The Cigar Mile Handicap Grade 2

$500,000

Aqueduct Racetrack
South Ozone Park, Queens, NY

As reported in the preview Star Vault won with something left in the tank in his previous, obviously it was quite a lot as the four-year-old gelding won the biggest race of his life Saturday afternoon for Mb Stables by taking down the Cigar Mile Handicap.”Vault” reversed tactics and won from behind. Look for him to climb the ladder even more in 2026. Congrats to the connections! Allegedly from Night Rider Stables obviously loves an off track and he got what he wanted today. Really nice second place finish has the stable headed towards the black after just one start following a $60,000 purchase. Nice job! Parisian Arrow from Asgar rarely runs a bad one and today was no exception. Solid effort the whole way from the rail. Looks to be sitting on a win.

Of the Rest:

Gymnast from Nobelpark faced a wet track for the first time and ran better than looked in this handicap dominated by his elders. Nice run here by the three-year-old and he will surely improve off the effort today.

Big Bang Boom from Rock Creek has now been on an off track three times without making an impact. That fact tells the story today.

Spy State from Threshold had never previously handled the off going, so the fact that he beat a couple home makes his effort much better than it looks initially. I’m not saying that he is now ready for prime time but let’s give credit where credit is due as this guy was making about as big a jump up today as possible.

Themefrom Antarctica from Ajm Stables looked like he might be ok with the surface but failed to menace today.

Gold from Spankys Barn was hard ridden away from the gate but did not handle the track and was unable to get to the lead. He regressed after the half mile pole and made no further impact today. This was his second attempt on an off track; both were off the board finishes.

American Nightmare from DJC Racing Stables and Tehran from Mb Stables were both scratched from the race.

-Trackman

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES