🏇 A Day Like Today – December 2 By WinningStride. Every Stride Tells a Story. On December 2, 2023, at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York, a talented colt named Hoist the Gold delivered a gate-to-wire masterpiece in the Cigar Mile Handicap (Grade II). With Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez aboard, Hoist the Gold blasted out of the gate and took control immediately. He carried that early speed all the way through the stretch, hitting the wire in 1:34.28 over a sealed, muddy track and winning by 4½ l