Private Zone Headlines the Cigar Mile

The Cigar Mile (G1) and the Remsen (G2) are the featured races on the final NYRA Super Saturday card of the year. Contested on the Aqueduct main track, the Cigar Mile features last year’s winner Private Zone and the enigmatic Tonalist, while Mohaymen heads the Remsen.

The Cigar Mile features four horses that are making their first start since the Breeders’ Cup. Private Zone returns to Aqueduct after a near miss in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint where he finished second to Runhappy. Tonalist finished fifth the BC Classic for the second year in a row and Red Vine ran a big race to get third in the BC Dirt Mile. Mshawish was a very respectable fourth in the BC Turf Mile.

Private Zone [PP#7 -- ML 6-5] had one of his most impressive career victories when he won the 2014 Cigar Mile by five lengths in 1:34.39 that earned a 110 Beyer Speed Figure. He did that after finishing third in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint. As a six-year-old in 2015 this son of Macho Uno has had his best campaign, but this year’s Cigar Mile will be his seventh start of the year and it will be his first for a new trainer in Brian Lynch.

Christophe Clement will send both Tonalist [PP#5 -- ML 2-1] and Red Vine [PP#3 -- ML 8-1] into the Cigar Mile. In preparation the two of them worked together, "It was a very good work. They worked together five-eighths in like a minute and galloped out in 1:13. They both looked good.”

It will be blinkers back on for Tonalist, who has taken the shades on and off several different times in his career. He had the blinkers back on to start this year when he won the Westchester (G3) at the mile distance and placed in the Met Mile (G1). Clement did announce that Tonalist will race in 2016.

Todd Pletcher will run Mshawish [PP#2 -- ML 10-1] on the dirt for the first time in his 21 race career. This son of Medaglia d’Oro has won over a million dollars this year while racing on the grass with a third place in the Dubai World Turf Cup (G1) to go with his check in the Breeders’ Cup.

The field of seven is rounded out by the three-year-old Marking [PP#1 -- ML 15-1] who is unbeaten in two career starts in which he was heavily bet for Godolphin and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. In his most recent race this son of Bernardini won an allowance race going a mile at Aqueduct. Marking is entered, but not definite to start in this race. Matrooh [PP#4 -- ML 6-1] came from off the pace to win the seven furlong Bold Ruler (G3) at Belmont for his first stakes victory and earned a 105 BSF. Full of Mine [PP#6 -- ML 50-1] has been competing strictly against New York-breds and has only a maiden victory to his credit.

According to the conditions of the race, grade one winners Private Zone, Tonalist, and Mshawish will run for an enhanced purse of $750,000 while the rest of the field vies for $500,000.

The Remsen is the second New York race on the Road to the 2016 Kentucky Derby as the field of nine vies for the $300,000 purse and 17 [10-4-2-1] Derby qualifying points. Mohaymen comes into the race highly ranked on many of the early Derby contender lists. This gray son of Tapit and the stakes winner Justwhistledixie is unbeaten in two career starts with the most recent being an impressive win in the Nashua (G2).

Since the Nashua, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has been teaching his young colt to behave more maturely on race day. “We've taken him to the gate a couple times because he was naughty at the gate [in the Nashua]. The first time he was great but the second time he got a little difficult. He reared up in the paddock when he was being saddled and he was funny at the gate, so we've taken him back to the gate two or three times and he's been really good."

McLaughlin has also been training Mohaymen to run from off the pace. "We worked him behind dirt the other day, behind two horses," he said. "He took a lot of dirt but did not react at all. We did it just in case; you have to do it at some point. At least we don't have to worry about him if he has to sit fourth in the race."

The Saturday card also includes the $300,000 Comely (G3) for three-year-old fillies going a mile and an eighth and the $300,000 Demoiselle (G2) for juvenile fillies also going nine furlongs.