The Christophe Clement stable was understandably pleased with its one-two showing in the GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Saturday. 'TDN Rising Star' Tonalist (Tapit) and Red Vine (Candy Ride {Arg}) gave the stable the prestigious exacta.
“I'm OK admitting I was very worried at the three-sixteenths pole,” Christophe Lorieul, assistant to Clement said of Tonalist's belated rally. “He's a big horse, and he just doesn't seem to be able to accelerate around turns. He can do it at Belmont because of the big sweeping turns, but not at Aqueduct or Saratoga. You saw [pilot] Johnny [Velazquez] asking him around the turn but he wasn't responding. When he got into the stretch he picked it up.”
Lorieul was equally pleased with Red Vine's run.
“Red Vine got stopped on the rail, and we always say it's so tough in a dirt race to make multiple moves, but he came on again,” said Lorieul. “He's really a consistent horse. He always shows up, and probably deserves to win a race like this, but we're very happy with the result.”
Both Tonalist and Red Vine will be sent to Florida this week for some time off. They're expected to remain in training in 2016.
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