Cigar Mile H.

The late Charlie Whittingham won his first Hollywood Derby back in 1967 with Tumble Wind and the last of his four victories in the race in 1989 with Live The Dream. Chad Brown added his name to the list of Hollywood Derby winners courtesy of Annals of Time (Temple City) in 2016 and followed up with Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in 2018 and Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) two years later. In Saturday's renewal of the nine-furlong event, Brown will send out a pair of lightly raced sophomores...

Enjoy your day at the Big A. Led by the GI Cigar Mile H. and three other graded events, Aqueduct's loaded 10-race card will be in the spotlight in South Ozone Park Saturday. Zandon (Upstart), winner of the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and third-place finisher in the GI Kentucky Derby this spring, cuts back to a one-turn mile for Chad Brown in the feature. The dark bay, favored at even-money on the Cigar Mile's morning-line, also finished third in the GI Runhappy Travers S. and second in the GI...

Irad Ortiz, Jr. paced all other riders at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet to secure the leading rider title with 35 wins. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano came in second [27 wins] with Manny Franco and Jose Lezcano tied for third [23 wins]. Ortiz, Jr. earned his 21st NYRA meet title on the heels of a strong summer meet at Saratoga Race Course where he posted 55 wins. Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown earned his fourth NYRA meet title of the year with 24 winners, finishing...

Affirmed Success (Affirmed--Towering Succes, by Irish Tower), a three-time Grade I winner at seven and eight furlongs and back-to-back winner of the GIII Poker H. on the turf, was euthanized Feb. 16 at Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky. He was 28 years old and according to attending veterinarians, was suffering from chronic hoof infections. A homebred for Al Fried, Jr. and trained throughout by Rich Schosberg, Affirmed Success won the first three starts of his career and was third to Awesome Again in the 1997 GII Jim Dandy S., but...

True Timber (Mineshaft) has been knocking at the door of a Grade I win throughout his career, including in-the-money finishes in the last two renewals of the GI Cigar Mile H. The Calumet Farm runner broke through at the highest level in a big way at Aqueduct Saturday, romping in the mud to take this year's edition of the prestigious Cigar Mile. With his last victory coming in a Belmont optional claimer in September of 2018, True Timber was overlooked at 7-1 in this event, which lost three contenders Saturday...

Eclipse Award winner Maximum Security (New Year's Day) makes his first start for trainer Bob Baffert and first since the federal indictment of former trainer Jason Servis in Saturday's rescheduled GII San Diego H. at Del Mar. The homebred was a two-time Grade I winner during his championship campaign in 2019, taking the GI Florida Derby and GI Haskell Invitational S. around his disqualification from an apparent victory in the GI Kentucky Derby. He proved his versatility and did what no other horse of his generation could at the tail...

The owners of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) released a statement Wednesday saying they expect Maximum Security (New Year's Day) to be disqualified from all his races, which would include the $20-million Saudi Cup. If so, Midnight Bisou would be placed first in the race. Bob Donaldson, the owner of Spun to Run (Hard Spun), who was second behind Maximum Security in the GI Cigar Mile H., also weighed in, saying he wants the New York Gaming Association to disqualify Maximum Security from that race. Midnight Bisou, who was beaten three-quarters...