

Bred in the Empire State by the owner's Stonewall Farm, Sharp Starr banked $55,000 in victory while improving her record to 9-3-2-2. She returned $4.50 for a $2 win bet.

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A, Closing Day of the 18-day fall meet, with a nine-race card offering a pair of rich New York Stallion Stakes Series races, including the Great White Way for 2-year-olds and the Fifth Avenue for juvenile fillies, with purses of $250,000 each. Also featured on Closing Day is the $100,000 Garland of Roses at six furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

The post Sharp Starr Gives Horacio DePaz First Graded Stakes Win In Go For Wand Handicap appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The 32nd running of the Cigar Mile, known as the NYRA Mile from 1988-96, was renamed in honor of the 1994 winner and 2002 Hall of Fame inductee. The prestigious race headlines a lucrative card which includes a pair of Grade 2, $150,000 nine-furlong events for juveniles in the Remsen and its filly counterpart, the Demoiselle, as well as the Grade 3, $100,000 Go for Wand Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at one mile on the main track. The Remsen and Demoiselle will offer 10-4-2-1 qualifying points to the top-four finishers towards the 2021 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively.

Performer raced third in his debut as a juvenile in November 2018 at the Big A. That marked the last— and only— time he failed to earn a trip to the winner's circle, going 4-for-4 as a sophomore in 2019, including a victory in the Grade 3 Discovery going 1 1/8 miles last November at Aqueduct.

Off an 11-month layoff, Performer picked up where he left off, registering a 1 3/4-length win over optional claimers in a one-turn mile on Oct. 17 at Belmont Park. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who won this race in 1996 with Gold Fever, said his charge has continued to train well at Belmont since, recording six official workouts following his triumphant return.

“He's training well. It has been a while since he ran, but he'll be fit enough,” McGaughey said. “He's been over that track before. He seems to be doing as well now as he's ever done.”

Plans for a potential 5-year-old year have not been firmed up, but he'll look to close 2020 with aplomb. Jockey Joel Rosario, 5-for-5 aboard Performer, will look to stay undefeated on the Kentucky homebred, drawing the inside post.

“Everything being equal he'll run next year, but what I'll do with him after Saturday, I'm not sure yet. We'll have to wait and see,” McGaughey said.

Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire was a good third last out in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland behind C Z Rocket and the winner Whitmore. In his last New York start, the Florida homebred won the Grade 2 Vosburgh Invitational over Big Sandy, posting his second triple digit Speed Figure of the year with a 101.

The Kelly Breen trainee has already won three graded stakes in his 5-year-old campaign, capturing the Grade 3 General George in February at Laurel Park along with the Grade 2 True North in June at Belmont.

Firenze Fire boasts a career record of 12-3-3 in 30 career start with field-high earnings of $2.21 million. Jose Lezcano will ride from post 4.

Trainer Jack Sisterson will send out a pair of Calumet Farm-owned Kentucky shippers who each have extensive experience at the Big A in True Timber and Bon Raison.

“They've shown us in the mornings that they both can run a competitive race,” Sisterson said.

True Timber will make his third Cigar Mile appearance after running second in 2018 and third a year ago. He has earned blacktype in three of the four starts since Sisterson took over the training duties from Kiaran McLaughlin, who retired to become a jockey agent.

In the summer meet, True Timber ran a strong third in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 29 at Saratoga Race Course, garnering a season-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure. After finishing fourth in the six-furlong Grade 2 Vosburgh Invitational on Sept. 26 at Belmont, he was stretched back out to seven furlongs for a runner-up effort in the Lafayette on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, where he continued to train heading into the Cigar Mile.

“He's been close to winning a race like this and is peaking at the right time,” Sisterson said. “He got stuck down at the rail running three-quarters at Belmont [in the Vosburgh]. He just wasn't happy. He's a horse who likes his own way and we learned that in the mornings. We let him put his feet where he wanted to and put him in a happy frame of mind and he moved forward extremely well.

“His coat looks good, his appetite is great and his energy level is high,” he added. “He's shown that he wants to do more.”

Kendrick Carmouche will be in the irons from post 8.

Bon Raison enters off a 10th-place effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Prior to that, the 5-year-old son of Raison d'Etat won his first race since Sisterson took over the training duties, topping a field of optional claimers going six furlongs on Oct. 16 at Keeneland.

The veteran workhorse is returning to a familiar spot at Aqueduct, where he is 3-0-2 in 13 career starts. In 2019, Bon Raison raced a whopping 21 times before scaling back the workload this year, as the Cigar Mile will be his ninth appearance of 2020.

“He's got a late running style and he just seems to be a versatile horse,” Sisterson said. “He's got talent and he's intelligent. He has those attributes where he can do what you ask him to do.”

Jorge Vargas, Jr. will be aboard from post 9.

King Guillermo will enter off a seven-month layoff since running second in a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on May 2 at Oaklawn Park. Originally slated to run in September's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the Uncle Mo colt was scratched out of the 146th “Run for the Roses” with a fever.

Owned by Victoria's Ranch, headed by 16-year Major League Baseball veteran and five-time All-Star Victor Martinez, King Guillermo has been training at conditioner Juan Avila's base at Gulfstream Park, including a four-furlong blowout in 50.25 seconds on Friday before arriving in New York on Saturday.

King Guillermo broke his maiden at second asking in November at Gulfstream Park West and kicked off his 3-year-old year with a 4 ¾-length win in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in March before facing his first Grade 1 challenge in the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby, where he ran second to Nadal.

“He's good. He's ready,” Avila said. “He's getting ready to face that challenge. The mile will be good for him because he's had seven months without a race.”

Avila said he's excited for the opportunity to bring the $150,000 purchase at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale to New York.

“I really like the opportunity and the chance to win and this gives us a chance for people to know me and know King Guillermo,” Avila said. “We have big expectations.”

Jose Ortiz will pick up the mount from post 6.

Mr. Buff, owned and bred by Chester and Mary Broman, will give the race a New York homebred who will look for additional glory at the Big A. Making his 41st career start overall, the John Kimmel trainee is returning to a track where he is 8-3-0 in 13 previous starts, including five stakes victories led by a 20-length score in the one-mile Haynesfield in February that matched a career-best 106 Beyer.

The Friend Or Foe gelding, who be wrapping up his 6-year-old year, won the Empire Classic against state-breds last out going 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 24 at Belmont.

Junior Alvarado, who won the 2013 Cigar Mile aboard Flat Out, will have the call from post 5.

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' multiple Grade 1-winner Mind Control will face graded stakes company for the first time since running eighth in the Grade 1 Forego over the summer.

A four-time winner at the Big A, the Gregg Sacco trainee won in his last appearance at Aqueduct after rallying to take the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 7. Both of Mind Control's Grade 1 scores came at Saratoga in the 2018 Hopeful and last year's H. Allen Jerkens.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, a two-time Cigar Mile winner, will seek his third in breaking from post 2.

Bloom Racing Stable's Snapper Sinclair will make his Aqueduct bow seeking his first win since the Tourist Mile in August 2019 at Kentucky Downs. Winless in his last 10 starts, the son of City Zip has still been competitive, finishing second or third in five of those efforts for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Snapper Sinclair will make his first start in New York since breaking his maiden in August 2017 over the Mellon turf at Saratoga. Two starts back, he posted a runner-up finish in the Tourist Mile in September before a last-out third against allowance company on Nov. 5 at Churchill. Manny Franco has the call from post 3.

R.A. Hill Stable's Majestic Dunhill will wheel back off a six-day turnaround, looking to atone for a seventh-place finish after a slow start in the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap on Saturday at Aqueduct.

Previously, the 5-year-old son of Majesticperfection, trained by George Weaver, won the Grade 3 Bold Ruler on Oct. 31 at Belmont. Dylan Davis will be in the irons for the first time, drawing post 7.

The Cigar Mile is slated as the finale of the 10-race program, which offers a first post of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. The card will also feature a mandatory payout of the Empire 6.

Live coverage of Cigar Mile Day will be available with America's Day at the Races on FS2 from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. and on MSG+ from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Free Equibase-provided past performances will be available for races that are part of the America's Day at the Races broadcast and can be accessed at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

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