Locked. (Joe Labozzetta)
By Brian Bohl
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm’s Locked rewarded his post-time favoritism, overtaking fellow Grade 1-winner Mullikin with a stretch-drive move from the far outside and powering to a 1 1/2-length win in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile presented by TwinSpires at Aqueduct Racetrack.
A $425,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Locked made just his second start of the year but improved to 2-for-2 as a sophomore by besting elders in the one-turn mile handicap. In October, he followed an 11-month respite with a 7 1/2-length optional-claiming victory against elders in a triumphant return at the Big A.
Aron Wellman, of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, said the Cigar Mile victory by last year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity winner was equal to a Grade 1 score.
“Even his allowance win here, six weeks ago, was brilliant, he ran fast and now to win a race like the Cigar as a 3-year-old, it just puts an exclamation point on what has been, unfortunately, a brief but brilliant career,” Wellman said. “It is also unfortunate that the Cigar is not a Grade 1. I think we’d all agree that in prestige, this is a Grade 1 race, and this was a Grade 1 field today, without question.”
Led by the Hall of Fame trainer-jockey combination of Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez, Locked stayed off the pace after exiting post 6 as Pipeline led the 10-horse field through the opening quarter mile of 22.87 seconds on the fast main track, with the half in 45.30 and three-quarters in 1:09.81, while stalked by Mullikin.
Pipeline maintained the lead out of the turn before record-setting jockey Flavien Prat [who established the single-year stakes record earlier on the card] utilized an aggressive hand ride aboard Mullikin to take him to the lead from the outside. But Velazquez found daylight to the far outside of the track and Locked ran down the challenger in the final furlong and hit the wire in 1:34.52 while besting three other Grade/Group 1-winners.
Mullikin finished one-length clear of Post Time for second, with Coastal Mission, Grade 1-winner Book’em Danno, Pipeline, Repo Rocks, Nelson Avenue, Group 1-winner Senor Buscador – who stumbled badly at the start – and Vinsanity completing the order of finish. Law Professor was scratched.
“He came into the year with high hopes and unfortunately, we got sidelined for a little while, but he came back and finished up the year the way he did and proved that very good 2-year-olds turn into really good 3-year-olds as well,” Pletcher said. “We had a physical setback that we had to give him some time for. 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, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Velazquez won the Cigar Mile for a record-equaling fifth time overall and the third consecutive year, going back-to-back-to-back with Locked joining Hoist the Gold last year and the Pletcher-trained Mind Control in 2022.
“Perfect trip. We knew it was going to be pretty speedy, and he got a good post on the outside,” Velazquez said. “He didn’t break as good, so I wanted to hustle him from there and then give him a little chance the first part of the race and in the turn. I got busy on him when I saw Prat’s horse in front of me, I know he was quick, and I didn’t want him to open up too far and then I couldn’t catch up with him. So, I got him busy around the three-eighths pole and was right on top of him at the quarter-pole, and said, ‘Now I think I got him.’”
Pletcher extended his all-time lead with his seventh Cigar Mile victory, comprising nearly one-fifth of the 36 total runnings of the Cigar Mile. Pletcher has won this race in three of the last four editions.
“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.
Wellman credited Pletcher and his team for identifying the injury to Locked in timely fashion.
“He had a rare strain of a ligament behind his knee, which was really difficult to detect and wasn’t all that obvious physically, so credit to Todd and his team for catching it at a point that was early enough,” Wellman said. “It was the morning of the Fountain of Youth that Todd just wasn’t 100 percent happy with him. If it wasn’t for his meticulous nature and his team, I don’t know if Locked would be here able to showcase himself the way he is.”
Locked won for the fourth time in six starts and has never finished off the board, moving to 4-0-2. The 2-1 favorite returned $6.30 on a $2 win bet and is approaching millionaire status with his career earnings bolstered to $935,650. Pletcher said the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup on January 25 at Gulfstream Park could be a possible next target.
“I’ll talk to Aron and the guys. That’s one of the things we talked about. Of course you’ve got Saudi a month after that, so we’ve got some options,” Pletcher said.
Mullikin, the winner of the Grade 2 John A. Nerud in July at the Big A, Grade 1 Forego in August at Saratoga and a competitive third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November at Del Mar, finished on the board in all six of his starts as a 4-year-old and is 5-4-1 in 11 career starts for trainer Rodolphe Brisset.
“He ran his race,” Brisset said of Mullikin’s longest test to date. “Perfect stalking position and turning for home, I thought we were home free. We got run down by a very good horse, obviously. I think that was a good try and Flavien [Prat] confirmed we can come back to a mile, and we’ll be fine. I was looking at the Saudi Cup with one eye, but you need to win to go to the Saudi Cup. We’ll just do the smart thing, give him a little break and bring a fresh horse for next year. He’s done nothing wrong this year and hopefully he can win another one next year.”
Bred in Kentucky by Rosa Colasanti, Locked is out of the winning Malibu Moon mare Luna Rosa. His second dam, Gabriellina Giof, produced dual Grade 1-winner Gabby’s Golden Gal and multiple graded stakes-winner Always a Princess.
Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card, featuring the $135,000 Garland of Roses in Race 8. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern.
