Patternrecognition Wins Cigar Mile
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Annette Jasko
Patternrecognition wins the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct
Trainer Chad Brown can remember the days when Patternrecognition spent more time at the farm than the racetrack.
There was always a nice blend of speed and talent in the son of Adios Charlie , but one minor problem after another led to a string of gaps that forced Brown to focus on allowance races for his runner.
Finally, at the mature age of 5, all the time and patience Brown and owners Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence put into Patternrecognition has been rewarded.
The Florida-bred scored a frontrunning victory in the Kelso Handicap (G2) when he made his stakes debut in September, and Dec. 1 he blossomed into a grade 1 winner by using his speed to register a three-quarter-length victory over True Timber in the $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"He earned this victory," Brown said. "He's always had a ton of ability. It was just a matter of keeping him on the racetrack."
Patternrecognition's win in the 30th Cigar Mile was his fifth in 11 starts, and he finished second in five of those races. Yet for all those solid efforts, the spacing between them is just as noticeable. Patternrecognition did not make his first start until April of his 4-year-old season—when he won by 4 1/4 lengths—and since then has started on less than 30 days' rest only once.
His delayed stakes debut came Sept. 22 in the Kelso, and his gate-to-wire win in the Cigar Mile only reinforced the notion that the wait for Patternrecognition to put his problems behind him was well worth it for all involved.
"Ultimately, he showed the talent that we thought he had when they bought him—what seems like forever ago as a 2-year-old—and this is really a great moment for this horse. He deserves it," said Brown, who was uncertain about future plans for Patternrecognition. "Because he's had so many interruptions in his schedule, I was always trying to bridge him to a longer race off a sprint, and it was always hard to get there because he always had a setback. Finally, he got very sound to where I could train him consistently and get him out to that mile distance where (Adios Charlie) was very effective as well. This horse is a rare horse. He's got that speed, and he can carry it.
"I'm very proud of the judgment (jockey Jose Ortiz) used today. I left it up to him, and the fractions concerned me a touch, but this horse showed his heart."
Patternrecognition's speed was too much for his seven rivals Saturday as he cruised along with a one-length lead in the one-turn mile through early fractions of :22.88 and :45.68 on a fast track. When expected early challenges from Mendelssohn and Copper Town failed to materialize, it was left to 15-1 shot Pat On the Back to chase Patternrecognition, who never stopped running.
The 5-1 third choice ($12.80) pulled away to a 1 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole and had little problem fending off a late bid from 31-1 shot True Timber as he covered the mile in 1:34.98.
"It went great. He broke out of there very sharply. The way he broke, I didn't want to give the lead away, so I used my own judgment and took a shot and went straight to the rail and took the lead," Ortiz said. "He got pressured pretty good. I took a big risk because those weren't the instructions, but it worked out."
Bred by Ocala Stud and purchased from their consignment for $420,000 at the 2015 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, the son of the High Cotton mare Almost a Valentine raised his career earnings to $812,325.
Sunny Ridge came in a length behind True Timber in third, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of world traveler Mendelssohn, the 8-5 favorite, in fourth.
Owned by Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, and Derrick Smith and trained by Aidan O'Brien, Mendelssohn raced in third most of the way and lacked a stretch. It was his sixth trip from Europe to the United States this year, and none resulted in a win.
"I'm disappointed, but he ran well. He hasn't run a bad race. He's had a tough year with a lot of racing and a lot of flying back and forth," jockey Ryan Moore said of the $3 million purchase from the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to get it done. We'll see what the plan is, but I think there's more in there."
The 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) winner's best effort in the U.S. this year was a runner-up finish in the Runhappy Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. Prior to the Cigar Mile, he finished fifth at Churchill Downs in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
A bigger disappointment was Copper Town, the 2-1 second choice off a five-length win in an Oct. 13 allowance race at Keeneland, his first start in a little more than a year. Expected to be part of the early pace scenario, Copper Town was bumped and steadied at the start. Owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, SF Racing, and Head of Plains Partners, Copper Town was never closer than sixth at any call and finished last of eight for trainer Todd Pletcher.