OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown won the Preakness this year with Cloud Computing, but there’s another 3-year-old in his barn for whom he has equal admiration. Practical Joke, a three-time Grade 1 winner, will make the final start of his career in Saturday’s $750,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, the final Grade 1 race of the year on the New York Racing Association circuit. Before heading to Ashford Stud in 2018, Practical Joke will look to cap a solid career with his fifth graded stakes victory and sixth win from 12 starts. “Hes been an iron horse for us,” Brown said Thursday. “He’s never gone home for a break, he’s never been X-rayed for anything, he’s never required any sort of veterinary attention. He’s a rock-solid horse and I could see why he’d be highly sought after to breed to. He’s been such a sound horse. At a time when horses are racing less and less, I think of this horse’s run of three starts in seven weeks capped off by a win in the Jerkens.” :: Get extended Cyber Monday discounts on PPs, digital subscriptions, and more! That seven-week run summed up Practical Joke’s career perfectly. He won the Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont on July 8, ran valiantly in defeat in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park, and then smoked a solid field of 3-year-olds in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga. The Dwyer and Jerkens were one-turn races and Practical Joke is 5 for 5 in such races. The Haskell was a two-turn race, and Practical Joke is 0 for 6 with two seconds and three thirds in two-turn races. Practical Joke is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, a two-turn race at Del Mar on Nov. 4. He finished five lengths behind Sharp Azteca, who was second in that race and who likely will go off favored in Saturday’s Cigar Mile. Two starts back, Sharp Azteca won the Grade 2 Kelso at Belmont Park by four lengths. In the BC Dirt Mile, Sharp Azteca was pressed early by longshot Gato Del Oro, then was game but outfinished by the 3-year-old Battle of Midway, beaten a half-length. Jorge Navarro, the trainer of Sharp Azteca, said he felt Paco Lopez waited too long to ask the horse for his best. “With the shortest stretch in America, you can’t wait until the quarter pole to make your move,” Navarro said. Javier Castellano will ride Sharp Azteca for the first time on Saturday. Despite having never won a Grade 1, Sharp Azteca is the 125-pound starting highweight in the Cigar Mile. He is conceding five pounds to Practical Joke and three to Mind Your Biscuits, a two-time Grade 1 winner including the Grade 1 Malibu last December in which he beat Sharp Azteca. Sharp Azteca will be prominent early, but could face some early pressure from Americanize, winner of the Damascus Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 3, and Seymourdini. Mind Your Biscuits, third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, tries to stretch out to a mile, a distance at which he won a New York-bred maiden as a 2-year-old. Tom’s Ready and Beasley, the first- and third-place finishers from the Bold Ruler Handicap on Oct. 28 at Belmont, are price horses with the best chance to upset. Just Call Kenny, Vulcan’s Forge, and Summer Revolution round out the field. The Cigar Mile goes as the final race on a 10-race card that begins at 11:30 a.m. and includes the Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand for fillies and mares; the Grade 2, $200,000 Remsen for 2-year-old males, and the Grade 2, $200,000 Demoiselle for 2-year-old females. Fox Sports 2 and MSG Plus will show the Cigar Mile, Remsen, and Demoiselle live during a 90-minute broadcast beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern. KEY CONTENDERS Practical Joke, by Into Mischief Last 3 Beyers: 99-104-94 ◗ In an attempt to save ground in the BC, he was guided from post 10 to the inside, which was not the place to be. Made a mild outside rally in the lane to get fourth. ◗ Looks to become the sixth 3-year-old in last 11 years to win this race. That list includes Connect, last year’s winner, trained by Brown. Sharp Azteca, by Freud Last 3 Beyers: 107-112-108 ◗ Ran a very game second to Battle of Midway in Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, racing on the lead while pressed most of the way. ◗ Navarro said Sharp Azteca was a short horse when he ran second to Mor Spirit in the Grade 1 Met Mile, owing to needed time to recover from a cut in a back ankle upon returning from Dubai. Tom’s Ready, by More Than Ready Last 3 Beyers: 107-96-97 ◗ Comes off the best race of his career when he defeated Stallwalkin’ Dude in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler. Stallwalkin’ Dude came back to win the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap. ◗ Gets Mike Smith, who won this race in 1996 when it was still called the NYRA Mile. Seymourdini, by Bernardini Last 3 Beyers: 104-113-98 ◗ Has run some freakishly good races this year against lesser company. ◗ Galloped out like a monster after re-rallying in the stretch when fourth in the Bold Ruler, his first start off near four-month layoff.