O Besos gets a scare, but will come for Cigar Mile after all

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - O Besos nearly lost the Cigar Mile before he passed through the entry box.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, trainer Greg Foley received a call from Andrew Byrnes, the stakes coordinator at the New York Racing Association, informing him he would not be able to ship O Besos to New York for Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile due to a suspected case of equine herpesvirus in a horse stabled in a barn at Churchill Downs, where O Besos is based. But an hour later, Foley was told he could indeed ship for the race since it was only a single barn not the entire Churchill backstretch that was being placed under quarantine. O Besos was not stabled in the barn that was placed under quarantine.

Unlike some other tracks, NYRA did not put any restrictions on horses shipping in from Churchill, so on Wednesday O Besos was scheduled to leave Churchill Downs for New York where he will be part of a seven-horse field set to run in the $750,000 Cigar Mile.

“For about an hour, we weren’t coming,” Foley said.

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Foley is eager to run O Besos in the Cigar Mile, believing the one-turn mile configuration of the race should suit his 4-year-old son of Orb perfectly. O Besos, who crossed the wire fifth in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, is coming out of a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, a performance better than it looks on paper.

In the Sprint, O Besos was away last, appeared to resent kickback entering the far turn, then came with a run between horses to finish only 3 1/2 lengths behind winner Elite Power.

“He was running faster than anybody at the end, he just ran out of ground,” Foley said.

O Besos comes into the Cigar a pretty fresh horse. He ran three times from January to April before suffering a setback following a third in the Grade 3 Commonwealth at Keeneland that sidelined him through the summer. He won a six-furlong allowance at Churchill on Oct. 1, which prompted his connections to run him in the BC Sprint.

“We know it’s a big step - no bigger than the race he just come out of,” Foley said regarding the Cigar Mile.

Jose Ortiz will ride O Besos in the Cigar Mile, one of four stakes on Saturday’s card.

He will face a field that includes two-time Grade 1 winner Mind Control, Grade 1-winning 3-year-olds Zandon and White Abarrio, Grade 1 winner Get Her Number, Grade 3 Kelso winner Double Crown, and Outlier.

Baby Yoda was expected to enter the Cigar Mile, but was held out of the race after developing a 104-degree temperature earlier in the week, according to part-owner Adam Wachtel.

“He’ll need a little bit of time,” Wachtel said.

The Cigar Mile will go as race 9 on a 10-race program that will include the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen, the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand.

Tuskegee Airmen, who has gone 2 for 2, heads a field of seven entered in the Remsen. A son of Street Sense trained by John Servis, Tuskegee Airmen won a seven-furlong maiden race at Parx on Sept. 24 and the Rocky Run Stakes at Delaware Park on Oct. 15.

He will face a field that includes Rocky Run runner-up Midnight Trouble, Sleepy Hollow Stakes 1-2 finishers Arctic Arrogance and Quick To Accuse, and maiden winners Dubyuhnell, Il Miracolo, and Prove Right.

Julia Shining, a full sister to champion Malathaat, heads a field of seven 2-year-old fillies entered in the Demoiselle. Julia Shining was an eye-catching last-to-first winner going seven furlongs at Keeneland in her debut.

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Julia Shining will face Tempted runner-up Foggy Night, New York-bred stakes winner Gambling Girl, maiden winners Royal Spa and Tribal Queen, and the maiden Affirmative Lady in the Demoiselle.

Battle Bling, winner of the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm, heads an 11-horse field entered in the Go for Wand, a one-turn mile race for fillies and mares. The field includes Love in the Air, a winner of two straight Pennsylvania-bred stakes at Parx; Dr B, runner-up in the Pumpkin Pie Stakes; California shipper Sharapova, unraced since a last-place finish in the Grade 2 Santa Margarita in April; and Self Isolation, a winner of three straight races, the last two for owner-trainer David Jacobson.

Betsy Blue, first or second in 15 of 18 starts, mostly in New York-bred company, and Bank Sting, a five-time stakes winner in restricted company, were also entered in the Go for Wand. Bank Sting is nominated to a pair of New York Stallion Stakes to be run here Sunday.

Others entered in the Go for Wand are Exotic West, Flight to Shanghai, Tonal Vision, and W W Fitzy.

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