The final Grade 1 race on the New York Racing Association stakes calendar will continue to be known as the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap for another three years as NYRA and Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms have extended their partnership through 2010.

In 2008, the $300,000 Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile will be run at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday, November 29.

First run at Aqueduct in 1988 as the NYRA Mile and renamed the Cigar Mile after its illustrious 1994 winner, the race has been the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile since 2005. A late-season bookend to the spring's one-mile Metropolitan Handicap, the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile represents neutral territory for top class sprinters stretching out and classy distance horses cutting back, including horses that may have competed in the Breeders' Cup Classic, Dirt Mile or Sprint.

“We’re very enthusiastic about sponsorship of the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile,” said John G. Sikura, president of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms. “The one-mile distance is so significant to breeders and the race is perfectly positioned on the racing calendar to attract Breeders’ Cup runners in search of Eclipse honors.”

Past winners of the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile include Forty Niner (1988), Rubiano (1991), Cigar (1994), and Congaree (2002 & 2003). El Corredor, who won the 2000 running, now stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms and has been a leading sire his first three years at stud. In 2007, Shadwell Stable's Daaher upset the TVG Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and eventual Eclipse winning sprinter, Midnight Lute.

“Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms has been a great partner and we’re so pleased they’ve extended their sponsorship of one of our top races for another three years,” NYRA president and CEO Charles Hayward said. “The Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile is the highlight of a great late-season day of racing which includes both the Demoiselle and Remsen Stakes. I personally look forward to this race every year and we all look forward to Hill ‘n’ Dale’s sponsorship of this Grade 1 mile for many more years to come.”

Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms is one of the leading full-service operations in the thoroughbred industry. Standing 12 world-class stallions, the farm also ranks among the top five sales agencies in North America, and is home to one of the world’s finest thoroughbred broodmare bands.

The New York Racing Association operates New York’s three major thoroughbred tracks--Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack. The Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile is the marquee race of the Aqueduct Fall meet.