Noble Mission’s Jouster Says Good ‘Knight’ to Gulfstream Rivals in Rising Star Romp

Jouster (Noble Mission {GB}), a beaten favorite twice on dirt to start her career, took to the turf with dazzling aplomb in the Sunday finale at Gulfstream, running away to a devastating maiden romp and ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors. Unveiled over six furlongs in the Saratoga slop Aug. 29, the $360,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga buy showed big speed before fading to finish second, and again retreated after setting the pace stretching out to a mile Sept. 26 at Belmont. Freshened up since then for a barn that has, as per usual, run roughshod over the Gulfstream Championship Meet thus far, she returned with a sharp Palm Beach Downs worktab capped by a bullet half-mile in :48 1/5 (1/25) Jan. 3. Backed as the fractional 5-2 favorite here, the bay quickly established command and led comfortably through splits of :23.36 and :48.01. Well held as her nearest pursuers were driven approaching the lane, Jouster opened up five lengths by the time heads pointed for home and poured it on down the stretch under mild urging, gliding home 8 3/4 lengths to the good in a sizzling final clocking. Champagne Ivy (Shackleford) was second. The winner is the first foal to race out of a daughter of the Phipps family’s 2002’s champion 2-year-old filly Storm Flag Flying, herself a daughter of the Phippses’ My Flag. Also residing under the third dam on Jouster’s pedigree are MGSWs Parading (Pulpit) and Teresa Z (Smart Strike) and GSW Performer (Speightstown), recently third as the favorite for the Phippses and McGaughey in the GI Cigar Mile H. Playtime produced a filly by West Coast last spring and has an unraced 4-year-old Liam’s Map filly named Dressed Up Gypsy.

11th-Gulfstream, $40,000, Msw, 1-10, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:39.92, fm, 8 3/4 lengths.
JOUSTER, f, 3, Noble Mission (GB)
1st Dam: Playtime, by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Storm Flag Flying, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: My Flag, by Easy Goer
Sales History: $360,000 Ylg ’19 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: 3-1-1-0, $40,920. Click for the Equibase.com chart, VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Starlight Racing; B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

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Performer Enters Cigar Mile Carrying Five-Race Win Streak

Performer has checked a lot of boxes while forging a five-race winning streak. Owned by Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm, the 4-year-old son of Speightstown will face Grade 1 competition for the first time as part of a competitive nine-horse field in the $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap for 3-year-olds and up on the main track at Aqueduct Racetrack.

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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Saturday Insights: $725 Union Rags Colt Debuts at the Big A

3rd-AQU, $80K, 2yo, 8.5fT, 12:50 p.m. ET
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, William Freeman and Michael Valdes’s AVIANO (Medaglia d’Oro) debuts for trainer Todd Pletcher, who recorded his 5,000th career victory last weekend and becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2021. Out of graded stakes winner Bryan’s Jewel (Rockport Harbor), the April foal realized a $775,000 final bid from Eclipse at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling sale in Saratoga. Bryan’s Jewel, a daughter of $650,000 Fasig-Tipton buy Saphiria (Touch Gold)–trained by Pletcher–is also responsible for a Bodemeister filly ultimately named Empress Sophia, who brought $400,000 at KEESEP in 2017. Stuart Janney III’s Proven Innocent (Blame) kicks off his career for Shug McGaughey. The hombred is out of the prolific Janney mare Meghan’s Joy (A.P. Indy), dam of MGSW and MGISP Ironicus (Distorted Humor), GSW Hunting (Coronado’s Quest), MGSW On Leave (War Front), in addition to graded winners Quiet Harbor (Silver Deputy) and Norumbega (Tiznow). This is the extended family of MGSW Wild Applause (Northern Dancer), dam of Grade I scorer Eastern Echo (Damascus) and graded winners Yell (A.P. Indy), Roar (Forty Niner) and Blare of Trumpets (Fit to Fight). TJCIS PPs

5th-AQU, $80K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 1:45 p.m. ET
DYNAMIC ONE (Union Rags) gets his start for the partnership of Repole, Phipps and St. Elias Stables while under the guidance of Todd Pletcher. A $725,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, the colt was the third highest-priced colt by his sire in 2019. He hails from the family of undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign (Private Account) through her daughter MGISW My Flag (Easy Goer). The Phipps family-bred is a grandson of My Flag’s champion daughter Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat), a half-sister to Miner’s Mark (Mr. Prospector) and Traditionally (Mr. Prospector). TJCIS PPs

 

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Performer Returns With Sharp Win; McGaughey Says Cigar Mile Could Be Next

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said he was delighted to see a triumphant return to racing action for Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer, who emerged off an 11-month layoff to an effortless allowance victory going one mile over the Belmont Park main track.

The 4-year-old son of Speightstown, who was a last out winner of the Grade 3 Discovery on Nov. 30, 2019, saved ground along the rail and was nudged by jockey Joel Rosario around the three-eighths pole and strolled home to an in-hand 1 3/4-length triumph. He earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure in victory.

“I know it was a light field, but I was pleased with the way he went over there and did it,” McGaughey said. “He was very professional with everything he did. I didn't know what the speed was going to do. I thought the horse to the inside of us [three-time winner Empty Tomb] was going to show more speed. Joel was just patient; he knew what he had and just took it from there.”

McGaughey said he is giving strong consideration to the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile on December 5 at Aqueduct.

“It would be a big option,” said McGaughey, who won the 1996 Cigar Mile with Gold Fever.

There is a chance that McGaughey could saddle two top-level contenders for the final Grade 1 event of the year on the NYRA racing calendar as W.S. Farish's Code of Honor also is possible for the race. McGaughey said Code of Honor would be more likely for the nine-furlong two-turn G1, $500,000 Clark on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs.

“Either the Clark [for Code of Honor], or I would run the two in the Cigar Mile,” McGaughey said. “I'd be more inclined to run Code of Honor around two turns. He ran well over that track.”

A two-time G1 winner when taking last year's Travers at Saratoga and Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, Code of Honor was elevated to second in last year's G1 Kentucky Derby following the disqualification of Maximum Security, who won last year's Cigar Mile.

A direct descendant of undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign and four-time G1-winning millionaire My Flag, who also were trained by McGaughey, Performer is the third progeny out of graded stakes-placed Protesting who also produced turf stakes winner Breaking the Rules. His grandam On Parade was a full-sister to 2002 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Storm Flag Flying.

“They both have distance of ground,” McGaughey said of Performer and Breaking the Rules. “She [Protesting] wanted to run long. She was fourth in three Grade 1 stakes and was second in the Demoiselle at Aqueduct. They're both nice horses, but run on different surfaces. Not that Performer couldn't run on turf, being by Speightstown.”

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