Bishops Bay, NYRA photo
Keith McCalmont
KAS Stables’ Bishops Bay arrived in the final strides to overtake pacesetter Mika and capture the 37th running of the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday.
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Flavien Prat, 5-year-old Uncle Mo Bay entered the one-turn mile for 3-year-olds and older after recently being purchased for $1.3 million at the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale.
Bishops Bay, with a co-field high of 125 pounds, needed every bit of the long run to put aside the stubborn sophomore Mika and keeping a perfect record at the Big A intact after Grade 3 scores over course and distance at the Westchester in May and the Forty Niner last on November 2.
Cox credited a strong ride to Prat, who is perfect in six starts aboard Bishops Bay, including scores in the limited 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 riding really well in the corner and when they straightened out I thought he would be hard to get around,” Cox said. “Again, our horse was very wild. He always shows up and is very consistent. Flavien is 6-for-6 on him, so they definitely make a good team.”
Bishops Bay broke alert from the outside post 6, but the Manny Franco-driven Mika took over from the inside draw and marked the first quarter-mile in 23.10 seconds over the fast main circuit.
Mika led the field into the turn with Bishops Bay keeping watch in second place Pentathlon And Phileas Fogg stalking and a long way back to late walking Crazy mason in fifth place, who had only Cheeky beat the half mile in 45.72.
“When Manny was leading a bit and looking very comfortable, I changed my mind and got as close to him as I could without using my horse too much,” Prat said. “Honestly, when I went home, I was hoping he would pull up to the front… I wasn’t sure if I was going to get there and go home.”
Mika had a 2 1/2 length lead at the stretch call but Bishops Bay, with strong encouragement from Prat, dug in bravely to reel in the pacesetter and secure a narrow neck win and a well-deserved pat on the back from his rider after completing the course in 1:34.62.
Prat credited a Bishops Bay match for a strong, sustained run around the track.
“I could stay with him [Mika] and we went home and he didn’t answer the door to me. I could stay close to him and I thought at some point he would slow down, my horse not [slowing down]. He’s just a very wild horse. He is very honest, always shows up. He has a great spirit and is ready to win every time,” said Prat.
Franco said the Mike Maker-trained Mika performed admirably in his rankings debut after a pair of open-length scores against winners.
“I did what I wanted to do: I wanted to be in front, they chased me. He ran well,” Franco said. “My horse was there in front of me, at the three-sixteenth post I said, ‘man, I think I’m going to make it.’ Just inside the eighth pole he felt the 45 [seconds fraction for the half-mile] a little bit.
“Those were the instructions,” Franco added. “They wanted me to be there no matter what, so I did.”
Maker was equally pleased with the strong effort of Mika, a second son of Catholic Boy, who was awarded 114 pounds, while Franco was listed as ‘plus four pounds’.
“He ran a great race and ran a race. A three-year-old against an older one, so no complaints,” Maker said. “It’s a big jump from running in an ‘a-other-dan’ to a Grade 2 and the other horses have more taste. The sky is the limit.”
It was 4 1/4 lengths back to Crazy Mason in third, with Phileas Fogg, Pentathlon and Brazenly completing the finishing order. Doc Sullivan, referring to Alex M. Robb’s $125,000 Dec. 26 win against fellow New York-breds here, was scratched.
Cox said Bishops Bay will target a possible start in the Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup on February 14 at Kingabdulaziz Racecourse.
“The owners want to pursue that. If another race happens between now and then, I’m not sure,” Cox said. “We’ll see if this gets him in straight away or how exactly we get him in. We’ll have to talk to the Saudi Cup committee and see if they feel he’s in there yet or if he needs another race.”
An initial $450,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Bishops Bay is out of the double stakes-placed Pioneer by the Nile mare Catch my Drift and is a half-brother to the Cox-trained Grade 2-winning millionaire Catching Freedom.
Bishops Bay, bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, collected $275,000 in wins while improving his record to 13-9-3-0. He returned $4.40 for a $2 winning ticket as the after-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. The first post is 12:40 PM Eastern.
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