by Heather Pettinger
Paul Pompa Jr.'s Connect held off a hard-charging Divining Rod to seize his first stakes win against older horses - and first Grade 1 - in Saturday's featured race, the 28th running of the $500,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Anchor Down took control early through the backstretch run, setting fractions of 23.31 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.44 for the half, with Threefiveindia perched to his outside.
Racing in fifth through the opening stages, jockey Javier Castellano kept Connect in the clear as Divining Rod, fourth early, began to move on the leaders in the middle of the turn. The threesome was joined quickly by Connect, who fanned four-wide into the stretch. Anchor Down and Threefiveindia began to fade on the inside as Divining Rod and Connect hooked up in the middle of the lane, in an all-out battle to the wire with Connect getting in front in the final jumps to win by a head.
The winning time was 1:35.34.
"We had a good trip and that's all I was looking for today," said Castellano. "The way it set up was perfect. There was a lot of speed in the race. They went pretty quick and started backing up and every time I asked him, he responded every step of the way. I liked the way he finished. He's a good horse. He fought back. I'm so proud of the way he did it today."
Trained by Chad Brown and sent off as the 3-2 favorite, Connect returned $5 for a $2 win wager.
The 3-year-old Curlin colt picked up his first graded stakes last time out, rallying late to post a half-length victory over eventual Grade 1 Clark Handicap winner Gun Runner in the Grade 3 Pennsylvania Derby on September 24 at Parx. With the Cigar Mile win, Connect, who boasts five wins and a third from seven career starts, pushed his lifetime earnings past the seven-figure mark, to $1.25 million.
"He showed a lot today beating older horses," said Brown, who picked up his first career victory in the Cigar Mile. "We've always thought a lot of this horse, and I can't say enough about Paul Pompa, the owner. He was so patient with this horse. Every time there was a little setback with this horse or some unfortunate news, although never anything terrible with this horse, Paul took it right in stride and said, 'We know we have a good one. Let's take it right in stride and do right by the horse and he'll do right by us.' I appreciate very much the amount of time he's allowed me to work with this horse. It's paid off.
"I was a little concerned because this horse hadn't had a race under his belt since the Pennsylvania Derby, but I know how much heart he has and how competitive he is," he added. "He really showed a lot of heart today. It's very rewarding to have a horse who shows you so much, especially as he was [lightly raced] 2-year-old. Beating older horses in a race like this is a very high mark on his resume."
Donning blinkers for the first time, 2015 Grade 3 Lexington winner Divining Rod checked in five lengths ahead of Realm in third in his fourth race, and second stakes, since returning from a 13-month layoff this fall.
"He ran his race," said Arnaud Delacour, trainer of Divining Rod. "That was a great race, very exciting finish. We could have got there but we just didn't. I thought that was a great stretch [run] from both horses. I think Connect is a great horse, so I'm thrilled."
War Story, Anchor Down, Threefiveindia, Tale of S'avall, Economic Model, Myute and Ocean Knight completed the order of finish.