Tonalist Charges to Cigar Mile Victory

Tonalist came flying with a big late run Nov. 28 to win the $670,000 Cigar Mile (gr. I) at Aqueduct Racetrack, edging out stablemate Red Vine in a photo finish after tracking far back under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez.

The 124-pound highweight and second choice in the field of six at odds of 2-1, Robert Evans' 4-year-old son of Tapit   recovered from a disappointing fifth in the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Keeneland to add another grade I to his résumé for trainer Christophe Clement, which includes the 2014 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) and consecutive editions of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) in 2014-2015.

The pace was set in the oddly run one-turn mile race by 2014 Cigar winner Private Zone, second highest in the weights at 123, who ran extremely rank down the backstretch while trying to get out in his first start for trainer Brian Lynch. The TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) runner-up then faded to fifth after being throttled back by jockey Martin Pedroza through a slow :24.15 quarter and a half in :48.50. Tonalist, who charged from last to first through three-quarters in 1:13.04, ran the mile in 1:37.14 on a fast track.

"I'm always a little bit worried when I run him," said Clement, who collected his first Cigar Mile trophy. "The race was run in a funny way; they went so slow early on, which I didn't think was great for us. But that's what good horses do—they win and they overcome things."

The finish gave Clement Stable its 100th win of the season and a lovely exacta—they also condition Red Vine for Don and Joan Cimpl and Jon and Sarah Kelly. That runner put in a big effort off a third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) when splitting horses late. Tonalist made up 4 1/2 furlongs in a final quarter-mile run in :24.10, swinging five wide and turning on the afterburners when straightening for home to get the victory by a neck.

"I got anxious a little bit when we passed the half-mile pole," Velazquez remarked. "We were going so slow on the backstretch and I could see the horse on the lead keep trying to get back, throwing his head up ... I was thinking that we were just walking with these horses here. I was close enough I didn't worry about it, but when we got to the turn, they started to move away from me.

"Now I wanted to do it little by little; I didn't want to shake him up too much and then not get him going, so I got him little by little, where he was comfortable. By the five-sixteenths pole, he started moving so I said, 'OK, now he's moving.' Another horse came to him by the quarter pole, I don't know who that was, and he got into the bridle and started running. My job was trying to put him in the clear, run him in the clear. When I got him clear and hit him, he responded right away. The last sixteenth of a mile was really good, very exciting."

The winner was bred in Kentucky by Woodslane Farm out of the Pleasant Colony mare Settling Mist and improved his record to 7-4-2 from 16 starts for earnings of $3,647,000. Those wins include the Westchester Stakes (gr. III) this year and Peter Pan Stakes (gr. II) last season. Saturday's victory marked his first stakes win away from Belmont Park.

He was purchased privately by Evans after failing to meet his reserve for $195,000 at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga select yearling sale when consigned by Sweezey & Partners. 

With no stud deal currently set for Tonalist, Clement said he would talk to Evans about the multiple graded stakes winner's future, but added of him and Red Vine, "no matter what, they're both going to have a break."