Cigar Ends Career With Big Show Takes Third At Breeders’ Cup As Alphabet Soup Pulls Out Win

Cigar went out a loser on the track, but a winner in the eyes of his owner, the trainer who beat him - and just about everyone else.

“It’s been a great run,” owner Allen Paulson said after Cigar finished third in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Woodbine. “It’s probably time to go home with him. He’s one of the greatest ever.”

Cigar lost by less than a half-length as he finished third behind Alphabet Soup and Louis Quatorze - his third loss in 20 races. Those three defeats, however, came in his last four races.

“He’s a good horse,” trainer David Hofmans said of the 5-year-old Alphabet Soup. “He was a great horse today, and he beat the greatest horse.”

The 6-year-old Cigar, seeking his second win in the Classic, was cheered as loudly in defeat as he had been when he had entered the track.

“It was a great thrill,” said winning jockey Chris McCarron, “but taking something away from Cigar doesn’t sit well.”

“To do what he did this year - he’s still a champion,” said Jerry Bailey, Cigar’s jockey.

Cigar raced eight times at seven tracks in three countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

“If there’s a chink in his armor, it’s he’s run all year long,” Hofmans said. “My horse was fresh.”

Alphabet Soup, winning for the fourth time in seven starts this year, was never worse than third. He took the lead inside the eighth pole and got to the wire a nose ahead of 3-year-old Louis Quatorze, with Cigar another head back.

Cigar, fifth with a quarter-mile left, entered the stretch four wide and couldn’t make up enough ground.

Alphabet Soup ($41.70), raced the 1 miles under 126 in a track-record 2:01 and earned $2,080,000.

Another fan favorite was Ricks Natural Star, the cheap claimer who hadn’t raced since Aug. 25, 1995. He made his stakes and grass debuts in the $2 million Turf, won by Europe-based Pilsudski, the second-place finisher in the Arc de Triomphe.

Ricks Natural Star, ridden by local apprentice Lisa McFarland, was cheered onto the track, into the gate and in the run past the stands the first time. But the loudest cheers came when the 7-year-old gelding loped through the homestretch, nearly 30 seconds behind Pilsudski.

“It was a question of whether the horse knew what kind of horses he was running against,” McFarland said.

It didn’t take Ricks Natural Star long to find out.

Pilsudski ($29.40), British-owned and trained and ridden by Walter Swinburn, took the lead in the deep stretch and won by 1 lengths in 2:30 1-5 for the 1 miles. The next three finishers are owned by the Maktoums of Dubai - Singspeil, Swain and Shantou.

Corey Nakatani rode two winners.

“There’s an angel on my side,” said Nakatani, whose sister, Dawn, was murdered Oct. 1 at West Covina, Calif.

“I know that Dawn got me there,” Nakatani said after winning the Sprint with Lit de Justice. “It’s really hard on me, but I’m trying to be strong.”

The victory made Jenine Sahadi the first woman trainer to win a Breeders’ Cup race.

“I said I wouldn’t trade places with anybody,” said Sahadi, 33, after making history.

The 26-year-old Nakatani also won the Distaff with Jewel Princess, trained by his father-in-law, Wally Dollase.

Boston Harbor gave trainer D. Wayne Lukas his 13th Breeders’ Cup victory in the Juvenile Colts & Geldings. He beat George Steinbrenner’s Acceptable by a neck, clinching the division championship.

Storm Song, also clinching her divisional title, and Love That Jazz, both trained by Nick Zito, ran 1-2 in the Juvenile Fillies. It was Zito’s first Breeders’ Cup win. The two fillies were his 12th and 13th BC starters.

Da Hoss, last in the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, also was last for a time Saturday in the Mile on the grass. But he recovered to win.

Serena’s Song, seeking her first victory in her third Breeders’ Cup race, took the lead from Top Secret with a quarter-mile to go. But Jewel Princess passed her on the rail with about a sixteenth remaining for a 1-1/2-length victory.

Argentine-bred Different, winner of her first four U.S. starts, finished third in the field of six fillies.

Jewel Princess carried 123 pounds over the 1-1/8 in 1:48 2-5, paying $6.80.

Lit de Justice, third in the 1995 Sprint, carried Nakatani past fading Honour and Glory leaving the 16th pole, and won by 1-1/4 lengths over Paying Dues. Honour and Glory was third.

Lit de Justice ($10) carried 126 pounds over the 6 furlongs in 1:08 3-5.

Boston Harbor, ridden by Bailey, led all the way in the Juvenile, but had to hold off fast-closing Acceptable by a neck to win $520,000. That boosted Boston Harbor’s earnings past $1.9 million on six wins and a second in seven starts.

In winning for the fourth straight time, Boston Harbor ($6.80) ran 1 miles in 1:43 2-5.

“He’s got a big bankroll, and I hope he carries it to this spring (and the Triple Crown races),” Lukas said.

“She’s the champion filly, she’s the best filly in the country,” Zito said of Storm Song, who clinched the 3-year-old filly championship with her 4-1/2-length victory over Love That Jazz. Critical Factor finished third.

Storm Song, ridden by Craig Perret, took the lead from her stablemate at the eighth pole and completed the 1-1/16 miles in 1:43 3-5 under a scale weight of 119 pounds. She paid $5.20.

Da Hoss, ridden by Gary Stevens, took the lead about an eighth of a mile from home, and scored by 1-1/2 lengths over Spinning World, with Same Old Wish third. Highly regarded Mark of Esteem, a star in Britain, ran out of the money.

Da Hoss carried 126 pounds over the mile on a good turf course in 1:35 4-5 for a $18.90 payoff.