Aqueduct: Cigar Mile gets Flat Out, but may lose Alpha

Flat Out is in, and Alpha is now on the fence for the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Nov. 30 at Aqueduct.

Flat Out, the two-time winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup who finished eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic earlier this month, is on schedule for the Cigar Mile, trainer Bill Mott said from Florida on Wednesday.

As a Grade 1 winner, Flat Out would be running for the winner’s share of $750,000 as part of two incentives written into the conditions of the Cigar Mile which carries a base purse of $500,000. Any horse that won a Breeders’ Cup race is eligible to run for the winner’s share of a $1 million purse.

Though Flat Out’s two biggest victories came in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, run at 1 1/4 miles, he won the Grade 3 Westchester over Cross Traffic going a one-turn mile in April and was a troubled third in the Metropolitan Handicap in May.

“We’re coming for the Cigar Mile if we can get him there,” Mott said by phone from Payson Park, where Flat Out has been based since the Breeders’ Cup.

Mott said he didn’t have a real excuse for Flat Out’s eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic but said the 7-year-old came out of the race very well.

“He looks great. He’s still got a summer coat on him,” Mott said.

Flat Out is one of eight Grade 1 winners targeting the Cigar Mile. Alpha, who beat Flat Out by a head in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga, is also being considered, but trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he is also considering the Grade 3, $300,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles as well.

McLaughlin noted the tough field as well as a bad “race shape” as reasons why he is thinking of skipping the Cigar Mile.

Alpha does his best work on the front end and with speed horses like Grade 1 winners Goldencents and Private Zone expected for the race, making the lead might not be possible for Alpha.

McLaughlin said he would monitor the weather and fields for both races before making a final decision.

Other Grade 1 winners under consideration for the Cigar Mile are Capo Bastone, Golden Ticket, Groupie Doll, and Verrazano. Clearly Now, Forty Tales, Laugh Track, and Saratoga Snacks are also targeting the race.