Sangaree to make his third start over dirt on the trot in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct
Synthetic surface was thought to be the way forward for 6-year-old Saeed Bin Suroor trained Sangaree, after 2010 and half of 2011 spent on poly track’s and cushion surfaces, Sangaree was second best on most occasions then not, but suddenly at the back end of 2011 Sangaree shifted to a surface merely unknown to his feet.
The dirt track was introduced to the horse on 4 August, 2011, after ignoring it for almost 2 years, but Sangaree much to his trainers delight ran a huge race in the Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga under Rajiv Maragh at about 1 1/8 miles.
Sangaree came off the pace to take the field by surprise and challenged the freight train like Rule, but couldn’t manage to out finish the winner as he ran out of ground in 1 1/8 mile event.
Most recently, Sangaree was introduced to graded stakes company who were accustomed to running on dirt, and many had done it all over the country. Sangaree took up the challenge at Aqueduct race course in the seven furlong sprint, the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Stakes on 6 November, 2011.
It was something to savour, as Sangaree shot out from the gate with purpose and fire in his belly to atone for his defeat in the previous encounter longer in distance than the current one.
Following brisk fractions set by the pace setter, it was evident that Sangaree and Rajiv Maragh planned it out to shape a strategy for the Bold Ruler as they settled in the mid pack to let it all out in the final stages of the race.
As always, with these off the pace runs, timing is a crucial factor and a little incident on the field can throw a jockey and his horse off course. Crammed for room Rajiv Maragh started the drive late and just like the last race Sangaree didn’t have enough time to challenge the leader, this time around Calibrachoa who kept Sangaree at bay in the final strides narrowly escaped a purposeful run.
Sangaree is pointed toward the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap on dirt at Aqueduct race course, and probably it’s a matter of pushing the horse too much, but in a small field with good dirt track results under his belt, Sangaree might sweep the Cigar Mile as he should’ve in his previous two races.
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