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Performer Set for first Grade 1 Performance in Cigar Mile

Performer Set for first Grade 1 Performance in Cigar Mile
By the New York Hot List Staff | Friday, December 4

The end of the road for graded stakes this year in New York comes Saturday with the $250,000 Cigar Mile topping the card. The Grade 1 attracted a field of nine and should serve as a long-delayed litmus test for the likely favorite, Performer. The Shug McGaughey-trained 3-year-old was supposed to be a major player in the handicap division but race cancellations and an ankle injury sidelined him for 11 months. The Cigar will be just his second race of the year and first in a graded stakes in 2020. This may not be the best renewal of the Cigar, but with a field of nine it’s a competitive field that offers some nice possibilities for the exotics.

Here’s the Hot List picks for the Cigar Mile:

The $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1), Aqueduct, Saturday, Race 10.

1) Performer brings a five-race winning streak to the Cigar Mile as the Shug McGaughey runner tries to win his first Grade 1. In his last race at Aqueduct, he won the Discovery (G3) over the talented Tax. He returned from an 11 month layoff to win an allowance at Belmont Park going the one-mile distance of the Cigar. He still has the look of a horse who has yet to do his very best running. (4) Firenze Fire returns to New York after just missing second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) by a neck. He has won at the mile distance three times earlier in his career. (6) King Guillermo was last seen running second behind the Bob Baffert runner Nadal in the Arkansas Derby (G1) in May. Before that, he was the winner of the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) at odds of 49-1. He will now ship to New York for the first time and make his initial appearance against older horses. It’s hard to know what to expect from this talented son of Uncle Mo. (8) True Timber does not win that often but he has shown an affinity for the Big A where he has finished third and second in the past two runnings of the Cigar Mile. He’ll be worth playing in the trifecta at big odds.

Analysis of the other New York Hot List races and the Special Saturday Pick 3 are available free of charge at this website.