Performer will point to Cigar Mile next, McGaughey says

ELMONT, N.Y. - Following his sensational season debut Saturday at Belmont, Performer will be pointed to the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 5, trainer Shug McGaughey said Sunday.

Performer, his 4-year-old debut delayed by an ankle injury, won a one-mile allowance race by 1 3/4 lengths under mostly a hand ride from Joel Rosario.

Stalking the pace from the inside, Performer was sent to challenge the pacesetting Musical Heart at the three-eighths pole. Performer took the lead on his own at the quarter-pole and, with just a slight nudge from Rosario, drew away and won in hand.

Performer covered the mile in 1:33.93 over a muddy main track. He was assigned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.

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Performer, a son of Speightstown owned by Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm, won for the fifth consecutive time. This was his first start since he won the Grade 3 Discovery at Aqueduct last Nov. 30.

“I didn’t know what to expect off an 11-month layoff, the way he did it I thought it was very good,” McGaughey said. “The Cigar Mile would be what I’d be looking at.”

Asked if seven weeks might be too much time between races, McGaughey said, “he just had 11 months, so no.”

McGaughey had a good few days with his 2-year-old division. On Friday, Ten for Ten, a son of Frosted, won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by eight lengths in the slop. On Sunday, Café Society, a Canadian-bred daughter of Empire Maker, won her debut by 3 1/2 lengths. She ran six furlongs in 1:10.84.

Café Society is owned by Joseph Allen, who purchased the filly for $450,000 at the April Ocala Breeders’ Sales auction.