Miles Ahead comes back sharp to repeat in Thanksgiving Classic

No prep race? No problem for Miles Ahead, who made his first start since April on Thursday at Fair Grounds and won the Thanksgiving Classic for the second year in a row.

Last November, Miles Ahead, running less than three weeks after a solid second in the Bet on Sunshine at Churchill Downs, won the Thanksgiving Classic by 4 1/2 lengths. This one was far tighter, Miles Ahead up in the last two strides to win by a head over pacesetting 4-5 favorite Montalcino.

The top two finished well clear of third-place Minnesota Ready, who rallied mildly to cross the line 2 1/4 lengths behind the lead pair. Bo Cruz, also returning from a long layoff, was eased in midstretch. Giant Mischief, the morning-line favorite, was an early scratch in favor of a Friday start in New York.

Paul McGee trains Miles Ahead for the Jay Em Ess Stable and had the 7-year-old gelding razor sharp for his first outing in seven months. Miles Ahead broke well from post 2 and stalked the pace while saving ground around the turn in the $275,000 Thanksgiving Classic, a six-furlong dirt contest.

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Money had flooded the win pool for Montalcino, a 3-year-old making just his third career start and stakes debut. An impressive winner of seven-furlong races at Saratoga and Keeneland, Montalcino, trained by Cherie DeVaux, showed brilliant speed, leaving the gate running and outsprinting some fast horses to take a clear early advantage under Jose Ortiz. Montalcino set a blistering pace, 44.65 seconds for the half-mile, and could not quite hold clear a seasoned, capable older rival.

Colby Hernandez rode Miles Ahead for the first time and gave the gelding a textbook trip, Miles Ahead taking aim at the leader in midstretch and resolutely running him down.

“He’s such a cool horse,” Hernandez said. “He put me in a good spot. The closer we got to the wire, it’s like he knew where the wire was.”

Bred in Kentucky by Nicholas Lotz and Betsy Kelley, Miles Ahead is by Competitive Edge out of the Awesome Again mare Jennie R. He was timed in 1:09.03 over a fast track and paid $33.80 – a generous price on a horse who’d already demonstrated his fondness for Thanksgiving in New Orleans.

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