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Independence Hall Breezes Ahead Of Saturday’s Cigar Mile

Independence Hall breezed a bullet half-mile in :46.80 Saturday, Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., in his final piece of work for the $750,000 Grade 1 Cigar Mile presented by NYRA Bets at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

“I'm very happy with the way he worked,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “We wanted to go ahead and put a little air in his lungs and that's definitely what we got. A race like the Cigar Mile doesn't come around very often and we wanted to make sure we're nice and sharp.”

Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Twin Creeks Racing Stables, WinStar Farm, Kathleen Verratti, and Robert Verratti, the 4-year-old Constitution colt boasts a 2-for-2 record at the Big A that includes a 12 1/4-length score in the 2019 G3 Nashua and a four-length win in the 2020 Jerome, both at a one-turn mile for his former conditioner Michael Trombetta.

Independence Hall made his first start for McCarthy in November 2020 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., winning a 6 1/2-furlong optional-claiming sprint ahead of a fifth in the seven-furlong G1 Malibu in December 2020 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

The dark bay demonstrated class while chasing the victorious Knicks Go with a third-place effort in the nine-furlong G1 Pegasus World Cup in January at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and a pressing second in the nine-furlong G3 Lukas Classic in October at Churchill Downs.

McCarthy said Independence Hall has benefitted from the addition of blinkers three starts back when fifth off a four-month layoff in the G1 Pacific Classic in August at Del Mar

“The blinkers have helped him focus a little bit and dial him in a little more,” McCarthy said. “The Pacific Classic was unfortunate coming off of a long layoff and going a mile and a quarter. It just didn't seem like he was as tight as he could have been but as you can see it certainly moved him forward.”

Last out, Independence Hall romped to a 7 1/4-length score over Cigar Mile-rival Code of Honor in the nine-furlong G2 Fayette contested over a sloppy track on October 30 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

McCarthy confirmed Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will retain the mount aboard Independence Hall, who will ship to New York on Monday.

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Independence Hall Wins Big In Fayette At Keeneland

At the top of the stretch on a sloppy Keeneland track, Code of Honor appeared poised to take over the lead from Independence Hall, but the 2019 Travers winner had no answer for the son of Consitution, who pulled away to win the Grade 2 Fayette at the Lexington, Ky. track.

In a field that included King Fury and Major Fed, it was Independence Hall who was out fastest, taking the lead as the field approached the first turn. Code of Honor settled a length behind him, with Militarist in third. The first two kept their positions throughout, Major Fed and then King Fury moving into third, awaiting their chance to make a run at Independence Hall and Code of Honor.

On the far turn, Tyler Gaffalione pulled the 5-year-old within a half-length of Independence Hall, appearing poised to pass him in the stretch. Instead, Javier Castellano gave his 4-year-old colt some rein and Independence Hall ran away with the G2 Fayette, his margin of victory 7 1/4 lengths at the wire. Code of Honor was second, King Fury third, and Night Ops rounded out the top four.

The final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:50.30. Find this race's chart here.

Independence Hall paid $9.00, $4.40, and $3.20. Code of Honor paid $3.80 and $2.60. King Fury paid $2.60.

Bred in Kentucky by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Independence Hall is out of the Cape Town mare Kalahari Cat. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Twin Creeks Racing Stables, WinStar Farm, Kathleen Verratti, and Robert Verratti, the 4-year-old colt is trained by Michael McCarthy. Consigned by Wavertree Stables, he was a $200,000 RNA at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Florida Selected Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale. His win in the G2 Fayette Stakes is Independence Hall's first win in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 5-2-2 in 13 starts and career earnings of $874,000.

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Largent Helps Pletcher Bag Fourth Win Of Day In Ft. Lauderdale

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables' Largent put an exclamation point on a four-win afternoon for trainer Todd Pletcher, punching his ticket to next month's $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) with a come-from-behind victory in Saturday's $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The 64th running of the 1 1/8-mile Fort Lauderdale for 3-year-olds and up on the grass was the headliner on an 11-race program featuring five stakes, four graded, worth $575,000 in purses including the $100,000 Harlan's Holiday (G3), a prep for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 23, won by Tax.

With Paco Lopez aboard for the first time, Largent ($35.80) swept to the lead on the far outside approaching the stretch and outran fellow longshots Breaking the Rules and Doswell late to win by two lengths in 1:46.16 over turf course rated good.

Since the Pegasus Turf was inaugurated in 2019, the Fort Lauderdale was moved from early January to mid-December to serve as the local stepping-stone to the Pegasus Day event. Eight of the 10 horses in Saturday's field were stakes winners, six of them in graded company led by millionaire favorite Factor This.

“Very salty field, indeed, and very fast fractions,” Pletcher said. “[Largent] is a horse that's generally laying up close. I just told Paco, 'It looks like there's a lot of pace, just try to sit in the pocket,' and he delivered a very good ride.”

“One thing is, he's always loved Gulfstream. He's always run very well here and we just felt like it was the right time to step up,” he added. “He'd been training great and it was the right time to see if he could step up into a big spot.”

It was the third career stakes win and first in graded company for Largent, who captured a pair of Virginia-bred stakes earlier this year at Colonial Downs and Laurel Park. The 4-year-old Into Mischief gelding has now won four of his five starts at Gulfstream, with one second.

“He's always run well here and he's a horse that has shown some talent. This was definitely his toughest task to date but he showed that he likes it here and delivered a big performance,” Pletcher said. “I think he certainly ran well enough today to earn a spot into the Pegasus, which we'd love to do.”

Lopez settled Largent in mid-pack as his Pletcher-trained stablemate, Grade 1 winner Halladay, and Factor This battled dueled on the front end through fractions of 23.22 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.34 for the half, going six furlongs in 1:09.62. Lopez tipped outside after saving ground early and powered through the stretch to cruise past the tiring leaders.

“[Pletcher] said, 'Paco, there's a lot of speed, four or five horses. Just go behind them and relax. Figure out where you are and ride your race,'” Lopez said. “He broke well, he came back and he was very comfortable. We came around horses at the top of the stretch and went on.”

Doswell, a winner of his previous two races, came up the rail to edge Breaking the Rules for second. They were followed by graded winners Spooky Channel and Channel Cat, Tide of the Sea, Halladay, Factor This, multiple graded-stakes winner Somelikeithotbrown and French Group 3 winner Delaware.

“There was a little bit of cut [in the ground] and they were certainly going fast enough. The key was that [Largent] was able to settle and relax early on and that allowed him to deliver a big closing kick,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately for Halladay there was so much pace in today's race. We didn't want to take away his weapon, but at the same time he was probably doing a little too much early on.”

Pletcher was the trainer of Channel Cat when he ran 10th of 12 in the most recent edition of the Pegasus Turf, won in an upset by Zulu Alpha.

“With Largent, I think he certainly earned his way in and with Halladay, we'll assess how he comes out of it,” Pletcher said. “We'll get them home and evaluate both of them but we'll just kind of play it by ear with Halladay.”

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