True Timber saves his best for the Cigar Mile

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – True Timber has lost 13 consecutive races and is 0 for 19 in stakes races. So, what is he doing in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct?

Well, based on past performances, he’s about to spice up the exotic wagers.

True Timber is making his third straight appearance in the Cigar Mile, the last Grade 1 of the season on this circuit. In the 2018 Cigar Mile, he finished second to Patternrecognition at odds of 31-1, the second-longest shot on the board, making for a $108 exacta payout for $1. In the 2019 Cigar Mile, True Timber finished third behind favorites Maximum Security and Spun to Run, making for an $85 trifecta for a $1 wager.

Saturday, True Timber figures to be a significant price again in a nine-horse Cigar Mile field that includes Performer, Firenze Fire, Mr. Buff, and Mind Control.

True Timber, a 6-year-old son of Mineshaft, was trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for his first 24 starts. When McLaughlin retired in the spring, True Timber was turned over to Jack Sisterson, who trains privately for Calumet Farm, owner of True Timber. Looking at his past performances, Sisterston told the Calumet team he wanted to make the Cigar the year-end goal.

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“Here we are now and he seems to be coming into that race in the best shape that we can ask him to come in, sitting on what I think is going to be his best performance to date for us,” Sisterson said Wednesday.

True Timber has two thirds and a second from four starts for Sisterson. His best race might have been his third-place finish in the Grade 1 Forego, a race run over an extremely sloppy surface. There is rain in the forecast Saturday.

True Timber’s worst race for Sisterson was a fourth to Firenze Fire in the Grade 2 Vosburgh. That race was at six furlongs, a distance Sisterson believes is shorter than True Timber’s best.

“He’s not a sprinter and he doesn’t like to be stuck down on the inside either and I sprinted him and he was stuck down on the inside,” Sisterson said. “I took nothing bad away from his performance because that wasn’t to his liking.”

True Timber is coming off a second-place finish to Sleepy Eyes Todd in the Lafayette Stakes, a seven-furlong race in which several runners were inhibited by a spill. True Timber was not bothered.

“We were wide the whole way and you either take back or go forward and he seems like a horse that wants to go forward,” Sisterson said. “Jose [Lezcano] was after him the whole way and he plugged away at the finish and got second.”

Kendrick Carmouche, who is seeking to win his first Aqueduct riding title, has the call on True Timber, who drew post 8.

Outside of True Timber is Bon Raison, also trained by Sisterson. Bon Raison, eighth at 69-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, is likely to be the longest shot on the board in the Cigar Mile.

In the Breeders’ Cup, Bon Raison was ridden by Adam Beschizza, who told Sisterson he never used his stick on the horse “because I had nowhere to go. He said ‘I’m not telling you I would have won the race, but I definitely would have been a lot closer.’ ”

Jorge Vargas Jr. rides Bon Raison from post 9.

Performer, whose lone start in 2020 was an allowance win on Oct. 17 at Belmont, will likely go off the favorite. He drew the rail. Outside of him, in post order, are Mind Control, Snapper Sinclair, Firenze Fire, Mr. Buff, King Guillermo, Majestic Dunhill, True Timber, and Bon Raison.

The Cigar Mile will go as the last race on a 10-race card that begins at 11:30 a.m.