IF CIGAR GOES HOLLYWOOD, IT WOULD MAKE THE MEET
Cigar should light up the 67-day Hollywood Park meet which begins Friday
night, April 26, at least if owner Allen Paulson continues on his gracious, generous and
glorious path of good-sportsmanship.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed," said Hollywood Park's 32-year-old racing secretary, Martin Panza, who is hopeful the 1995 Horse of the Year will bring his winning streak to the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 30.
. "There's been some talk about New York raising the purse of the Suburban (from $500,000 to $1 million in an effort to lure Cigar). There's nothing definite yet, but I think we have two advantages over New York. "First, Mr. Paulson has done the sportsmanlike thing with Cigar all along.
"Second, the Gold Cup is on national television. That will provide great exposure for racing. If Cigar comes, we could get 40 to 50,000 people at Hollywood Park. The downside for New York is they have no shot of getting the Suburban on TV on July 4, and you're probably looking at an on-track crowd of 20,000.
"So if it's the same purse money, if it's for the good of racing and given Mr. Paulson's track record, we can probably present a better show than New York.
"Also, I think it would be real interesting to see Cigar and Soul of the Matter again, especially coming off their close finish in Dubai. Remember, Cigar and Soul of the Matter carried equal weight (124 pounds) in the World Cup. Soul of the Matter would be getting weight in the Gold Cup."
The Gold Cup is the second leg of the MGM Grand Classic Crown. The Gold Cup and the Suburban are both 1 1/4-mile races, and while Cigar is a world traveler and the leading money winner with $7,669,815, one drawback might be extensive coast-to-coast shipping.
Such a schedule could entail Cigar's going from New York to California for the Gold Cup; back to his New York headquarters, then back to California for the Pacific Classic on Aug. 10, and back yet again to New York to prepare for the Breeders' Cup Classic at Woodbine on Oct. 26.
Even if Cigar makes his next start in the Massachussetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs on June 1, Panza said he still has the Gold Cup on his agenda.
"I understand that L'Carriere (third in the World Cup) is getting some time off and will wait for Saratoga," Panza said. "If Cigar were to run in the Suburban, Soul of the Matter would head up our race, and I'm not quite sure who would run against Cigar in New York. I doubt very much that Paulson's other horse, Geri, would run. Cigar has already beaten Wekiva Springs, so logically, I would think Cigar will run here. If he does, obviously, that would be the highlight of our summer."
New touches this meet:
Panza will offer maiden grass races on a consistent basis. "That hasn't been done in California in a long, long time. Back east, there's 80 horses entered for every maiden race on the grass. But we weren't writing them, so owners weren't sending those horses out here."
Maiden grass races were not written in order to conserve the turf course. "But with the re-sodding last year, the Bermuda is doing really well, and we feel it can handle the additional races."
Although the overnight purses are the same as last year, stakes pots have increased with the hope that will lead to greater overnight purses. "If that works, we can obviously raise the handle, and hopefully, either at the end of this meet or next year, we can raise our overnight purses."
Panza expects the $700,000 Shoemaker Mile on June 16 to be "the premier mile turf race outside of the Breeders' Cup. The timing is such that everyone's got their horses cranked up because it's the middle of the summer. And it's a good indicator for them to see if they fit in the Breeders' Cup Mile."
On the horse population: "There's a lot of fresh turf horses, obviously. Our turf course is in great shape, so our grass racing should be real strong. Everyone has a shortage of the better horses, but we should have a very solid meet. When we get to the end of May, every weekend through the end of the meet offers a stakes race worth at least $200,000. So there will always be a big race for the fans to see.
"With the Shoemaker, the Gold Cup and the Caesars Palace Turf Championship, we have an excellent shot to get a lot of horses outside of California to come here. That will make it even more interesting."
BRICE DEFINITELY NOT FIRING BLANCS
If Brice Blanc's English ever gets as good as his riding, he might want to
consider anchoring the evening news.
Not that the 24-year-old native of Lyon, France, can't express himself. He does very well, both on and off a horse. He is far and away the leading apprentice rider at Santa Anita, and had 46 victories to rank eighth overall as the 87-day meet winds down.
"We've been together about nine months," said his agent, Vic Lipton, of the rider whose name is pronounced Breece Blonk. "I was looking for a rider and (the late) Rodney Rash came to me and asked me to take his book. He was working for Rash at that time and he thought he really had ability, so I took a chance and it worked out.
"It's been a lot of hard work. There have been months when we just went by looking for any horse to ride. Now it's what horse to ride, which we're really happy and proud about. It was a tough sell, especially for someone nobody ever heard of.
"But he's a student of racing and he's proved he's developed. He's won a $75,000-added stakes race, was second in a $1-million race, the Santa Anita Handicap, and won a Grade II race for Jack Van Berg, all those without the bug, so he's proved he can win without the apprentice allowance (Blanc loses his five-pound allowance on May 19).
"Although many don't continue to do well after they lose the bug, he has a chance. This is what trainers have been telling me. He's patient, he'll take a horse off the pace and wait, or he'll put it on the lead if it calls for that, either way."
THE HOMESTRETCH: P.A. Baffert, trainer Bob's 40-year-old brother, was one of many celebrants in the Baffert party after Cavonnier won the Santa Anita Derby. P.A., who would not reveal what his initials represent, is a computer whiz for Silicon Graphics, whose corporate offices are in Mountain View. P.A.'s domain is special effects for the movie industry . . . There's whipping during a race, there was Nakatani's post-race whipping controversy, and now, a pre-race whipping incident. An investigation is underway at Santa Anita to determine whether starter Tucker Slender employed excessive force in using a 10-foot buggy whip on blind-folded Lit De Justice in an effort to get him into the starting gate before the Potrero Grande Handicap. "I think it was
(excessive)," said Jenine Sahadi, trainer of the sprinter who has won more than
$700,000. Sahadi estimates the whip was used eight to 12 times on Lit De Justice, a
notoriously bad gate horse . . . Richard Culberson is on an 18-year victory cycle at
Santa Anita. When the 51-year-old jockey guided 2-year-old filly Theresa Eileen to a
$69.80 upset in Wednesday's first race, it was his first win at Arcadia since Oct. 6, 1978
when he rode Smile On Me to a 3-length victory. Some of his contemporaries that year:
Darrel McHargue, Fernando Toro, Chuck Baltazar, Steve Cauthen and Bill Shoemaker . . . A few riding assignments for the Kentucky Derby are still undecided, but sometimes, later is better. "I won three Derbies with horses I got on late, that I hadn't been riding regularly," pointed out Tony Matos, presently handling Rene Douglas. "Canonnade (1974) and Bold Forbes (1976, both ridden by Angel Cordero Jr.) and Swale (1984, Laffit Pincay Jr.) were all late pickups."
And now, goodnight to you all.
. . . Trevor Denman will enjoy his first break from race-calling in a quarter-century
after Santa Anita. He is taking a sabbatical during the Hollywood Park meet and will
spend it on his farm outside Rochester, Minn., to do some equine research and writing.
"I've been calling races for 25 years . . . This is the first total diversion from horse racing.
I'll be on a farm where I can't even get the results even if I wanted them. It's just going to
be total seclusion. Then I'll look forward to coming back at Del Mar." He won't need a
tune-up. "I'll get right back to it. By the third race, you don't even know you've been
away. You've got your technique down after 25 years."
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com/alauck)