2024 Cigar Mile predictions, picks, odds, time, post draw: Best bets from expert who nailed Kentucky Derby

Eleven top dirt mile runners will take center stage on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y. for the 2024 Cigar Mile. Renowned trainer Todd Pletcher has enjoyed plenty of success when it comes to this race, winning the Cigar Mile in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2021 and 2022. He will shoot for a record seventh victory at the Cigar Mile 2024 with Locked, who has three first-place finishes in five career starts. Locked is 9-2 in the latest 2024 Cigar Mile odds. Mullikin is the 3-1 favorite in the latest Cigar Mile 2024 odds, and the post time is 3:35 p.m. ET on Saturday. Post Time (7-2), Book'em Danno (4-1), Locked (9-2) and Senor Buscador (6-1) are also among the 2024 Cigar Mile horses. You'll want to see what SportsLine's Gene Menez has to say before entering any 2024 Cigar Mile picks or horse racing predictions of your own, considering his stellar track record.

A former reporter and editor at Sports Illustrated, Menez covered an array of sports, including horse racing, for the magazine and its website for almost 14 years. Between 2010 and 2012, he served as SI's handicapper for the Triple Crown races and correctly predicted Super Saver to win the Kentucky Derby in 2010.

In 2015, while writing for Sports on Earth, Menez accurately gave out the Kentucky Derby superfecta (American Pharoah, Firing Line, Dortmund and Frosted), which paid $1,268.20 for $2. Then in 2017, he tweeted out his Kentucky Derby picks, including Always Dreaming to win, and hit the Pick 4, which paid almost $6,900 on a $1 bet. 

In a span of seven races last year for SportsLine, he cashed the winner of the Lecomte Stakes, the exacta in the Southwest Stakes, the winner of the Holy Bull Stakes, the winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes and the trifecta in the Jenny Wiley Stakes. In May, Menez gave out 18-1 Mystik Dan as a live longshot in the Kentucky Derby. In June, he nailed Trikari to win the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes, and last month he hit the exacta in the Franklin-Simpson Stakes. Anybody following his seen huge returns. 

Now, with the Cigar Mile 2024 approaching, Menez is sharing his picks and predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.

Top 2024 Cigar Mile predictions

One of Menez's surprising 2024 Cigar Mile picks: He is completely fading Book'em Danno, even though he is one of the top favorites at 4-1. This three-year-old New Jersey-bred horse hasn't finished worse than third in six career races. He has three first-place finishes, including a Grade 1 victory at the Woody Stephens Stakes back in June. He ran a listed race at Aqueduct in 2023, but will be getting his first taste of competition against older horses when he takes to the dirt for the 2024 Cigar Mile on Saturday. See which horses to pick here.

Another surprise: Menez is high on Senor Buscador, even though he's a longshot at 6-1. Todd W. Fincher's lone submission in the Cigar Mile 2024 has plenty of experience in Grade 1 races, but hasn't finished in the top three in some time. After finishing runner-up at last year's Cigar Mile, Senor Buscador finished second at the Pegasus World Cup Invitational by a neck. He finally broke through in his following race, finishing first at the 2024 Saudi Cup.

His last two races have ended with fifth-place finishes, but the expert thinks Senor Buscador is "dangerous" heading into the Cigar Mile 2024. "He is coming off a 103 Beyer Speed Figure earned in the Breeders' Cup Classic, which suggests that he could be circling back to another big performance," Menez told SportsLine. See which horses to pick here.

How to make 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic picks, bets

Menez's top pick is a horse who "should be much closer to the pace." He also is high on a double-digit longshot who "seems to be circling back to his best." He is including these horses in his wagers, and so should you. He's only sharing them over at SportsLine.

Who wins the Cigar Mile 2024, and which longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2024 Cigar Mile odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Menez's picks for the 2024 Cigar Mile, all from the expert who was high on this year's longshot Kentucky Derby winner, and find out. 

2024 Cigar Mile horses, odds