By: Blood Horse

Photo Credit: NYRA

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/245089/true-timber-stands-tall-in-cigar-mile

 

The tears in the eyes of jockey Kendrick Carmouche told the story of the $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1).

It was a poignant tale of a 36-year-old jockey winning his first grade 1 stakes aboard a durable 6-year-old horse in Calumet Farm’s True Timber, whose 29-race career had been dotted with placings in graded stakes before the son of Mineshaft  finally collected his initial stakes win of any kind on a cold, wet Dec. 5 afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“This is such a joy,” Carmouche said. “It made my day. It made my year. (2020) has been a struggle, but as long as God gives us faith and keeps us strong and healthy, we can fight through it.”

That fight resulted in guiding True Timber to an easy 5 1/2-length victory in the final graded stakes of the year in New York and gave him the thrill of being part of a winner’s circle celebration after a grade 1 stakes for the first time in a career that has featured more than 20,000 mounts, 3,300 wins, and earnings of $113.1 million.

“I owe it all to my fans, my wife, my kids and everybody for how they stuck with me and kept pushing me to keep fighting in the game,” said Carmouche, one of the sport’s few Black riders and a seven-time leading jockey at Parx Racing. “This means so much to me. It’s the biggest win of my career, and I hope I have many more blessed ones and a safe journey throughout my career.”

For the resilient True Timber, the Cigar Mile brought an end to a mark of 0-for-19 in stakes company, which started with original trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and continued with Jack Sisterson this summer after McLaughlin became the agent for jockey Luis Saez.

Aside from the goose egg in stakes company, Saturday also ended a 13-race losing streak dating to 2018.

“I got to give credit to True Timber, the farm, the incredible staff I have, and of course, Kendrick,” Sisterson said. “I had all the confidence in the world when Kendrick texted me, ‘I got you brother, don’t worry,’ with a little peace sign.”

Yet in all those stakes appearances, there were four seconds and six thirds, including the two finishes that were most important Saturday: a third in last year’s Cigar Mile and a second in the 2018 edition.

“As soon as I got the horse, the Cigar Mile was a year-end goal,” Sisterson said.

Sisterson pre-entered True Timber in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), but the bay horse was not included in the main body of the race and wound up running that same day and getting a second in the seven-furlong Lafayette Stakes.

That late-running second in the Nov. 7 Keeneland stakes had True Timber on edge for another big effort in the 32nd Cigar Mile, which offered proof that the third time can indeed be a charm.

“I think everything works out for a reason,” Sisterson said.

True Timber was third in the early stages of the Cigar Mile, sitting two lengths behind the dueling King Guillermo, a 3-year-old coming off a seven-month layoff, and the 6-year-old New York-bred gelding Mr. Buff after a half-mile in :45.82 on a sloppy, sealed track.

Midway on the turn, True Timber swooped past the tiring leaders and was a length in front at the quarter pole. It was no contest in the stretch as True Timber ($16.60) emphatically drew off to win in 1:36.49, while well behind him Bloom Racing Stable’s Snapper Sinclair edged 4-5 favorite Performer for the place spot.

Adding to Carmouche’s euphoria, the victory gave the Louisiana-born rider a four-win lead for the fall riding title at Aqueduct as he heads into the Dec. 6 finale on the verge of securing his first crown at a New York Racing Association meet after moving to the circuit on a year-round basis in 2015.

“Hard work and perseverance. You have to stay in the game and be ready for opportunity when opportunity comes,” he said. “This is the point I’m at in my career right now. I’m ready for any opportunity, and this is why I think things are going in the right direction. They’re giving me good horses to ride, and I think it’s going to open up eyes for other trainers and other owners that I can do the same thing, if not better, than those other guys.”

Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Marc Ferrell out of the Tiznow mare Queen’s Wood, True Timber improved his record to 29-5-5-9 with earnings of $1,215,150. He was purchased for $170,000 from the St George Sales consignment at the 2014 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Snapper Sinclair, a son of City Zip trained by Steve Asmussen, added a grade 1 placing to a record that includes five wins and seven seconds from 29 starts.

The Cigar Mile proved to be a bitter disappointment for Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm’s Performer, who suffered just his second loss and had a five-race win streak snapped on a date that rubbed trainer Shug McGaughey the wrong way.

The Speightstown  4-year-old broke slowly and was last in the field of six after a half-mile. He rallied mildly in the stretch for third in his first race since Oct. 17 and just his second since a win in the Nov. 30, 2019, Discovery Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct.

“This year is so messed up,” McGaughey said. “They should never be running this race on Dec. 5, and he’s been a big victim of the schedule. It’s been a while since he raced. It’s very disappointing—not that we got beat by any means, but that they would have racing of this caliber Dec. 5 in the Northeast. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s a black eye for NYRA.”

The Hall of Fame trainer’s last victory in the Cigar Mile came in 1996 with Gold Fever when it was contested on Thanksgiving weekend and was named the NYRA Mile Handicap (G1).

The Cigar Mile, along with the Remsen Stakes (G2) and Demoiselle Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds, was switched to the first Saturday in December in 2017 and was won last year by Maximum Security , who used the grade 1 victory as a springboard to winning the 3-year-old championship over the McGaughey-trained Code of Honor.