Cigar, Other Top Horses Appear Fit For Breeder’s Cup

On the day after he won the Woodward Stakes for his 10th straight victory, Cigar was declared fit and hungry Sunday and likely to run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in three weeks as his final dress rehearsal for the Breeders’ Cup.

There were no notable casualties from Belmont Park’s Super Saturday, which puts exceptional horses on the road to the Breeders’ Cup.

The juvenile colt Maria’s Mon, winner of the Futurity on Saturday, was ticketed for the Champagne Stakes on Oct. 7, the same day that Cigar runs in the Gold Cup. The juvenile filly Golden Attraction, winner of the Matron, will try to make it six for seven in the Frizette the same day.

The filly Inside Information, who won the Ruffian by 11 lengths, was booked into Keeneland for the Spinster the next day. The sprinter You and I was found to be “perfect” after losing the Vosburgh by a nose, and will rest until the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 28. And his sprinting rival Lite the Fuse, seventh in the Vosburgh, and Nick Zito’s 2-year-old star Louis Quatorze, second in the Futurity, were both headed for their farms, their 1995 seasons ended.

But outside Barn 25 at Belmont Park on Sunday morning, all was serene despite the rain that pelted the home of Cigar, who has not lost a race since last Oct. 7 when he ran third in an allowance on the grass.

“He’s doing really good this morning,” said Tim Jones, the deputy to the trainer Bill Mott. “It looked as though the race didn’t take anything out of him.