Cigar Mile hits Vyjack right in his sweet spot

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When you analyze what each of the top contenders in Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile does best, it becomes apparent that few of them have excelled at the one-turn-mile configuration of the race.

Secret Circle, the 2-1 favorite, has done his best work at six furlongs, including a victory in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Private Zone, the 3-1 second choice, is a multiple Grade 1 winner at six furlongs, though he ran an amazing race when second at 32-1 in this race last year. Itsmyluckyday is a Grade 1 winner around two turns at 1 1/8 miles.

Then there’s Vyjack. After futilely chasing two gems of the Triple Crown a year ago, this spring and summer he finally got back to what he might truly be meant for – one-turn races at seven furlongs to a mile. After troubled starts hampered him in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt and Forego, Vyjack won the Grade 2 Kelso – a one-turn, one-mile race – at Belmont Park on Sept. 27.

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On Saturday, Vyjack will be back on his home track – he is 3 for 4 at Aqueduct – and at 8-1 on the morning line, he may offer the best value in a race where favorites have bombed in 9 of the last 12 years.

“I expect him to run a good race,” trainer Rudy Rodriguez said. “I know the race is tough. We got the home-field advantage. He looks like he’s very happy, he’s training unbelievable, and I couldn’t be happier with the way he looks.”

The Cigar Mile, the last Grade 1 race of the year on this circuit, will be the last of 10 races on a card that includes the Remsen and Demoiselle – Grade 2 races for juveniles and juvenile fillies, respectively – and the Grade 3 Comely for 3-year-old fillies. First post is noon Eastern.

The Cigar Mile offers a base purse of $500,000. As winners of Breeders’ Cup races, Secret Circle (2013 Sprint) and Regally Ready (2011 Turf Sprint) are running for the winner’s share of a $1 million purse. As Grade 1 winners, Itsmyluckyday and Private Zone are running for the winner’s share of $750,000.

KEY CONTENDERS

Vyjack (Last 3 Beyers: 103-93-94)

◗ From a speed-figure standpoint, his best three races have come in one-turn races from seven furlongs to a mile.

◗ Rodriguez said it has taken time, but he believes jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has finally figured out how to ride the gelding.

“He’s a horse if you take too much hold, he gives you nothing,” Rodriguez said.

Private Zone (Last 3 Beyers: 100-106-86)

◗ Globe-trotting gelding has done his best running in New York, with wins in the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont the last two years and a remarkable second-place finish in this race last year, when he clipped heels at the top of the stretch.

◗ Though Private Zone seems best at six furlongs, trainer Alfredo Velazquez believes he’s a better miler.

“He always gallops out strong after each race,” Velazquez said. “I think a mile is better for him.”

◗ Velazquez said he would have liked to have seen Private Zone get more into the race in the BC Sprint, where he finished third. If he breaks well Saturday from the rail, expect Private Zone to be sent to the front by Martin Pedroza.

“The break is very important,” Velazquez said. “I’m pretty sure Pedroza knows what to do. He’s ready. I don’t look for any excuses. Post 1, you don’t want it, but what can you do about it?”

Secret Circle (Last 3 Beyers: 104-100-103)

◗ The 2013 BC Sprint winner, he has never finished worse than third in 12 career starts.

◗ He won at a mile going two turns as a 3-year-old.

◗ He is winless in three starts this year but has run well each time.

◗ Trainer Bob Baffert felt the inside post may have hurt Secret Circle’s chances when second to Work All Week in this year’s BC Sprint. Baffert was very pleased when he drew post 6 for this race.

“He’s a really good horse,” said Baffert, a three-time winner of this race. “When he’s right, he can run with anybody. He’s doing really great. I feel really confident going into the race that he’s going to run big.”

Itsmyluckyday (Last 3 Beyers: 96-108-107)

◗ After running second to Moreno in the Grade 1 Whitney, he turned the tables on him and won the Grade 1 Woodward. Comes off a third-place finish as the 3-5 favorite in the Kelso.

“He ran two tremendous races that were very taxing, and even though all outward appearances were that he was coming into the race 100 percent, he bounced that day,” trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. said of Itsmyluckyday’s effort in the Kelso.

◗ This will be the final career start for Itsmyluckyday, who will stand at stud at Spendthrift Farm next year.