Bishops Bay, NYRA Photo
Keith McCalmont
KAS Stables’ Bishops Bay arrived in the final strides to overtake pacesetter Mika and capture Saturday’s 37th running of the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile Handicap, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Brad Cox and piloted by Flavien Prat, the 5-year-old Uncle Mo bay entered the one-turn mile for 3-year-olds and up having recently been purchased for $1.3 million from the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale.
Bishops Bay, carrying a co-field high 125 pounds, needed every bit of the stretch run to put away the stubborn sophomore Mika and keep a perfect record at the Big A intact following Grade 3 scores over course and distance in the Westchester in May and the Forty Niner last out on November 2.
Cox credited a strong ride from Prat, who is perfect in six starts aboard Bishops Bay, including scores in the restricted American Pharoah in March at Oaklawn Park and the Grade 3 Salvator Mile in June at Monmouth Park along with the Westchester and Forty Niner.
“I was worried about that loose leader watching the race, he was traveling awfully well in the turn and when they straightened away, I thought he’d be pretty hard to run down,” Cox said. “Once again, our horse was very game – he always shows up and is very consistent. Flavien is 6-for-6 on him so they make a good team, for sure.”
Bishops Bay broke alertly from the outermost post 6 but the Manny Franco-piloted Mika took over out of the inside draw to mark the opening quarter-mile in 23.10 seconds over the fast main track.
Mika led the field into the turn as Bishops Bay kept watch in second with Pentathlon and Phileas Fogg stalking and a long way back to late-running Crazy Mason in fifth, who had only Brazenly beat through the half-mile in 45.72.
“When Manny kind of went on the lead and looked very comfortable, I kind of changed my mind, got as close as I could to him without using my horse too much,” Prat said. “Honestly, turning for home I was hoping he’d stop in front… I wasn’t sure I was going to get there, turning for home.”
Mika held a 2 1/2-length lead at the stretch call but Bishops Bay, under strong encouragement from Prat, dug in gamely to reel in the pacesetter and secure a narrow neck win and a well-deserved pat on the neck from his rider after completing the course in 1:34.62.
Prat credited a game Bishops Bay for a strong, sustained run down the lane.
“I was able to stick with him [Mika] and we turned for home and he didn’t open up on me. I was able to stick close to him and I figured at some point he’d slow down, my horse wasn’t [slowing down]. He’s just a very game horse. He’s very honest, always shows up. He has a great mind and is willing to win every time,” Prat said.
Franco said the Mike Maker-trained Mika performed admirably in his graded stakes debut following a pair of open-lengths scores against winners.
“I did what I wanted to do: I wanted to be on the lead – them chasing me. He ran good,” Franco said. “My horse was there for me, at the three-sixteenths pole, I said, ‘man, I think I’m going to get it.’ Just within the eighth pole, he felt the 45 [seconds fraction for the half-mile] a little bit.
“That was the instructions,” Franco added. “They wanted me to be there no matter what, so that is what I did.”
Maker was equally pleased with the strong effort from Mika, a sophomore son of Catholic Boy, who was assigned 114 pounds with Franco listed as ‘plus four pounds.’
“He ran a great race and ran game. A 3-year-old against older, so no complaints,” Maker said. “It’s a big jump from running in an ‘a-other-than’ to a Grade 2 and the other horses have more seasoning. The sky’s the limit.”
It was 4 1/4-lengths back to Crazy Mason in third with Phileas Fogg, Pentathlon and Brazenly rounding out the order of finish. Doc Sullivan, who is pointing to the $125,000 Alex M. Robb on December 26 here versus fellow New York-breds, was scratched.
Cox said Bishops Bay will target a potential start in the Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup on February 14 at Kingabdulaziz Racecourse.
“The ownership wants to pursue that. If there’s another race between now and then, I’m not certain,” Cox said. “We’ll see if this gets him directly in or exactly how we would get him in – we’ll have to talk to the Saudi Cup committee and see if they feel he’s in as of now or would need another race.”
Bishops Bay, initially a $450,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the dual graded stakes-placed Pioneerof the Nile mare Catch my Drift and is a half-brother to the Cox-trained Grade 2-winning millionaire Catching Freedom.
Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Bishops Bay banked $275,000 in victory while improving his record to 13-9-3-0. He returned $4.40 for a $2 win ticket as the post-time favorite.
Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with an eight-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely in Race 7 and the $150,000 Garland of Roses in Race 6. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races presents live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
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