GI Cigar Mile

Live coverage of the Cigar Mile Day card at NYRA's Aqueduct Racetrack, featuring four stakes worth $1.2 million in combined purse money, will air Saturday, Dec. 2 from 11:30 a.m.--5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports's FS2, as part of a special America's Day at the Races broadcast featuring two stakes from Caymanas Park in Jamaica. The Big A program is headlined by the GII Cigar Mile H. and is supported by the GIII Go for Wand S. Also featured are a pair of Grade II races, including qualifiers offering 10-5-3-2-1...

Three Chimneys Farm's Sharp Azteca (Freud), winner of the GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct and one of the top freshman sires of 2022, has been sold to Japan to stand stud at Shizunai Stallion Station in 2024, the Japanese Racing Association announced Friday. The move is subject to his passing quarantine restrictions. A leading sire of 2-year-olds last year, Sharp Azteca is responsible for progeny like Tyler's Tribe and Sharp Aza Tack.

8th-AQU, $84K, OC, 4yo/up, 1m, 5:06 p.m. ZANDON (Upstart), last seen running fourth Dec. 3 in the GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, returns to the scene on Saturday in this spot for owner Jeff Drown. Receiving Lasix for the first time, the Chad Brown trainee will be ridden by Flavien Prat and will leave from gate two. Zandon's 3-year-old campaign included a victory in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S., and a pair of third-place finishes in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Runhappy Travers S. His dam Memories Prevail...

Tenacious to the end, Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stable's Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) closed out his career with a win in the 2022 GI Cigar Mile, his third Grade I win and his 11th black-type victory. In a remarkable 29 starts over five years, Mind Control amassed total winnings of $2,185,834. In that race, as in all of Mind Control's stakes wins, he beat an impressive field of competitors, including favored Zandon, White Abarrio, and Get Her Number. Big numbers, indeed. Numbers, as it turns out, will also be...

NYRA's annual "Toys for Tots" day of giving will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3, GI Cigar Mile Day, at Aqueduct Racetrack. The event is being offered in partnership with the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation. Toys for Tots collects and distributes new, unwrapped toys to local children in need each holiday season. There will be several ways to contribute during the weekend of giving--at donation boxes at the Turf and Field entrance, the Clubhouse lobby by the escalator at Aqueduct, and online as well. Online donations are...

Shadwell Stable's Daaher (Awesome Again--Irish Cherry, by Irish Open) has been pensioned to Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. Retired from racing in 2008 following an ankle injury, the Canadian-bred was best known for his upset win over the heavily favored Midnight Lute in the 2007 GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. In his two seasons on the track, Daaher collected earnings of $455,163 under trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, and won both the Cigar Mile and the GII Jerome H. He retired with four wins and two thirds from...

Five-time MLB All-Star Victor Martinez is following a dream with King Guillermo-- already a graded stakes winner who, after a seven-month layoff, is set to return to Grade I company.  King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) will be in a tough spot when he starts in the GI Cigar Mile H.at Aqueduct. The 3-year-old colt hasn't raced since May 2 and has never faced older horses. That's fine by his owner, retired MLB All-Star Victor Martinez. "I'm not a big believer in favorites," he said. [tdn_vimeo_embed title="Victor Martinez Talks on King Guillermo"...