Case for Private Zone looks (almost) bulletproof
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Everything being equal, Private Zone is the horse to beat in Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. He was a five-length front-running winner of this race last year and seems to be the primary speed in this year’s renewal of the one-turn-mile event.
Moreover, Private Zone – on paper, at least – appears to be in as good a form as ever, with wins in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint Championship in July, the Grade 1 Forego in August, and a second-place finish to the freaky Runhappy four weeks ago in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
But Private Zone gave his followers reason for pause last Saturday when he pulled himself up in a workout at Palm Meadows. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to deter his connections from shipping the 6-year-old gelding up from Florida to see if he can join Congaree (2002-03) as the only horses to win this race in consecutive years. Private Zone also finished second in the 2013 Cigar Mile.
“Who knows why they do those things?” said Brian Lynch, who just took over the training of Private Zone following the Breeders’ Cup. “Sometimes it might be for the better.”
Martin Pedroza, the regular jockey for Private Zone, flew from California to Florida to work the horse and is flying in to ride him Saturday. Lynch said that Pedroza told him Private Zone “feels great.”
“He’s just a quirky bugger,” Lynch said.
Those willing to play against Private Zone have a bevy of alternatives led by Tonalist, a three-time Grade 1 winner who finished two lengths ahead of Private Zone when those two ran second and third behind Honor Code in the Grade 1 Met Mile at Belmont in June.
Tonalist won the Grade 3 Westchester at a mile to kick off his 4-year-old season but is coming off a fifth-place finish in the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic. Christophe Clement, who trains Tonalist for Robert Evans, said he and his staff have trained Tonalist with a critical eye.
“I’m trying to find every day an excuse not to run because I don’t want to do one race too many,” Clement said. “But he looks great, he’s been very sound, he’s eating very well, he’s working well.”
Tonalist gets blinkers on for the Cigar Mile.
Red Vine, also trained by Clement, enters the Cigar Mile off a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Matrooh won the Grade 3 Bold Ruler at Belmont. Mshawish, a Grade 1 winner on turf, makes his dirt debut in the Cigar Mile for Todd Pletcher, who has won this race four times.
As Grade 1 winners, Private Zone, Tonalist, and Mshawish run for the winner’s share of a $750,000 purse. Marking, Matrooh, Red Vine, and Full of Mine are running for the winner’s share of a $500,000 purse.
The Cigar Mile goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 11:50 a.m. Eastern. The card includes the Grade 2 Demoiselle (race 3), the Grade 2 Remsen (race 5), and the Grade 3 Comely (race 7).
KEY CONTENDERS
Private Zone (Last 3 Beyers: 106-105-105)
◗ Won this race from the rail last year and now breaks from the outside post while looking like the primary speed in the field.
◗ Lynch said he has been happy with the gelding’s gallops since last week’s aborted workout.
“I just have to bet on the come that he got plenty out of the Breeders’ Cup,” Lynch said. “He seems like he wants to play ball.”
Tonalist (Last 3 Beyers: 101-109-110)
◗ Tonalist has won twice when getting blinkers – a maiden race at Gulfstream Park in 2014 and the Grade 3 Westchester, a one-turn-mile race at Belmont in May for which he earned a career-best 111 Beyer Speed Figure.
◗ He hasn’t run at Aqueduct since finishing fourth in his career debut as a 2-year-old going a mile over the main track.
Matrooh (Last 3 Beyers: 105-77-97)
◗ He is 4 for 4 around one turn but faces the toughest opponents he’s ever met in Grade 1 winners Private Zone, Tonalist, and Mshawish.
“Our hope is that Matrooh is a horse that is fresh and improving and those horses have had a long year,” trainer Chad Brown said.
◗ Reunited with Irad Ortiz Jr., who is 2 for 2 on the gelding.
Red Vine (Last 3 Beyers: 103-105-100)
◗ He was beaten 5 3/4 lengths by winner Liam’s Map in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
“He got a little bit intimidated just a touch before the quarter pole,” Clement said. “He had to take back a little bit just when they are getting away from him. The winner was very impressive – would have won anyway – I just thought he could have been a bit closer to the second horse.”
Mshawish (Last 3 Beyers: 101-103-104)
◗ Had been pointing to the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont before a foot abscess forced him to miss the race.
◗ He ran fourth in the BC Mile on turf.
“He’s a horse that has always trained very impressively on the dirt,” Pletcher said.