Bailey won all three stakes races offered at Aqueduct on Saturday's HolidayFest card, first tying fellow Hall of Famer Mike Smith's 1994 record of 68 stakes wins by guiding favored Ashado home in the Grade 2 Demoiselle and then getting his 69th stakes victory a race later with Read the Footnotes in the Grade 2 Remsen.
Not to be outdone, Congaree was also a history maker on Saturday. He becomes the first horse to win back-to-back runnings of the Cigar Mile. Last year, he won in 1:33 and Saturday, his winning time was 1:34. He retuned $3.20 as the favorite of the crowd of 5,459.
"He's a wonderful horse," Bailey said. "I've always enjoyed riding him and I've always gotten along with him well. I figured I would be in good shape if I didn't get shuffled back and they didn't close the door on me. The track wasn't as glib as it was a year or two ago; I thought it was a second or two slower today. He feels better now than he did at three. As good as he is, I told them (Bob and Janice McNair, owners of Stonerside) I didn't see any reason to retire him." Congaree's record now stands at 12-2-4 from 23 starts, and the $210,000 winner's purse upped his lifetime earnings to $3,241,400.
Well Fancied set the early pace of :22 4/5 and :44 2/5 from the outside, with Congaree in the middle and Midas Eyes on the rail. Congaree was clear soon enough, however, and hooked Midas Eyes at the quarter-pole. He then drew off in yet another impressive effort to remain unbeaten in four starts at the Big A.
"I talked to Jerry (Bailey) yesterday and he told me he might have to use Congaree and I told him to go ahead and do what he had to do," said trainer Bob Baffert from California. "He trained very well since the Breeders' Cup and he was very sharp. He was going to run a good race in the Breeders' Cup before everything happened at the start.
"Midas Eyes was just cruising along in the Cigar Mile. I liked the first quarter-mile, but they really picked it up in the second quarter. Congaree likes to run on the rail, but when he straightened out in the stretch, I knew he'd win. Last year's Cigar Mile was really impressive and this was impressive, too. When you mention top milers, you have to mention Congaree. He's terrific going seven furlongs and a mile."
Naturally, both Baffert and Bailey would love to have Congaree, a five-year-old son of Arazi, around for a while longer. "Mr. and Mrs. McNair (Bob and Janice McNair of Stonerside Stable) wanted to see how he ran today before making a decision on his future, so I've got to wait and hear what the boss has to say," Baffert said. "I think Congaree is just getting stronger. What he did today may have helped to keep him around next year. The McNairs are in the business of racing horses and when you have a racehorse like him, you hate to see him go to the breeding shed. I think he should be champion sprinter. He beat Aldebaran in the Carter and I think he can go six furlongs with the best of them."
