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After the Wire - 11/26/2012

Evan Hammonds recaps the Thanksgiving holiday weekend races, including the Remsen S., Cigar Mile, Clark H., and Fall Highweight H.

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Poseidon's Warrior Totes 135 in Fall 'Weight

Poseidon's Warrior seeks to bounce back off a dull effort in the Xpressbet Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) as the 135-pound highweight in the Nov. 22 Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. III) at the Big A.

Minor Corrections to American Graded Stakes

The American Graded Stakes Committee has made the following corrections to the 2010 schedule that was released on Dec. 3.

Grand Champion Gets Narrow Victory

Grand Champion emerged the head winner of a three-way blanket finish in the $109,200 Fall Highweight Handicap at Aqueduct Nov. 22.

Attila's Storm Holds Off Fall Highweight Challengers

Attila's Storm, rebounding from a fourth-place finish in the TVG Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), held off Voodoo and Super Fuse to win Thursday's $112,500, six-furlong Fall Highweight Handicap, Aqueduct's traditional Thanksgiving Day feature before a crowd of 3,117.

Attila's Storm Holds Off Fall Highweight Challengers

Attila's Storm rebounded from a fourth-place finish in the TVG Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) held off Voodoo and Super Fuse to win Thursday's $112,500, six-furlong Fall Highweight Handicap, Aqueduct's traditional Thanksgiving Day feature before a crowd of 3,117.

Heavy Hitters Take Up Load in Fall Highweight

The appeal of the Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. III) is that is harkens back to a time when good horses carried a lot of weight, and therefore, separated themselves from the ordinary. That is why the grade III, six-furlong sprint has lasted for so long.

Bossanova Struts Gate-to-Wire in Fall Highweight

Speedster Bossanova opened up a two-length advantage in the stretch and held on under Edgar Prado for a gate-to-wire victory in Thursday's $108,300 Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. III) at Aqueduct.

Peeping Tom Seeks Fall Highweight Success

Flatbird Stable's 6-year-old gelding Peeping Tom will tote highweight of 138 pounds and break from the rail in the $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. III) at Aqueduct Thanksgiving Day.

Highweight True Direction Takes Fall Highweight

True Direction and Javier Castellano wore down Crossing Point in the final yard to post the win Thanksgiving Day in the Fall Highweight (gr. III) at Aqueduct.

Thanksgiving Day with the Ponies

A number of racetracks have stakes races or special events on Thanksgiving Day, including Aqueduct, Churchill Downs, Calder, and Thistledown.

Aqueduct Report (Cont.)

Continued from Previous Page

Yonaguska Draws Rail in Fall Highweight; To Carry 131 Pounds

Yonaguska, winner of the Hutcheson Stakes and Sport Page Handicap this year, drew the rail as 11 horses were entered for the Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. II) that highlight's Thursday's Thanksgiving Day card at Aqueduct.

Contentious Cigar Mile to Highlight Aqueduct's HolidayFest

Aqueduct's HolidayFest stakes extravaganza, a four-day event that features five graded stake races, gets under way on on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22nd with the running of the Fall Highweight Handicap. The highlight of the HolidayFest is the $350,000 Cigar Mile on Nov. 24, the last Grade I race of the year in New York.

Kashatreya Closes for Fall Highweight Win

Under 131 pounds, Kashatreya closed through the stretch to win the $111,900 Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. II) Thursday at Aqueduct. With Octavio Vergara in the irons, the 5-year-old New York-bred completed the six furlongs in 1:11.03 over a fast track and paid $19.20, $8.80 and $4.50.

Bevo in Bullet Work; Cigar Mile Likely Next Start

Peter Callahan's Bevo worked five furlongs around "dogs" at Belmont Park Thursday morning in 1:00 2/5, the fastest work of the day at the distance. The 3-year-old is entered in both the $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. II, Aqueduct, Nov. 23) and the $350,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (gr. I, Aqueduct, Nov. 25), but trainer Bill Badgett said the Prospector's Gamble colt is more likely for the Cigar Mile.