OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Igniter, a one-length winner of a one-mile allowance race at Aqueduct on Sept. 27, will make his next start in the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes here on Dec. 6, trainer Rick Dutrow said this week.
“I think he wants to go two turns, that’s what we think he’s looking for,” said Dutrow, who trains Igniter for Three Chimneys Farm. “I think giving him time is going to help him run bigger that day.”
Igniter, a son of Volatile, finished third to Golden Tornado in a six-furlong maiden race at Saratoga on Aug. 9. Stretched out to a mile at Aqueduct and in a field that included the $5 million yearling purchase Courting, who finished fourth, Igniter worked out a nice pace-pressing strip under Manny Franco and covered the distance in 1:35.69, earning an 81 Beyer Speed Figure.
“The jock said the other day when the outside horse came to him, he kind of spurted away [and] he galloped out really good,” Dutrow said. “We’re going to go towards that race and hope he can do the two turns. He seems like he should be able to. He’s a real nice horse. I really like him. He’s got a lot of class, [is] really nice to be around, and he looks really good.”
Meanwhile, Dutrow said McAfee, who finished a well-beaten fourth behind Sovereignty in the Grade 1 Travers, is in the second month of a two-month break on a farm. McAfee, a half-brother to Thorpedo Anna, raced in six graded stakes in 2025, finishing second to Hill Road in the Peter Pan and second to Chunk of Gold in the West Virginia Derby. He was also third to Mo Plex in the Ohio Derby.
Dutrow said there were no physical issues for McAfee.
“He was sound when he left,” Dutrow said. “There’s nothing on our minds other than just having a good year next year with him.”
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