Time For A Cigar Flashes His Championship Form In Mr Jet Moore

RUIDOSO DOWNS, New Mexico (August 6, 2011) – Time For A Cigar, the 2009 champion three-year-old gelding, showed his championship form while defeating a deep field of top-tier stakes horses in the Grade 3, $30,000 Mr Jet Moore Handicap at Ruidoso Downs on Saturday afternoon.

Time For A Cigar raced over the sloppy racing surface in :19.364 for the 400 yards, giving jockey Cody Jensen his first stakes win since returning to racing on July 15. He was sidelined after he was injured in a racing accident in January at Los Alamitos that required major hip surgery.

Zoomin With Ease, winner of the 2009 Rainbow Futurity, finished one-half length behind Time For A Cigar for second, but was disqualified and placed last for drifting out and interfering with track-record holder Separate Bet twice during the race.

After the disqualification, Zulu Dragon was awarded the runner-up position and Van Zant was placed third.
Owned by Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch and Leonard Blach’s Buena Suerte Equine, Time For A Cigar has been an important stakes winner since his sophomore season in 2009.

The gelded son of Corona Cartel earned his 2009 championship title with wins in the Grade 1 Ruidoso Derby and the Sunland Winter Derby. He then came back last year to win the Bank of America Turf Paradise Challenge and finished fourth in the Bank of America Challenge Championship and the All American Gold Cup.

Trainer Richard Sedillo could bring Time For A Cigar back in the All American Gold Cup on September 4 for a possible meeting with two-time champion and Higheasterjet Handicap winner Noconi.

Time For A Cigar now has won eight of 19 starts and earned $413,969.

Zulu Dragon won the La Plata Stakes two starts ago while Van Zandt took last fall’s Manuel Lujan Stakes.