Tom Pedulla offers takeaways from Cigar Mile day at Aqueduct Racetrack. The Saturday afternoon card was headlined by the tradition-rich Cigar Mile Handicap presented by Twinspires.com, a one-turn mile, as well as the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes for 2-year-old colts and the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The Remsen offered qualifying points for the 2025 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserveto the top five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis. The Demoiselle awarded Longines Kentucky Oaks qualifying points according to the same scale.

Prat after the record-setting win on Poster. (Eclipse Sportswire)

RECORD SEASON: Superb jockey Flavien Prat set a single-season record when he piloted Godolphin homebred Poster to a nose victory in the Remsen for his 80th stakes victory. Irad Ortiz Jr. had set the mark with 79 two years ago. Prat also equaled Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey’s mark for graded-stakes triumphs with 55. Bailey had set that in 2003. “It’s off my back and it was something that I had in the back of my mind for sure,” Prat said. “You never know if that opportunity is going to come again, so it was something that I was definitely trying to achieve. I have great people supporting me all year round.”

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Locked, making only his second start of the season for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm due to a strained ligament behind one of his knees, staged an impressive rally to register a 1 ½-length decision in the Cigar. The 3-year-old had been off for 11 months before he finally made his season debut with a 7 ½-length drubbing of older horses in an allowance-optional claiming race in October at Aqueduct. Trainer Todd Pletcher could not help but wonder what might have been. “It was unfortunate timing because I think that the way some of the Triple Crown races set up this year would have suited him really well,” he said. “But that’s the way it goes sometimes.” The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes presented by Baccarat on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park is under consideration as the next start for Locked.

QUESTION ANSWERED: Godolphin homebred Poster broke his maiden at first asking, going one mile on turf at Ellis Park Aug. 19. He remained on grass for an Oct. 11 allowance race at the same distance at Keeneland. Another victory. Could the Munnings colt out of the Tapit mare Pin Up, handle dirt? He answered that question affirmatively in edging Aviator Gui by a nose in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen, much to trainer Eoin Harty’s relief. “Considering his pedigree, I know the family’s ins and outs and I didn’t think he’d have a problem with it,” Harty said. “I’m glad to be proven right.” Poster completed the mile and an eighth in 1:50.37.

Talented filly Muhimma won the Demoiselle. (Eclipse Sportswire)

HIGH-POWERED LINEUP: Trainer Brad Cox knows what it takes to win the Kentucky Oaks, having accomplished that with Monomoy Girl (2018) and Shedaresthedevil (2020). It looks as though he may have a great shot at a third Oaks. Demoiselle victor Muhimma, in improving to 3-for-3, joined stablemates Immersive (NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar) and Good Cheer (Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs) in stamping themselves as Oaks contenders with significant stakes scores. “We’ve been put in a good position with fillies that have responded,” Cox said. “Now, our job is to turn the page on this year and try to execute next year.”

DÉJÀ VU: Trainer Chad Brown is seemingly snakebitten when it comes to the Remsen. Three of his horses – Zandon (2021), Sierra Leone (2023) and now Aviator Gui – have been nosed out of victory in the last four years. To Brown’s disbelief, Aviator Gui lugged in just the way Sierra Leone had. “I never really saw that from that horse before, so I’ve got a little bit of work to do with him,” he said. “He ran good and showed he belongs around two turns.”