The $500,000, Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by Twinspires.com scheduled for Saturday at Aqueduct offers one final opportunity for accomplished dirt mile horses to compete in a marquee race before the calendar turns to 2025. Held around one turn, the Cigar Mile has been an important race in the dirt mile division since its inaugural running in 1988 when Forty Niner won what was then called the NYRA Mile Handicap. Subsequent winners of note include Rubiano (1991), Cigar (1994, for whom the race was renamed), Congaree (2002, 2003), Tonalist (2015), Maximum Security (2019), and Mind Control (2022).

This year’s renewal drew a quality 11-horse field that includes four Grade/Group 1 winners, and it will be televised live on the “America’s Day at the Races” broadcast on FS2. Post time is set for 3:35 p.m. ET.

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Read on for information about the Cigar Mile contenders plus some handicapping insights:

1. Book’em Danno (4-1 morning-line odds)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Derek Ryan

Owner: Atlantic Six Racing

Career record: 10 starts – 6 wins – 3 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $1,018,125

Earnings per start: $101,813

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 108

Pedigree: Bucchero – Adorabella, by Ghostzapper

Age: 3

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This New Jersey-bred gelding has had an excellent 3-year-old season, winning three of his six starts and finishing second twice and third once. He can cap it off with a victory in the Cigar Mile and shapes up as a leading contender in the race under five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Ortiz was aboard Book’em Danno for his Grade 1 win earlier this year in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun at Saratoga and also his near-miss seconds in both the Saudi Derby, held at one mile back in March, and his lead-in race to the Cigar Mile, the seven-furlong Perryville Stakes at Keeneland in October. Ortiz should have his mount positioned well breaking from the inside post, sitting a couple of lengths behind speed horses Nelson Avenue, Mullikin, and Pipeline. There are a few other Cigar Mile starters that have the same stalking running style as Book’em Danno, but they aren’t as accomplished. With a clean trip, he should be in contention during the stretch run.

Bet on Book’em Danno in the Cigar Mile.

2. Nelson Avenue (30-1)

Jockey: Dylan Davis

Trainer: Wayne Potts

Owner: Photos Finish

Career record: 14 starts – 5 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $251,405

Earnings per start: $17,958

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 109

Pedigree: Into Mischief – Via Strata, by Street Cry

Age:5

Color: Bay

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Nelson Avenue projects to be one of three or four Cigar Mile contenders vying to set the early pace, as he’s run quite well in his prior three starts using his early speed. The gelding will be facing the toughest field by far in his career Saturday and trying to win the race on the front end appears to be his best strategy. Three starts back, he sat off the early pace in a seven-furlong claiming race held on a muddy track at Saratoga and took over to win by 1 ¼ lengths. He then followed that up with an impressive gate-to-wire victory by the same margin in a one-turn mile allowance-optional claiming race Sept. 15 during the Belmont at the Big A meet held at Aqueduct. Then in his stakes debut, Nelson Avenue tried to do the same thing in the Grade 3 Forty Niner Stakes Oct. 26 at the same track and distance, and while he yielded to Coastal Mission by a length, overall it was a strong runner-up effort. Based on his current form and front-running style, Nelson Avenue is worthy of consideration for exactas and trifectas against a stacked Cigar Mile field, and he’ll need to run the race of his career to hit the board. Jockey Dylan Davis, enjoying a breakout season in the irons, has been aboard this gelding in the three races discussed above and retains the mount Saturday.

Bet on Nelson Avenue in the Cigar Mile.

3. Repo Rocks (30-1)

Jockey: Ruben Silvera

Trainer: Jamie Ness

Owner: Double B Racing Stables

Career record: 43 starts – 10 wins – 9 seconds – 7 thirds

Career earnings: $978,406

Earnings per start: $22,745

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 117

Pedigree: Tapiture – Hawaiian Love, by Not For Love

Age: 6

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Veteran Repo Rocks leads the Cigar Mile field by a sizable margin in career starts with 43. The gelding has taken a step back in success during his 6-year-old season with only one win in seven starts as opposed to going 4-for-6 in 2023, highlighted by an 8 ½-length win in the Aqueduct’s Toboggan Stakes held at seven furlongs. Still, his form has ticked upward over the past four months. During the Colonial Downs meet, Repo Rocks finished second and then first in allowance-optional claiming sprints, and he followed that by running second by a half-length in the Parx Dirt Mile Stakes and then fourth in the one-mile Forty Niner Stakes at Aqueduct. Cigar Mile foe Coastal Mission won both of those stakes races and is one of several contenders in Saturday’s race who have superior career résumés and recent speed figures compared with Repo Rocks. This midpack stalker should be up against it in the Cigar Mile as most of the projected front-runners are faster than he is and several closers have a stronger finishing kick.

Bet on Repo Rocks in the Cigar Mile.

4. Vinsanity (50-1)

Jockey: Francisco Martinez

Trainer: Antonio Arriaga

Owner: Next Level Stables

Career record: 20 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $74,718

Earnings per start: $3,736

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 94

Pedigree: Tapiture – Call to Action, by Majestic Warrior

Age: 3

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This gelding will make his graded stakes debut in a very tough assignment and projects to be the longest shot in the field come post time. He’s only won twice in 20 career starts, the second victory occurring two races back when he took a one-turn-mile claiming event at Belmont at the Big A by a length. Vinsanity followed that up by finishing last of nine in a seven-furlong starter allowance race Nov. 9 at Aqueduct, regressing from his career-best 94 Equibase Speed Figure to a 64. Even if he can cycle back to the mid-90s level, Vinsanity figures to be overmatched against this accomplished field.

Bet on Vinsanity in the Cigar Mile.

5. Mullikin (3-1)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset

Owners: Siena Farm and WinStar Farm

Career record: 10 starts – 5 wins – 3 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $853,612

Earnings per start: $85,361

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 110

Pedigree: Violence – Tulira’s Star, by Congrats

Age: 4

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This speedy Violence colt has had a breakthrough campaign at age 4, winning his first four starts of 2024, including the John A. Nerud Stakes and Forego Stakes, before suffering his first loss of the year when third as the 3.20-1 favorite in the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 2 at Del Mar. Mullikin had trouble settling into stride during the early stages of that six-furlong race and ran several lengths off of the early pace, a departure from the forwardly placed running style used in all four of his prior wins this season. He still rallied to finish third and can be expected to revert back to setting or pressing the pace Saturday in the Cigar Mile under Flavien Prat, who was aboard for open-length wins in the Nerud and Forego. Mullikin has not raced beyond seven furlongs but won the Nerud at that distance on this track back in June, defeating Cigar Mile foe Coastal Mission. He’s a leading win candidate and could get the jump on his main competitors at the top of the stretch if the early pace is modest.

Bet on Mullikin in the Cigar Mile.

6. Law Professor (15-1)

Jockey: Kendrick Carmouche

Trainer: Rob Atras

Owner: John Holleman

Career record: 24 starts – 9 wins – 2 seconds – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $1,070,296

Earnings per start: $44,596

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 118

Pedigree: Constitution – Haunted Heroine, by Ghostzapper

Age: 6

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Press the pace/stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: After competing exclusively in stakes races during 2022 and 2023, Law Professor only appeared once at that level in his first four starts of 2024, finishing last of seven and defeated by 21 ¼ lengths in the Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn Park back in early May. His other three starts of the season have all been victories, however, as he won back-to-back allowance-optional claiming races during Aqueduct’s winter meet and then, in his first start since the Lake Ouachita, took a 1 1/8-mile allowance-optional claimer Oct. 25 on this track during the Belmont at the Big A meet. The gelding has largely flown under the radar during his career yet still has earned more than $1 million, and he’s proven his mettle against top-caliber horses on occasion, including posting a runner-up finish to Life Is Good in the Woodward Stakes back in 2022 and a third-place result in last year’s Woodward behind Zandon. Law Professor is 5-for-7 at Aqueduct and 4-for-8 at this distance, and 2020 Cigar Mile-winning rider Kendrick Carmouche, who’s been aboard for two of his wins in 2024 including his October comeback, retains the mount. A live longshot.

Bet on Law Professor in the Cigar Mile.

7. Locked (9-2)

Jockey: John Velazquez

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owners: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm

Career record: 5 starts – 3 wins – 0 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $660,650

Earnings per start: $132,130

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 109

Pedigree: Gun Runner – Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon

Age: 3

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Locked is the wild-card contender in the Cigar Mile – he’s light on experience having made only one start this year but displayed enough talent as a juvenile in 2023 to make him the post-time favorite in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA. The Gun Runner colt finished third in the BC Juvenile, which was preceded by a Grade 1 stakes victory in the 1 1/16-mile Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity. He then went on the shelf for a little more than 11 months due to a knee injury. Locked’s return was impressive, as he overmatched five opponents in a seven-furlong allowance-optional claiming race on Oct. 19 during Aqueduct’s Belmont at the Big A meet. He won by 7 ½ lengths with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez riding for the first time, and Velazquez stays aboard for the Cigar Mile. Locked is eligible to run even better in his second start after the layoff, and if he does so he’ll have a big chance to win against a tough field. Trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Cigar Mile a record six times, most recently in back-to-back years with Americanrevolution (2021) and Mind Control (2022). John Velazquez was aboard Mind Control for Pletcher, and Velazquez also won last year’s Cigar Mile aboard Hoist the Gold to boost his career total victories in this race to four.

Bet on Locked in the Cigar Mile.

8. Pipeline (20-1)

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

Trainer: Cherie DeVaux

Owner: John Gunther

Career record: 19 starts – 4 wins – 2 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $503,913

Earnings per start: $26,522

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 105

Pedigree: Speightstown – Vivo Per Lei, by Empire Maker

Age: 6

Color: Bay

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This veteran completed one of his best races from 19 career starts in his prep for the Cigar Mile, taking a 1 1/16-mile allowance-optional claiming race in gate-to-wire fashion Sept. 19 at Churchill Downs. Pipeline also won at the same distance back in April in a Keeneland allowance, but in his other three starts this year he’s not been able to carry his speed to victory, tiring in a Gulfstream Park allowance to start the year back in January and also fading in two stakes races during spring and summer. Back in 2022, Pipeline showed enough ability to hit the board in a couple of graded stakes, but since then he hasn’t been much of a threat against the level of competition he’ll face Saturday. Look for jockey Junior Alvarado, who won the Cigar Mile in 2013 on Flat Out, to send Pipeline immediately in a bid to control the early pace. Doing so will give him the best chance to win, but the odds are long for that to happen.

Bet on Pipeline in the Cigar Mile.

9. Senor Buscador (6-1)

Jockey: Joel Rosario

Trainer: Todd Fincher

Owner: Joe Peacock Jr.

Career record: 22 starts – 7 wins – 2 seconds – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $12,941,427

Earnings per start: $588,247

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 113

Pedigree: Mineshaft – Rose’s Desert, by Desert God

Age: 6

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Fan favorite Senor Buscador is winding down his racing career, with his connections declaring that plans are to race him twice more – once in the Cigar Mile, and then finally in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Baccarat in January. ‘Senor’ finished second in last year’s Cigar Mile and then second by a neck in the 2024 Pegasus, which preceded his career peak in late winter when he won the Saudi Cup and pocketed a cool $10 million from a $20 million purse and then finished second to Laurel River in the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline, good for another $1.2 million paycheck. Senor Buscador took a break after the Dubai World Cup before returning in the seven-furlong Pat O’Brien Stakes in late August at Del Mar, where he finished fourth, and since then he’s checked in a distant fifth in both the California Crown Stakes Presented by SirDavis American Whisky and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. Both of those races were two-turn routes, and shortening back to a one-turn mile could help Senor Buscador’s chances in the Cigar Mile if he gets a swift pace to close into. He’s a must-use horse for exacta and trifecta tickets but will need everything to set up perfectly for him in order to win.

Bet on Senor Buscador in the Cigar Mile.

10. Coastal Mission (12-1)

Jockey: Arnaldo Bocachica

Trainer: Jeff Runco

Owner: Jeff Runco

Career record: 25 starts – 14 wins – 5 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $1,091,653

Earnings per start: $43,666

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 118

Pedigree: Great Notion – Smart Crowd, by Crowd Pleaser

Age: 5

Color: Gray or roan

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Coastal Mission is truly an under-the-radar racehorse in terms of national exposure. He’s earned nearly $1.1 million through a busy 25-race career that includes 14 wins, five seconds, and one third and six stakes victories. In his eight starts since finishing fifth in the 2023 Cigar Mile, he’s won three times and finished second twice, one of those runner-up efforts coming behind Mullikin in the John A. Nerud Stakes back in July on this track. The gelding enters in good form with back-to-back stakes wins going a mile in the Parx Dirt Mile Stakes over Repo Rocks and then the Forty Niner Stakes over Nelson Avenue, the latter on this track as well. Jockey Arnaldo Bocachica (who’s been aboard Coastal Mission in 21 of his 22 starts) employed similar stalk-and-pounce tactics each time to prevail, and look for him to attempt a similar trip Saturday. Coastal Mission’s recent speed figures are a cut below those of the best Cigar Mile contenders, but this gelding’s way too classy and consistent to leave out of exotic tickets. 

Bet on Coastal Mission in the Cigar Mile.

11. Post Time (7-2)

Jockey: Sheldon Russell

Trainer: Brittany Russell

Owner: Hillwood Stable

Career record: 14 starts – 9 wins – 3 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $1,167,910

Earnings per start: $83,422

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 116

Pedigree: Frosted – Vielsalm, by Fairbanks

Age: 4

Color: Gray or roan

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Post Time enters the Cigar Mile off of a “what if?” performance in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 2 at Del Mar. He trailed early in that two-turn race, racing last of 13, and rallied swiftly through the stretch to finish 1 ½ lengths behind forwardly placed winner Full Serrano, leading of course to questions along the lines of “What if Post Time wasn’t so far back early in the race?” He’ll have to secure a good position and trip in the Cigar Mile after leaving the far outside post with regular rider Sheldon Russell in the irons, and if he can do that he should be primed to unleash a strong finishing kick that might help him reach the winner’s circle. Post Time has yet to finish out of the top three through 14 starts, and he ran very well in two starts on Aqueduct’s main track back in the spring when winning the Carter Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets at seven furlongs and then losing the one-mile Westchester Stakes by three-quarters of a length. It almost goes without saying, then, that Post Time is a must-use horse in exotic bets, and he’s a legitimate win candidate as well.

Bet on Post Time in the Cigar Mile.