Coming as it did at the end of a long season, the $500,000 Cigar Mile H. (G2) at Aqueduct on Saturday proved an ideal win opportunity for a relatively fresh horse. That was indeed the case as the three-year-old Locked, who had a single allowance prep this year, bested Mullikin and several other stellar older rivals.
Winner of the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) last season, Locked was taken out of training last winter due to a knee injury while preparing for the Kentucky Derby (G1). But his 7 1/2-length comeback win on Oct. 19 going seven furlongs, his first race in nearly a year, impressed bettors enough to send him off as the 2-1 favorite in the Cigar Mile.
Rating in midpack as Repo Rocks sped through early fractions of :22.87, :45.30, and 1:09.81, Locked began to improve position around the far turn. Rallying wide to take aim on Forego (G1) winner Mullikin, who had seized command approaching the eighth pole, Locked finished strongly to win by 1 1/2 lengths under John Velazquez.
“He came into the year with high hopes and unfortunately, we got sidelined for a little while, but he came back and finished up the year the way he did and proved that very good two-year-olds turn into really good three-year-olds as well,” said Todd Pletcher, who was winning the Cigar Mile for a record seventh time.
“We had a physical setback that we had to give him some time for. It was unfortunate timing because I think that the way some of the Triple Crown races set up this year would have suited him really well, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm, Locked covered the fast-track test in 1:34.52 and paid $6.30.
Mullikin, exiting a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), was second by one length over Grade 2 winner and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up Post Time. Next under the line were Coastal Mission, Book’em Danno, Pipeline, Repo Rocks, Nelson Avenue, Saudi Cup (G1) winner Senor Buscador, who stumbled badly at the start, and Vinsanity.
Locked, who has now four of six career starts, will be considered for races like the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and Saudi Cup early in the new year, Pletcher said.
Bred in Kentucky by Rosa Colasanti, Locked brought $425,000 at Keeneland September. He is a son of Gun Runner and Luna Rosa, a Malibu Moon half-sister to Grade 1 winner Gabby’s Golden Gal and multiple Grade 2 scorer Always a Princess.
Tizzy in the Sky proved plenty fit returning from a six-month layoff in the $200,000 Go for Wand (G3) fillies and mares, while giving jockey Flavien Prat a record-tying 79th stakes win of the season.
Last seen trailing in the Ogden Phipps (G1) at Saratoga in early June, Tizzy in the Sky found the class relief and the return to Aqueduct agreeable, holding off odds-on favorite Occult by a half-length. Movie Moxy, a 22-1 chance, finished a head behind in third.
Tizzy in the Sky, who has now won five of her eight career starts over the Big A strip, rated in second behind longshot pacesetter Rachel’s Rock, who set strong early fractions of :22.89 and :45.75. Tizzy in the Sky took over approaching the three-quarter mark and ultimately covered one mile in 1:35.64. She paid $8.20.
“We had to rush a little bit to have her ready, but she is such a willing horse,” said Pletcher, who trains the five-year-old mare for KimDon Racing. “She trains very well, and her breezes are strong with good gallop-outs.
“She loves it here. I think she is even better around two turns here, but she overcame some pace pressure today and finished up well.”
Prat’s win in the Go for Wand tied the single stakes record by a jockey set by Irad Ortiz Jr. in 2022. Prat set a new mark later on Saturday’s Aqueduct card when guiding Poster to victory in the Remsen (G2).
Second in the 2023 edition of the Go for Wand as well as the Turnback the Alarm S., Tizzy in the Sky previously captured the nine-furlong Top Flight S. at Aqueduct in mid-April. She has now won five of 13 starts overall.
Bred in Kentucky by Westrock Stables, Tizzy in the Sky is by Sky Kingdom and out of Tizz the Tide, by Tiznow.
Leave a Reply