NEW YORK -- A gray, overcast November day with sprinkles of rain coming down might not seem the best setting for optimistic thoughts about the coming year, yet the grand promise of 2016 was certainly on display at Aqueduct -- even in a surprising corner of the racetrack.
On a day highlighted by the final graded stakes races of the year in New York, the likely candidates to spark talk of the new year were the two mile-and-an-eighth Grade 2 stakes for 2-year-olds, races that generally conjure up thoughts of next May when the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks roll around.
The fillies' turn came in the Demoiselle, where favored Lewis Bay ($4.10) notched a length and three-quarters victory over a rather undistinguished field.
It was a nice follow-up to a six-length maiden score for trainer Chad Brown's daughter of Bernardini, though after the show put on by Songbird in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies it's hard to associate the Kentucky Oaks with anyone but that filly at the present time.
The Remsen, for colts, seemed a better spot to find a promising horse for next year, and it delivered the goods thanks to Shadwell Stables' favored Mohaymen.
While the undefeated Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Nyquist is a mortal lock to be named the year's champion 2-year-old male, he along with others like BC Juvenile runner-up Swipe and Delta Jackpot winner Exaggerator have put in hard campaigns, each running in at least four stakes.
Far more often than not, that type of schedule catches up with a young horse at three and turns him into yesterday's news by the time the Triple Crown grows near.
Mohayem ($5.10), meanwhile, was racing for just the third time and the undefeated son of Tapit made his stakes debut while notching a length and a half win on Saturday's Holiday Fest card. His time of 1:50.69 for the nine furlongs eclipsed the clockings for both the 2-year-old fillies in the Demoiselle (1:53.41) and 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 3 Comely later on the card (1:50.75).
"It was a great win. This is a big prep race for next spring and he did it the right way," McLaughlin said. "We're excited about him. We don't think he needs to improve a lot. We just want to keep him sound and not have him go the other way."
McLaughlin mentioned the Holy Bull (Jan. 30 at Gulfstream) as a likely next target for Mohayem, which would mirror what McLaughlin did with Frosted a year ago.
Best known for either a) finishing second to American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes or b) pressing American Pharoah in the Travers and setting the race up for Keen Ice -- take your pick -- Frosted was second in last year's Remsen and turned out to a major player in the 3-year-old division and a Wood Memorial winner after starting the year in Florida.
Time will tell whether Mohayem can also move forward as the months pass, though that's not as easy of a task as it might seem. The Remsen winner has not captured the Run for the Roses since the 1995 Derby when Thunder Gulch made it back-to-back triumphs for the Remsen victor.
Finally, 2016 was a somewhat surprising topic of discussion after the day's featured $670,000 Cigar Mile, when Tonalist once again had trainer Christophe Clement singing the old "I Love New York" jingle.
After a disappointing fifth place finish behind American Pharoah in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, Tonalist ($6.40) reverted to top form while once again inhaling Long Island air. Fifth with a furlong to go, the 2014 Belmont Stakes winner closed stoutly on the outside to stick his neck in front at the wire, edging uncoupled stablemate Red Vine.
Private Zone, last year's Cigar winner and second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint last month, had a tug-of-war with rider Martin Pedroza who tried to rein him in during the early stages and finished fifth of six as the 6-5 favorite.
It was a nerve-wracking race for Clement, who had to watch Red Vine run into traffic problems in the stretch and before that started sweating when Tonalist and jockey John Velazquez dropped back a bit on the final turn.
"That happened because Johnny likes to make me suffer," Clement said afterwards. Clement called Tonalist's stretch run "spectacular" and was "delighted" that the 4-year-old's 2015 campaign ended with bookend wins at a mile. The son of Tapit opened the year with a solid victory in the Grade 3 Westchester at eight furlongs and in between, aside from the Breeders' Cup, won the Jockey Club Gold Cup for a second straight year, finished second in the Metropolitan Handicap and Suburban and third in the Whitney -- all in New York.
Best of all, pending approval from owner Robert S. Evans, Clement confirmed previous statements that he would like to bring Tonalist back to the races next year at five -- something that's rare for a colt with a Belmont Stakes win and two Jockey Club Gold Cup victories on his resume. The breeding shed usually beckons for them by now.
Yet with Tonalist back, as well as Eclipse Award winners California Chrome, Shared Belief and the mare Beholder who are also expected to race in 2016, the sport will a have an exciting collection of older horses to help fill some of the massive void created by the retirement of Triple Crown champion American Pharoah.
You can also add to the mix Dortmund, who was the 1A to American Pharoah's 1 for trainer Bob Baffert on this year's Triple Crown trail. The multiple Grade 1-winning 3-year-old was an impressive winner later in the day for Baffert in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar and appears to be back in top form after being sidelined for five months.
"It's always great to have the good horses continue racing," Clement said about Tonalist. "He's a first class horse. This year he won two Grade 1 stakes and was a touch unlucky in one or two of the others. He can compete with anyone. The Breeders' Cup is a mystery, more so after today. Maybe some horses like that track more than others. If he comes back, [next year's schedule] will be similar to this year's, though I'll have to think about the Breeders' Cup [at Santa Anita, where he was fifth in the 2014 BC Classic]. Let's just enjoy this for now."
Enjoy it in more ways than one might imagine. Potential Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks horses and a Belmont Stakes winner returning at five, yeah, a day known as Holiday Fest certainly gave racing fans some merry reasons to look forward to 2016.