Bishops Bay strikes gold and earns Cigar Mile berth with G3 Forty Niner win

The ultra-consistent Bishops Bay proved his lone career off-the-board finish in his previous start was simply an aberration on Sunday. The 5-year-old son of Uncle Mo was forwardly placed, made a strong move entering the stretch and outkicked Nelson Avenue to capture Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Forty Niner for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile on the main track on the final day of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.

Bishops Bay’s three-quarter-length victory marked his eighth win [with three runner-up finishes] in 12 starts. It also set up a potential return engagement in graded stakes company at the Big A next month, with the top-three Forty Niner finishers receiving a fees-waived berth into the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile for 3-year-olds and up on December 6.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, 1-2 favorite Bishops Bay broke sharp under Flavien Prat and tracked pacesetter Light the Way, who led the compact five-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.56 seconds, the half in 46.57 and three-quarters in 1:10.75 on a fast track.

Prat, who already secured a memorable weekend with victories in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile [Nysos] and Filly and Mare Sprint [Splendora] yesterday at Del Mar, showed no signs of jetlag, picking up the third of his four consecutive wins through the first five races on Sunday’s card following a cross-country flight. Prat coaxed Bishops Bay at the top of the stretch past Light the Way. With Nelson Avenue giving pursuit near the rail under Hall of Fame jockey Joel Rosario, Bishops Bay powered home and completed the course in 1:35.31 to register his fifth win in his last six starts.

Nelson Avenue, trained by Jorge Abreu, finished 3 1/4 lengths ahead of Scotland for runner-up status. Light the Way and Over and Ollie completed the order of finish. Coastal Mission scratched.

Bishops Bay had never finished worse than second in his first 10 starts before a sixth-place effort in the Grade 1 Forego on August 23 at Saratoga Race Course. But he bounced back, showing the form that led to better efforts including a half-length win in the Grade 3 Westchester in May and a five-length victory over Nelson Avenue in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile in June at Monmouth Park.

“Good trip. He broke well. He put me in a good spot,” Prat said. “He is just a game horse, a very game horse. He fought back. He is a very competitive horse. Every time there is a horse that comes alongside of him, he’ll try to do his best. He will fight back.”

Bishops Bay returned $3.16 on a $2 win bet. He improved his career earnings to $702,800.

“He’s a very honest horse,” said Dustin Dugas, local assistant to Cox. “Flavien knows him well. His last race was a tall order for him, but he bounced back out of it in good order and was training really good into this race. He waits on horses but it’s never in a negative way – it’s measured. A lot of his races aren’t drawing off. He had that one race at Monmouth [Salvator Mile] where he won big, but usually his wins are very measured.”

Photos Finish’s Nelson Avenue built on his win in the Parx Dirt Mile in September. The 6-year-old Into Mischief gelding has finished as part of the exacta in four of his last five starts.

“It was a good trip, it looked like I made the move inside of the winner, but he still had some horse,” Rosario said. “That was still a good effort from my horse.”

Live racing resumes Thursday on Opening Day of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack with a nine-race card, featuring the rescheduled Listed $150,000 Tempted in Race 2 and the Listed $150,000 Chelsey Flower in Race 6. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern. The 27-day Aqueduct fall meet will run from November 6 through Wednesday, December 31.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.