The $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct typically is the last race of the season with the status to make an impact on the Eclipse Awards for older males or 3-year-olds, whether that be the champion older male, sprint, or 3-year-old division.
Making the Grade, which will run through the 2021 Triple Crown races, focuses on the winners or top performers of the key races, usually from the previous weekend, who could make an impact on the Triple Crown. We’ll be taking a close look at impressive winners and evaluating their chances to win classic races based upon ability, running style, connections (owner, trainer, jockey), and pedigree.
The 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Park surprisingly became a negative key race, one generating few follow-up winners, but already the 2020 TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance from Keeneland is productive.
The Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes is an important test for 2-year-olds for several reasons. Held at 1 1/8 miles, it gives juveniles a taste of competing around two turns, which will be a staple in major 3-year-old stakes, and it will also give a handful of them a head-start on Kentucky Derby qualifying points with 10-4-2-1 going to the top four finishers.
