There seems to be a bright future in store for 3-year-old Locked after his win in the Grade 2 $500,000 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by Twinspires.com Dec. 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The victory inevitably brought thoughts about what could have been. If not for an unusual knee ligament issue that kept him away from the races for nearly a year, the Grade 1 winner at age 2 might have been a major player in this year's 3-year-old classics.

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"It was unfortunate timing because the way some of the Triple Crown races set up this year, it would have suited him very well," trainer Todd Pletcher said about Locked.

While there might be disappointment attached to the past, after beating older rivals and drawing off in the stretch to a 1 1/2-length win in a race as prestigious as the Cigar Mile, there's the very satisfying consolation of having horse expected to be a top threat in the Grade 1 $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes presented by Baccarat on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park, or the Group 1 $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 22 in Saudi Arabia.

"Right now, we're thinking about the Pegasus but the $20 million is hanging out there," said ownership spokesperson Aron Wellman. "It's something we have to keep on our radar."

Considering what happened to Locked, just getting him back to the races involved tons of good fortune.

"I'd be lying if I said we weren't devastated that we had to take him off the Kentucky Derby trail," Wellman said. "But looking back on the injury and the uniqueness of it, we feel very fortunate to be in this position to showcase him again.

A winner of the Grade 1 2023 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at age 2, Locked, a son of Gun Runner, was third in the 2023 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by TAA. Due to the knee injury, he did not race again until he captured an Oct. 19 allowance optional claiming race at Aqueduct that convinced his connections to point for the Cigar Mile.

Mullikin, exiting a third-place finish as the favorite in the Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint, surged to a short-lived lead in mid-stretch until jockey John Velazquez and Locked rallied from sixth and powered by him nearing the sixteenth pole. Locked extended Pletcher's record number of Cigar Mile wins to seven.

"I think we've been fortunate enough to have some healthy horses at this time of the year and some good milers to be able to run," Pletcher said.

For Velazquez, Locked, the 2-1 favorite ($6.30), gave him three victories in a row in the Cigar Mile and accounted for a record-matching fifth Cigar Mile win in his career.

"It's unfortunate that the Cigar is not a Grade 1 and I think we'd all agree in prestige it's a Grade 1 race and it was a Grade 1 field today without question," Wellman said. "Hopefully, the powers that be will reconsider and reinstate its Grade 1 status."

Mullikin finished second by a length over the rallying Post Time who settled for third.

Prat Wins Two Stakes to Break Record for Stakes Wins in a Year

Prat celebrates his stakes record. (Jason Moran/Eclipse Sportswire)

Jockey Flavien Prat, widely expected to win an Eclipse Award for his riding achievements this year, tied a stakes record set by Irad Ortiz Jr. in 2022 by winning his 79th stakes race of the year aboard Tizzy in the Sky for trainer Todd Pletcher in the $200,000 Grade 3 Go for Wand Stakes.

An hour and a half later, Prat would take the record outright when Godolphin 2-year-old Poster narrowly won the Grade 2 $250,000 Remsen Stakes to give Prat 80 stakes wins this year. Fifty-five of the wins have come at the graded level, tying Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey's graded stakes record set in 2003.

"It's been a great season and I'm very grateful," Prat said of the record-setting triumph. "It means a lot to me." -- Byron King

Poster Wins Remsen Stakes Giving Godolphin Another Derby Prospect

Godolphin's Poster benefitted from an assertive ride by Prat to win his dirt debut when capturing the $250,000 Grade 2 Remsen Stakes for 2-year-olds Dec. 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

For trainer Eoin Harty, having a rider in a groove like Prat was a blessing as Poster rallied widest on the final turn, grabbed the lead at the top of the stretch, and then held off a late bid by Aviator Gui to win by a nose.

As a qualifying race on the road to the 2025 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, Poster picked up 10 points in a race that has produced the winners of two Triple Crown races and the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic in its previous three editions. Just last year, the Remsen winner was Dornoch, who went on to capture the Belmont Stakes and the NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes. The runner-up by a nose, Sierra Leone, prevailed in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

"If he can have the same talent as the horses who were successful in this race last year, we will be very, very happy," said Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock.

Poster came into the Remsen undefeated in two starts, both on the turf, but it's not surprising the connections opted to give him a try on dirt before the year came to an end.

"Considering his pedigree, I know the family's ins and outs, I didn't think he'd have a problem with (dirt) and I'm glad to be proven right," Harty said.

Now, Poster is in the Triple Crown mix with Godolphin stablemate East Avenue, who was the winner of Keeneland's Grade 1 Claiboune Breeders' Futurity and was favored in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by TAA.

"When he won at Keeneland (Oct. 12 in his second start), we decide to give him an opportunity to see if he could add to our mix of 3-year-olds on the dirt," Banahan said. "This win gives us a great winter to dream about these horses. We'll come up with a plan to divide and conquer."

Banahan said East Avenue is at Fair Grounds with a probable target of the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes.

Harty said a return to New York for one of the 3-year-old Kentucky Derby preps is a possibility for Poster.

Prat and Poster were last in the field of six after the opening quarter-mile and as the leaders began to tire leaving the quarter pole, Poster swept past them and grabbed a two-length lead in mid-stretch.

The lone threat to Poster came Aviator Gui, who had to wait for room in the stretch then swung wide and chewed into the lead while lugging in but fell a stride short of reaching the front.

Poster ($11.60) covered the distance in 1:50.37 on a fast track.

The second- through fifth-place finishers earned Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 5-3-2-1 scale. Tux finished third, followed by Studlydoright in fourth.

Aviator Gui, trained by Chad Brown, picked up five qualifying points for second. Brown, who also trains Remsen beaten favorite Keewaydin, said he had "no excuse for his fifth-place finish." -- Bob Ehalt

Muhimma Wins Demoiselle to Add to Cox's Loaded 3-Year-Old Filly Roster

Muhimma improved her record to 3-for-3 for trainer Brad Cox when taking the $250,000 Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Dec. 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Cox has twice won the prestigious Longines Kentucky Oaks, first with Monomoy Girl in 2018 and then two years later with Shedaresthedevil in 2020. Now, with a little less than five months to go before the 2025 Longines Kentucky Oaks, Cox appears well positioned to potentially win a third. Besides training Muhimma, Cox also trains the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and all-but-certain champion 2-year-old filly of 2024 Immersive, and Good Cheer, the winner of the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes.

Muhimma. (Jason Moran/Eclipse Sportswire)

"I'm proud of what our team has been able to do with these horses and I'm proud of the horses," Cox said. "We've been put in a good position with fillies that have responded and now our job is to turn the page on this year and try to execute next year."

Immersive and Good Cheer are first and second on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 40 and 20 points, respectively, and Muhimma vaulted into the top 10 by picking up 10 points with Saturday's victory. The top five Demoiselle finishers earned Oaks qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale.

Though Muhimma had not raced in a stakes race or in a route before the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle, the public anticipated her Demoiselle success, backing her to 2-5 favoritism. She lived up to expectations, taking charge early under jockey Florent Geroux in the two-turn race from her inside post, setting comfortable fractions, and then fending off a stretch rally from late-running Ballerina d'Oro to hit the finish line a length in front. She was timed in 1:49.84 for the distance and ran the closing eighth in :12.43. Muhimma returned $2.80 to win.

Liam in the Dust, who tracked the early pace under Flavien Prat, finished third. Five a Side was fourth, and Carmen's Candy Jar was fifth. -- Byron King