Firenze Fire will run in Cigar Mile, trainer says

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - His long-term future has not yet been finalized, but Firenze Fire will make at least one more start in the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 5, trainer Kelly Breen said Sunday.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to do or where we’re going, but we got this race in mind,” said Breen, who trains Firenze Fire for Ron Lombardi’s Mr. Amore Stable. “This looks like a pretty good spot for him.”

Firenze Fire is a Grade 1 winner at a mile having won the Champagne at Belmont as a 2-year-old. Some of his other top performances have come in one-turn mile races, most notably the Grade 3 Dwyer in 2018, a race he won by nine lengths. He also won the Jerome, a one-turn mile race at Aqueduct, earlier that year.

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Firenze Fire is coming off a solid third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland on Nov 7. He has been galloping at Belmont Park, Breen said.

Beyond the Cigar Mile, Firenze Fire’s future is not set. Lombardi has said that he is torn between racing or retiring the 5-year-old son of Poseidon’s Warrior. Breen said two parties interested in standing Firenze Fire as a stallion have been to the barn to examine the horse.

Meanwhile, Breen has an up-and-comer in the sprint ranks in Full Impact, a son of Street Sense, who won a first-level allowance race at Aqueduct by 4 1/2 lengths on Friday. He ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.20 over a sloppy track and earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.

Breen said Full Impact still has some maturing to do, so he is in no rush to head into a stakes race with him.

“I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far,” Breen said. “He is a little bit green, he needs to mature. We’re not throwing him into the deep end just yet.”