No Dozing to get shot in Cigar Mile

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Arnaud Delacour had a good weekend. He came a head short of having a great one.

On Friday, at Aqueduct, No Dozing romped to a 9 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap, setting him up for a likely next start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile here on Dec. 1.

On Saturday, at Churchill Downs, Chalon was in front in midstretch only to be run down by 25-1 shot Shamrock Rose in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

“We were very happy,” Delacour said Monday. “They both ran very well. That’s all we can ask for.”

No Dozing earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure in the Bold Ruler, his first graded stakes victory. That race and his second-place finish to Mo Town in the 2016 Remsen Stakes here as a 2-year-old give Delacour some confidence to try No Dozing in the Cigar Mile.

“Definitely he can handle the track well,” Delacour said. “He’s run twice on that track and run great, so I don’t see any reason why not take a shot in the Cigar Mile and see what the outcome can be.”

Chalon returned to Delacour’s barn at the Fair Hill training center following her loss in the Filly and Mare Sprint. She also lost the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America by a head to Golden Mischief in October.

Delacour said the plan is to give Chalon the remainder of the year off and race her again in 2019 as a 5-year-old.

“She’s a true six-furlong filly, I think,” Delacour said. “Unfortunately, in the program all the Grade 1 races for fillies – Breeders’ Cup, Ballerina, Humana Distaff – are all seven-eighths. We’ll just have to deal with it, but I’d love to be able to run her a little bit shorter against that type of company.”