Cigar Mile players continue to emerge
 

Private Zone
Laugh Track
Secret Circle
Goldencents
Groupie Doll
Forty Tales
Capo Bastone
Verrazano
Clearly Now
Saratoga Snacks
Flat Out
Alpha**

Laugh Track should have a good shot but it's hard to make Private Zone. He's nominated to the Fall Highweight (which is now $300k!). Should go there instead.

Also - might have missed this somewhere but Clearly Now is a good possibility to come up too. After the Bold Ruler they had said he was probably done for the year.

Laugh Track was incredibly lucky to get second in the BC Sprint, the race fell apart and he got a great ride, no thanks.

Hopefully Private Zone runs Goldencents into the ground though that one can rate a bit.

I will be looking for a solid mid pack horse in this race.

Fantastic. Let's get a field of 12.

Maybe but at least he wants a mile and there should be a decent pace. That was his first dirt start around one turn.

Private Zone will have to keep up with Goldencents before he runs him into the ground. Have you seen Goldencents run live? I saw him win 2012 Delta Jackpot with Kevin Krigger aboard. Now, he has professional jockey, Bejarano, Goldencents is very dangerous horse.

I suggested to my OTB friends after his dismal Kentucky Derby that bold move would be for Goldencents to skip Preakness and go to Met Mile. Didn't happen. Doug O'Neill is no Woody Stephens.

On November 30, we will get our answer. Good luck with whomever you back. I'm Goldencents man one more time!

Private Zone doesn't win very often (*in the big races anyway, I realize he won a G1 at Belmont and an ungraded stakes at Del Mar) for such a highly regarded horse. I'm with Goldencents too.

If Goldencents is in front of Private Zone after the half mile without gate mishap in the Cigar I will be shocked, one has sprinter speed and one has very fast router speed.

He has a chance to get the Eclipse if he wins the Cigar. That's a huge factor.

I'll wait for a firm decision once entries are drawn, but despite how impressive Goldencents looked in the BC Mile, shouldn't any self-respecting handicapper should be looking to beat him off that bias aided win?

Every year I'm baffled as to why the Cigar Mile is potentially a determining factor in the Sprint Eclipse. While I understand that at Aqueduct it is a 1 turn race it still isnt contested at a sprint distance.

I expect Goldencents to rate off of Private Zone and come flying 5 wide on the turn to win by 5+ lengths geared down at the wire. I think he still has his best ready to fire for this one and then get an extended 3 month layoff.

I think it is used as the final opportunity in years where no one distinguished themselves. The sprint division this year is pretty much the definition of that, with Points Offthebench the only 2 time Grade I winner.

No one can really be happy about Secret Circle winning the Eclipse off of that slow, ugly BC Sprint win over the unstoppable Laugh Track.

I'm not saying it's right, but its status as a potential definitive race in this division was cemented when Kodiak Kowboy used it to win the Eclipse in 2009.

Has a horse ever won the sprint eclipse without winning a graded race at 6f that year?

Aldebaran?

Rubiano, if I recall correctly.

Plugged Nickle

Forego for sure....and I bet Dr. Fager.

Fun race to handicap. Hope NYRA can produce a great Pick 4 sequence. These one turn miles with the combo of speed sprinters and route speed horses are always fun to watch and bet. I'm a big fan of the pace projector from Timeform and am looking forward to seeing their analysis..

All four listed won the Eclipse without winning a graded 6f race.