Stablemates Tonalist, Red Vine work toward Cigar Mile

Trainer Christophe Clement worked Tonalist and Red Vine five furlongs in company Saturday morning at Belmont Park and later said both horses are on track to start in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct next weekend.

“They went in a minute and galloped out in 1:13,” said Clement. “I am delighted with how they went and plan to run both horses in the Cigar Mile.”

New York Racing Association clockers credited both horses with six-furlong works of 1:13. The work was the second for Tonalist since his fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31. He was timed in 1:02.50 last Monday.

Tonalist will be seeking his fourth Grade 1 victory in the $500,000 Cigar Mile on Saturday. He has won the last two runnings of the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, as well as the 2014 Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles. Plans call for Tonalist, a winner of $3.2 million, to remain in training next season as a 5-year-old for owner Robert Evans.

Red Vine finished third in the BC Dirt Mile in his last start. He worked five furlongs in 1:01.55 last Saturday.

While everything went according to plan for Clement on Saturday, such was not the case for trainer Brian Lynch at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida. Lynch, who recently took over the training of defending Cigar Mile winner Private Zone, sent him out for a half-mile work Saturday, but Private Zone pulled up at the quarter pole by the gap where horses enter the racetrack midway through the move.

Lynch told Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch that he thought he still could make the Cigar Mile with Private Zone. The work would have been the first for Private Zone since he finished second to Runhappy in the BC Sprint.

:: See Mike Welsch's complete article on Private Zone

A field of six to eight horses is expected for the Cigar Mile. Other expected starters include Matrooh, winner of the seven-furlong Bold Ruler for Chad Brown; Mshawish, the fourth-place finisher in the BC Mile, who would be making his first career start on dirt for Todd Pletcher; and either the 2-for-2 Marking or the 2-for-3 Watershed, both trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.

Race Day and Falling Sky, who are both coming off Keneeland stakes wins, are considered possible entrants.

Next Saturday’s Aqueduct card also will include a pair of Grade 2 stakes – the Remsen and Demoiselle for 2-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles – and the Grade 3 Comely, a nine-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies.