Early Duel Could Ignite Cigar Mile Upset

All the graded stakes Saturday, Dec. 7 take place in Southern California and New York. Two-year-olds are spotlighted out west in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) and Starlet (G1), which share top billing at Los Alamitos Race Course. It's also the final big-race day of the season at Aqueduct Racetrack, where the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) climaxes a card that includes five other stakes, notably the Remsen (G2) and Demoiselle (G2) stakes for juveniles and the Go for Wand Handicap (G3).

The Futurity and Starlet got fields of just four and five horses, respectively, but are sprinkled with noteworthy names. The Futurity attracted the second and third finishers from the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), Anneau d'Or and Wrecking Crew, but those two must deal with Thousand Words and High Velocity, a couple of talented runners trained by Bob Baffert, who has sent out the Futurity winner each of the five years it has been run at Los Al. Donna Veloce and Bast—both sired by Uncle Mo —are the principal players in the Starlet after finishing second and third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). 

Weather could be a factor at both venues. There is a 50-50 chance of rain in Southern California, and temperatures will struggle to get above freezing in New York.

In addition to comprising four of five legs of a pick five, the four graded stakes at The Big A are part of an Empire 6 with a mandatory payout; the jackpot-style wager had a $544,158 carryover heading into Friday's sequence. You've gotta be in it to win it!

Go for Wand (Aqu, race 6, 2:09 ET): At first pass it seemed like a good idea to oppose top-weighted Spiced Perfection (3), who is pegged at 3-5 and coming off a fading fourth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). She has never won past seven furlongs and must spot five rivals from six to 10 pounds with no real edge on figures. On the other hand, it looks like she could wind up on an easy lead by default.

Another Broad (4) got the rest of the summer off after two subpar efforts at Delaware Park, perhaps not caring for that particular surface. She returned in a tough spot against Midnight Bisou in the Beldame Invitational (G2), and then ran a bang-up second in the Turnback The Alarm opening weekend at Aqueduct's fall meet. If she can run back to that performance, she can win as the likely second choice.

If Spiced Perfection doesn't stay the trip and Another Broad bounces, the logical backups are Saguaro Row (5) and Our Super Nova (6); the latter is 4-2-0 from six starts at a mile.

A - 3, 4

B - 5, 6

Demoiselle (Aqu, race 8, 3:13 ET): A dozen young fillies trying nine furlongs, and the likelihood of a hot pace, could be a recipe for chaos.

Miss Marissa (4), Blame Debbie (9) and Lake Avenue (12) all earned their diplomas flagfall to finish. So did Alandra (5), but that regally bred daughter of Blame  out of the stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Altesse then rallied from far back for third in the Darley Alcibiades (G1) behind subsequent Juvenile Fillies heroine British Idiom.

Maedean (2) and the New York-bred Critical Value (6) are the only stakes winners  in the lineup, and either or both may sit a good trip. Maedean is by Tapit  and out of a dam who was grade 1-placed at 10 furlongs; she has won back-to-back starts at a mile, most recently taking the Tempted by better than five lengths. Critical Value, a daughter of Bodemeister, was a decisive winner of the Maid of the Mist last out, and has since logged three bullet workouts; her second dam, Critical Eye, was a multiple graded stakes winner at distances up to 11 furlongs.

Water White (11) was a good second to Maedean before eking out a maiden win at 4-5. She belongs, but post 11 is a tough draw for a pace-pressing runner like this.

A - 2, 5

B - 6, 9

C - 11, 12

Remsen (Aqu, race 9, 3:43 ET): Not a whole lot of pace here, since none of the nine entrants have ever led at the first call. It may be that Shotski (6), who was scratched from last week's Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) to await this, can grab the lead after a wide-trip fourth in the Street Sense; he gets a switch to the ever-aggressive Luis Saez.

Forza Di Oro (2) dwelt at the start but recovered nicely to get second behind Ajaaweed (4) in early fall, and then came back to beat maidens with more authority than suggested by the margin of victory. Ajaaweed regressed off his maiden win to wind up fourth in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1), but could conceivably bounce back now that he doesn't have to ship.

Todd Pletcher's pair of Chase Tracker (1) and Alpha Sixty Six (8) were entered for dirt only in a six-furlong turf stakes Dec. 6 but scratched when it stayed on the grass. They were respectively third in the Nashua (G3) and fifth in the Champagne (G1) last out, and they are the only ones to have run in graded company other than Ajaaweed.

Amends (9) must improve after beating off-the-turf maidens in the slop, but the Phipps Stable homebred is a viable candidate to do that for Shug McGaughey, who has won this race four times.

A - 2, 4, 6

B - 1, 8

C - 9

Cigar Mile (Aqu, race 10, 4:16 ET): This one-turn event shapes up as a showdown up front between 3-year-olds Maximum Security (5), who could clinch a divisional title with a win, and Spun to Run (6), who is in raging form after wiring the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

As fate would have it, they drew adjacent stalls, and the possibility for a screaming pace looms large. If they take the starch out of each other, Bal Harbour (2) and/or True Timber (11) will be in a position to capitalize.

Bal Harbour faded late in a sloppy edition of the Hagyard Fayette (G2) behind Tom's d'Etat, who returned to win the Clark (G1) last week. Prior to that effort, on fast footing Bal Harbour had run second in three straight stakes and produced his fastest lifetime figures—narrowly missing in the Monmouth Cup (G3) and the Woodward Presented By NYRA Bets (G1).

True Timber sat off the pace and rallied to be a close second at 31-1 in last year's Cigar Mile when third off a layoff. He will be third off the bench once again, after being hard-used early in both the Kelso (G2) and Bold Ruler (G3) handicaps. More judicious rating from the outside post could enable him to turn the tables on Maximum Security at a nice price.

Let's go for the gusto.

A - 2, 11

B - 5, 6