# Cigar Mile Handicap

The Cigar Mile Handicap is a Grade II American thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three-years-old and older over a distance of one mile and is held in late November or early December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The event carries a purse of $500,000.

## History

The inaugural running of the event, then known as the NYRA Mile Handicap or simply the NYRA Mile, was won in 1988 by three-year-old Forty Niner, who would later become an influential sire. The race was eligible for graded stakes classification in 1990 and was awarded Grade I status by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
The 1994 NYRA Mile was the second race in the 16-race win streak of Cigar, who won by seven lengths. The event was renamed in 1997 following Cigar's retirement to the Cigar Mile Handicap. Horses who have won the Cigar Mile on their way to championship honors include 2006 winner Discreet Cat (named one of the year's champion three-year-olds in the World's Best Racehorse Rankings), 2009 winner Kodiak Kowboy (winner of that year's Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter), and 2019 victor Maximum Security (that year's Eclipse winner for Best Three-Year-Old Male).
In 2023 the event was downgraded by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to Grade II status.

## Records

Speed record:
* 1:32.46 – Discreet Cat (2006)
Margins:
* 7 lengths – Cigar (1994)
Most wins:
* 2 – Congaree (2002, 2003)
Most wins by a jockey:
* 5 – Jerry Bailey (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003)
* 5 – John R. Velazquez (2001, 2015, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 7 – Todd A. Pletcher (2001, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2024)
Most wins by an owner:
* 2 – Michael B. Tabor (2001, 2004)
* 2 – Stonerside Stable (2002, 2003)
* 2 – Charles E. Fipke (2008, 2010)

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Distance | Time | Purse | Grade | Ref |
| Cigar Mile Handicap |||||||||||
| 2024 | Locked | 3 | John R. Velazquez | Todd A. Pletcher | Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners & Walmac Farm | 1 mile | 1:34.52 | $500,000 | II | |
| 2023 | Hoist The Gold | 4 | John R. Velazquez | Dallas Stewart | Dream Team One Racing Stable | 1 mile | 1:34.28 | $500,000 | II | |
| 2022 | Mind Control | 6 | John R. Velazquez | Todd A. Pletcher | Red Oak Stable & Madaket Stables | 1 mile | 1:35.53 | $750,000 | I | |
| 2021 | Americanrevolution | 3 | Luis Saez | Todd A. Pletcher | WinStar Farm & China Horse Club | 1 mile | 1:36.68 | $750,000 | I | |
| 2020 | True Timber | 6 | Kendrick Carmouche | Jack Sisterson | Calumet Farm | 1 mile | 1:36.49 | $250,000 | I | |
| 2019 | Maximum Security | 3 | Luis Saez | Jason Servis | Mary & Gary West | 1 mile | 1:36.46 | $750,000 | I | |
| 2018 | Patternrecognition | 5 | Jose L. Ortiz | Chad C. Brown | Klaravich Stables & William H. Lawrence | 1 mile | 1:34.98 | $784,125 | I | |
| 2017 | Sharp Azteca | 4 | Javier Castellano | Jorge Navarro | Ivan Rodriguez | 1 mile | 1:35.17 | $750,000 | I | |
| 2016 | Connect | 3 | Javier Castellano | Chad C. Brown | Paul P. Pompa Jr. | 1 mile | 1:35.34 | $500,000 | I | |
| 2015 | Tonalist | 4 | John R. Velazquez | Christophe Clement | Robert S. Evans | 1 mile | 1:37.14 | $670,000 | I | |
| 2014 | Private Zone | 5 | Martin A. Pedroza | Alfredo Velazquez | Good Friends Stable | 1 mile | 1:34.39 | $753,750 | I | |
| 2013 | Flat Out | 7 | Junior Alvarado | William I. Mott | Preston Stables | 1 mile | 1:34.68 | $753,000 | I | |
| 2012 | Stay Thirsty | 4 | Ramon A. Dominguez | Todd A. Pletcher | Repole Stable | 1 mile | 1:35.47 | $343,000 | I | |
| 2011 | To Honor and Serve | 3 | Jose Lezcano | William I. Mott | Live Oak Racing | 1 mile | 1:33.89 | $250,000 | I | |
| 2010 | Jersey Town | 4 | Cornelio Velasquez | Barclay Tagg | Charles E. Fipke | 1 mile | 1:34.43 | $250,000 | I | |
| 2009 | Kodiak Kowboy | 4 | Shaun Bridgmohan | Steven M. Asmussen | Fox Hill Farm & Vinery Stables | 1 mile | 1:35.57 | $300,000 | I | |
| 2008 | †Tale of Ekati | 3 | Edgar S. Prado | Barclay Tagg | Charles E. Fipke | 1 mile | 1:35.01 | $300,000 | I | |
| 2007 | Daaher | 3 | Michael J. Luzzi | Kiaran P. McLaughlin | Shadwell Racing | 1 mile | 1:33.79 | $294,000 | I | |
| 2006 | Discreet Cat | 3 | Garrett K. Gomez | Saeed bin Suroor | Godolphin Racing | 1 mile | 1:32.46 | $294,000 | I | |
| 2005 | Purge | 4 | Garrett K. Gomez | Todd A. Pletcher | Starlight Racing | 1 mile | 1:34.26 | $350,000 | I | |
| 2004 | Lion Tamer | 4 | Jose A. Santos | Todd A. Pletcher | Michael B. Tabor | 1 mile | 1:33.46 | $350,000 | I | |
| 2003 | Congaree | 5 | Jerry D. Bailey | Bob Baffert | Stonerside Stable | 1 mile | 1:34.30 | $350,000 | I | |
| 2002 | Congaree | 4 | Jerry D. Bailey | Bob Baffert | Stonerside Stable | 1 mile | 1:33.11 | $350,000 | I | |
| 2001 | Left Bank | 4 | John R. Velazquez | Todd A. Pletcher | Michael B. Tabor | 1 mile | 1:33.35 | $350,000 | I | |
| 2000 | El Corredor | 3 | Jerry D. Bailey | Bob Baffert | Hal Earnhardt III | 1 mile | 1:34.68 | $350,000 | I | |
| 1999 | Affirmed Success | 5 | Jorge F. Chavez | Richard E. Schosberg | Albert Fried Jr. | 1 mile | 1:34.18 | $350,000 | I | |
| 1998 | Sir Bear | 5 | Jerry D. Bailey | Ralph Ziadie | Barbara Smollin | 1 mile | 1:34.05 | $300,000 | I | |
| 1997 | Devious Course | 5 | Jorge F. Chavez | H. James Bond | Clarence Scharbauer Jr. | 1 mile | 1:34.80 | $250,000 | I | |
| NYRA Mile Handicap |||||||||||
| 1996 | Gold Fever | 3 | Mike E. Smith | Claude R. McGaughey III | Cynthia Phipps | 1 mile | 1:34.98 | $250,000 | I | |
| 1995 | Flying Chevron | 3 | Robbie Davis | James J. Toner | Caesar P. Kimmel | 1 mile | 1:34.57 | $250,000 | I | |
| 1994 | Cigar | 4 | Jerry D. Bailey | William I. Mott | Madeleine Paulson | 1 mile | 1:36.10 | $250,000 | I | |
| 1993 | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held |
| 1992 | Ibero (ARG) | 5 | Laffit Pincay Jr. | Ron McAnally | Frank Whitham | 1 mile | 1:33.97 | $500,000 | I | |
| 1991 | Rubiano | 4 | Jose A. Santos | Flint S. Schulhofer | Centennial Farm | 1 mile | 1:33.68 | $500,000 | I | |
| 1990 | Quiet American | 4 | Chris McCarron | Gary F. Jones | Sheikh Mohammed | 1 mile | 1:32.80 | $638,000 | I | |
| 1989 | Dispersal | 3 | Angel Cordero Jr. | Bud Delp | Tom O. Myerhoff | 1 mile | 1:32.80 | $581,000 | | |
| 1988 | Forty Niner | 3 | William Fox Jr. | Woodford C. Stephens | Claiborne Farm | 1 mile | 1:34.00 | $567,000 | | |
Notes:
† In the 2006 running of the event Harlem Rocker was first past the post in a photo finish by a nose margin but was disqualified for interference in the straight and was placed second. Tale of Ekati was declared the official winner of the event.