The Cigar Mile Handicap (Grade 1)- $750.000 Purse
AQU- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
December 3, 2022

Saturday was a wet day at many race tracks across the virtual nation, and AQU was not immune to the raindrops on this day. The track would be downgraded to “good”, but it would not lead to any scratches. When there is a rain, you want a horse that knows how to figure out a storm, so it is only fitting that our pre-race pick to win, Figured The Storm, would end up getting the win. The gelding didn’t have the easiest of trips, but would run especially well in the stretch, en route to grabbing the victory for trainer Arindel. It is the first time that Arindel has won the race, and this is also true for jockey E Jaramillo. Congratulations to them! The time of victory on the good trakc surface was 1:35.56. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :23.53)- East Of Creep jumps out to the early lead for Fractious and he is all by himself early on down the backstretch. Behind him, there is a group of four lined up in an orderly fashion. From inside to outside, this consists of Twilight Flame (Mb Stables), Stolen (D J C Racing Stables), When Your Strange (Maxmillion Farm), and Quality Art (Mb Stables). Directly behind them, we have another neat row of horses, this time consisting of three. The eventual winner, Arindel’s Figured The Storm is part of this group, and runs between horses. Sunderland Til I Die (TwinTowersRacing) is on his inside, and Tempestuous (Mb Stables) is three wide. We have about a two length gap behind them, with White Sunshine (Smokey Stover) running by himself. Next comes Sexy Back (Night Rider Stables), with Elemental (Fractious), Ghost Of Scotland (Serenity Stables), and Ronaldo Chop (Night Rider Stables) nearby. Trailing, is Pier Pressure (Maxmillion Farm).

(1/2 Mile- :47.02)- East Of Creep continues to lead as the field runs down the backstretch, but his two length lead has been cut almost in half by When Your Strange, who inches ahead of the other three that he had been running with while approaching the turn. Quality Art will remain his shadow to his outside, and on the rail, Twilight Flame still runs well. The same can not be said for Stolen, who loses some ground to these three and begins to drop back into the next row of horses. That would impact Figured The Storm the most, as Stolen was directly in front of him, and with Sunderland Til I Die and Tempestuous on each side of him, closely, Figured The Storm, could not move over a lane. Meanwhile, Sexy Back looked good in the backstretch and joined these row of horses. Others behind him were not as ambitious.

(Top of Stretch, 2F To Go)- There is no change at the front during the turn, as East Of Creep continues to lead but he now has company as When Your Strange pulls up right alongside of him. That one had not made the pass yet, but it seemed imminent to occur early in the stretch. Quality Art was also making some progress, but lost a little bit of ground to When Your Strange in the turn. Still, he was within a length. Twilight Flame would run fourth, and was now directly behind When Your Strange. During the turn, Stolen began to run level with the field, and that couldn’t have made Figured The Storm any happier. Approaching the top of the stretch, there would be room for Figured The Storm to position himself for an outside move around Stolen, and he would do that in emphatic fashion. He was quickly gaining ground, and had to concern the horses on the lead at this point. Tempestuous was holding his own in the fourth lane as all this was going on. Further back, there was some nice room for White Sunshine to potentially mount a bid. Sunderland Til I Die tried to stay in the mix, but Sexy Back was unable to. Everyone else had to get moving now if they were going to mount a bid.

(Finish- 1:35.56)- As expected, When Your Strange took the lead quickly in the stretch, and now looked to put distance on the rest of the field. That wouldn’t be easy, though, as Quality Art was showing heart on the outside and Figured The Storm was ready to power through. Tempestuous could not be ruled out, either. With a furlong to go, it looked like When Your Strange might hang, but E Jaramillo would find a little more in the tank with Figured The Storm, and in the dying moments, he would complete the pass for the win, and go on to score a half length victory! When Your Strange hangs on for second over Tempestuous with Quality Art getting the fourth place check. It was a length and a half to Twilight Flame, and then the dead heating East Of Creep and White Sunshine. Rounding it out, it’s Stolen, Ghost Of Scotland, Elemental, Sunderland Til I Die, Sexy Back, Ronaldo Chop, and Pier Pressure.

About The WInner- Figured The Storm, trained by Arindel, and ridden to victory by E Jaramillo, is a four year old gelding by Commanding The Storm and is out of the late I Figured. He was bred in New Jersey by Arindel as a yearling, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his eleventh in 35 starts, his fourth stake win and third graded win. His career earnings are now $1,000.480.

Track: Good
Time: :23²  :47   1:10⁴  1:35²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 11 Paid 131.10
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 11 – 8 Paid 769.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES