BREEDERS’ CUP : Lukas, McGaughey Seem Dominant Again

Wayne Lukas and Shug McGaughey, the trainers whose horses earned the most money in the Breeders’ Cup a year ago, are in a position to be the big winners again when the sixth annual series of $10 million in races is run at Florida’s Gulfstream Park Nov. 4.

Owners of horses for the seven races were required to make preliminary payments Monday--ranging from $10,000 to $30,000, depending on the purse value of the stake--and Tuesday it was announced that 101 horses are eligible.

Lukas, who has won nine Breeders’ Cup races, once again has the quantity, and on paper McGaughey has the quality. Lukas will start 11 horses, having representation in every race but the Turf Stakes. McGaughey has only five horses eligible, but Easy Goer will be a heavy favorite to win the Classic and clinch horse-of-the-year honors, and the trainer’s entry of Adjudicating and Rhythm is expected to be favored in the Juvenile.

Last year, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., Lukas started 12 horses and had three winners and two second-place finishers as his barn won purses worth $2.2 million. McGaughey, with only five starters, won one race and finished second twice for a $1.3-million day.

Open Mind, who won the Juvenile Fillies last year, will run in the Distaff at Gulfstream, but she will not be favored. Open Mind has lost her last two starts and had a 10-race winning streak halted by Bayakoa, who will be favored in the Distaff after her owner, Frank Whitham, paid a $200,000 supplementary fee to make her eligible.

Horses can become eligible for the Breeders’ Cup shortly after birth if their sires have been nominated and their owners merely pay a one-time fee of $500, but neither was done for Bayakoa, whose racing career began in Argentina.

Sewickley, the only other supplementary entry, at a cost of $120,000, will be rematched in the Sprint against Dispersal, who beat him by a nose in the New York Racing Assn. Mile at Aqueduct last Saturday.

The only favorite from the Lukas barn is expected to be the trainer’s three-horse entry of Stella Madrid, Special Happening and Voodoo Lily in the Juvenile Fillies. Lukas also has a good chance to win the Mile with Steinlen, who has won four straight on grass, including the Arlington Million. The probable favorite in the Mile is Zilzal, undefeated in five starts in England.

Open Mind, Winning Colors, Highest Glory and Wonders Delight give Lukas a four-horse entry in the Distaff. His other hopes are Grand Canyon in the Juvenile, On the Line in the Sprint and Slew City Slew in the Classic.

McGaughey’s other two starters are Dancing Spree in the Sprint and In Full Cry in the Juvenile Fillies.

Easy Goer will be trying to square two accounts--his defeat, at 3-10 odds, in last year’s Juvenile, and his 2-1 deficit against Sunday Silence in this year’s Triple Crown. Sunday Silence won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and then missed a $5-million bonus and was prevented from becoming the first Triple Crown champion in 11 years when he finished a distant second to Easy Goer in the Belmont Stakes.

Sunday Silence has had one other defeat since the Belmont, and Easy Goer is on a five-race winning streak. Sunday Silence probably would be voted horse of the year if he wins the Classic.

Post positions will be drawn for the Breeders’ Cup next Wednesday, with second payments of between $10,000 and $30,000 due then. Maximum fields are 14 horses. In races with more than 14 entrants, nine of the starters will be determined by a point system based on high finishes in stakes this year. The remaining five horses will be selected by a committee of international racing officials.

Eight horses have been pre-entered in more than one race. Their owners’ preferences are the Turf for Colorado Dancer and Golden Pheasant; the Mile for Steinlen, Norquestor, Simply Majestic and Truly Met, and the Sprint for Dispersal and Little Bold John.

Here are the Breeders’ Cup pre-entries:

$1-million Sprint, six furlongs (19 horses)--On the Line, Dancing Spree, Sewickley, Mr. Nickerson, Safely Kept, Simply Majestic, Dispersal, Once Wild, Norquestor, Black Tie Affair, Carborundum, Flourescent Gem, Little Bold John, Regal Intention, Sam Who, Deputy Shaw, Glitterman, Olympic Prospect and Shaker Knit. Probable favorite: Sewickley.

$1-million Juvenile Fillies, 1 1/16 miles (14)--Stella Madrid, Dance Colony, Special Happening, Cheval Volant, Trumpet’s Blare, Go for Wand, Sweet Roberta, In Full Cry, Alchi, Alexandrina, Miss Running Vany, Stacie’s Toy, Super You, Voodoo Lily. Probable favorite: Wayne Lukas-trained entry of Stella Madrid, Special Happening and Voodoo Lily.

$1-million Distaff, 1 1/8 miles (12)--Bayakoa, Open Mind, Goodbye Halo, Colonial Waters, Rose’s Cantina, Gorgeous, Nastique, Highest Glory, Colorado Dancer, Nadina, Winning Colors, Wonders Delight. Probable favorite: Bayakoa.

$1-million Mile, one mile on grass (20)--Steinlen, Simply Majestic, Sabona, Dispersal, Quick Call, Highland Springs, Norquestor, Political Ambition, Little Bold John, Diamonds Galore, Distant Relative, Golden Opinion, Golden Pheasant, Green Line Express, In Extremis, Most Welcome, Royal Touch, Truly Met, Warning, Zilzal. Probable favorite: Zilzal.

$1-million Juvenile, 1 1/16 miles (14)--Adjudicating, Senor Pete, Slavic, Single Dawn, Grand Canyon, Secret Hello, Go and Go, Rhythm, Dawn Quixote, Robyn Dancer, Appealing Breeze, Balla Cove, Pleasant Tap, Shot Gun Scott. Probable favorite: Shug McGaughey-trained entry of Adjudicating and Rhythm.

$2-million Turf, 1 1/2 miles on grass (23)--Steinlen, El Senor, Simply Majestic, Pleasant Variety, Hodges Bay, Caltech, Prized, Green Barb, Milesius, Lady in Silver, Sunshine Forever, Alwuhush, Turfah, Behera, Colorado Dancer, Golden Pheasant, Hello Calder, Ile de Chypre, Saint Andrews, Scenic, Sierra Roberta, Star Lift, Truly Met. Probable favorite: El Senor.

$3-million Classic, 1 1/4 miles (8)--Easy Goer, Sunday Silence, Mi Selecto, Cryptoclearance, Slew City Slew, Western Playboy, Blushing John, Present Value. Probable favorite: Easy Goer.