Cigar Not So Slick In Rain But He Remains Huge Favorite In Breeders’ Cup Classic
In a sport whose results are often determined by racing luck, tactics and injuries, even the greatest horses rarely achieve perfection. But Cigar can do so if he wins the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park today.
A victory would extend his winning streak to 12 races - 10 of them in this calendar year - and make him the first thoroughbred since Spectacular Bid to earn the horse-of-the-year title with an unblemished record.
Cigar is a rarity among top American horses, who are most likely to become stars at the age of 3, when public attention focuses on the Triple Crown series. But because his trainer, Bill Mott, wrongly assumed that he was cut out to be a grass runner, Cigar spent much of his prime losing races on the turf. It was out of sheer frustration that Mott shifted him to dirt, and the rest is history. Cigar has been unbeatable. Even horses of proved talent like Concern - last year’s Breeders’ Cup winner - haven’t been able to get close to the 5-year-old.
Cigar faces an intriguing challenger in Halling, who has won eight straight races overseas and is considered Europe’s best 1-1/4-mile runner; he would be formidable if he can duplicate his grass form on an American dirt track. But the Classic was generally expected to be a coronation ceremony for Cigar - until a storm front started moving toward Long Island.
Rain fell here Friday, and the Saturday forecast calls for thunderstorms and high wind. Cigar has never raced over a sloppy track before, but when he ran on a wet Belmont strip in the recent Jockey Club Gold Cup, his 1-length victory over Unaccounted For was the least impressive of his entire winning streak. Jockey Jerry Bailey aid Cigar “didn’t seem to be as confident as he is on a fast track.”
Unaccounted For is much more effective in the slop that on dry going, and the weather makes him a bona fide contender. Concern also does well on a wet surface. Mott was resigned to the fact that Cigar will be forced to encounter adverse conditions. “It’s going to rain and there’s not a thing I can do about it,” the trainer said. “We’ll be here rain or shine.”
Cigar’s presence makes the Classic the marquee attraction among the seven Breeders’ Cup races. But the Distaff has also stimulated keen interest among racing fans because the field is so deep in talent.
The 3-year-old Serena’s Song has had such a superb year - winning nine graded stakes and beating male rivals twice - that trainer Wayne Lukas insists she should be considered for horse of the year. But she faces a tough task against trainer Shug McGaughey’s one-two punch of Inside Information and Heavenly Prize. Inside Information, a winner in 13 of 16 starts and an exceptional wet-track performer, has the speed to run with Serena’s Song early. Heavenly Prize will be making her usual late charge, one that could clinch her second straight Eclipse Award.
Even if Lukas doesn’t win the Distaff, the nation’s leading trainer is almost certain to have a big day. Lukas’ 2-year-olds have never been stronger. He saddles three contenders in the Juvenile Fillies; the best of them, Golden Attraction, has won six of seven starts, though her only loss is in the slop. Lukas also has three colts in the Juvenile, including the favorite Honour and Glory and the Hopeful Stakes winner Hennessy.
The Sprint and the two grass races are wide-open scrambles, as usual. A large contingent of English and French horses has come to Belmont for the turf events, and they may have an edge over the Americans over a soft grass course.
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