Sharp Azteca points to Cigar Mile

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile runner-up Sharp Azteca will be pointed to the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 2, trainer Jorge Navarro said Friday evening.

Sharp Azteca joins what is shaping up as a deep field for the Cigar Mile. Others pointing to the race include Breeders' Cup Sprint third-place finisher Mind Your Biscuits; Practical Joke, who is undefeated in races around one turn; Bold Ruler winner Tom's Ready; Fayette runner-up Neolithic; and Summer Revolution.

Trainer Rick Violette said Saturday he and owner Ralph Evans had not yet reached a final decision of whether Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Diversify would start in the Cigar or the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.

"The 1 1/8 miles might be the stronger distance for us," Violette said. "The key factors are the distance and the pace. There are pluses and minuses to both races."

Sharp Azteca has returned to Navarro's Florida base at Gulfstream Park West, where he will prepare for the $750,000 Cigar.

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Sharp Azteca has a 7-5-1-1 record in races run at a one-turn mile. In such races this year, he has won the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park, finished second in the Met Mile, third in the Group 1 Godolphin Mile at Meydan, and won the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap.

As a 3-year-old in 2016, he won the Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. He also won his maiden and a first-level optional claimer at Gulfstream Park in one-turn-mile races.

Sharp Azteca will come into the Cigar off a strong second in the BC Dirt Mile. He set the pace well into the stretch before being run down by Battle of Midway and beaten a half-length. Sharp Azteca is 7 for 15 in his career, with earnings of $1.3 million.

"We are very pleased with his last race," Navarro said. "The horse always shows up. He brings his 'A' game to every race."