HORSE RACING : Breeders’ Cup Won’t Return Soon

Although California tracks held the Breeders’ Cup for three of the first four years it was run, there is going to be at least a four-year gap before the races come here again, and it may be even longer if local horsemen aren’t able to negotiate a contract with cup officials.

Right now, it appears that California horsemen are not eager to make the concessions that may be necessary for the Breeders’ Cup to return to California, and Breeders’ Cup officials are not in the mood to give the horsemen generous deals, as they did when the races were held here before.

Because horsemen usually share in money bet on races, their percentage going toward a fund for future purses, cup officials must negotiate with horsemen as well as with the host track.

The Breeders’ Cup, which consists of seven races on the same day for $10 million, began in 1984. At the start, cup officials were intent on developing new fans by beefing up racing’s generally mediocre television ratings, and they figured that Hollywood Park and Santa Anita, with their guarantees of good weather and large crowds, would do the best job of showcasing the sport.

Consequently, Hollywood Park had the Breeders’ Cup in 1984 and 1987, and Santa Anita in 1986, with only Aqueduct breaking up the West Coast’s hold on the races in 1985.

Since then, however, the Breeders’ Cup has been concentrated in the East. The races have been at Churchill Downs and Gulfstream Park the last two years, and are scheduled for Belmont Park next year and Churchill Downs again in 1991.

The Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita drew 69,000 fans, which has been surpassed only by the 71,000 at Churchill Downs, and the betting at Santa Anita on the seven cup races totaled $12.5 million, which is still a record.

Television is still important, but the race for ratings is no longer a priority, having been superseded by the need to build off-track betting on the Breeders’ Cup. Six Breeders’ Cups have shown that inveterate racing fans will pay attention for a 4 1/2-hour telecast, but few others have the required staying power.

The Breeders’ Cup is interested in returning to Santa Anita in 1992, and the Oak Tree Racing Assn., which runs the meeting in Arcadia in the fall, would like the races again. Since 1987, when there were several glitches on Breeders’ Cup day, the group hasn’t considered Hollywood Park as a potential site. “At a board meeting this year, there was a lot of talk about going back to California,” a Breeders’ Cup official said. “But not one time did anyone mention Hollywood Park.”

Whether the Breeders’ Cup returns to Santa Anita is pretty much out of Oak Tree’s hands. It will be up to the Santa Anita horsemen to work out their end of the contract with the Breeders’ Cup, and they may not bend as much as the cup negotiators want them to.

“Negotiations are going on, but I can’t comment at all about them,” said Ted Bassett, president of the Breeders’ Cup. “They are much too sensitive for me to say anything.”

In the past, California horsemen did not have to give up their share of the money bet on the Breeders’ Cup. On a typical day at Santa Anita or Hollywood Park, about 5% of the handle goes to the horsemen in purses. What the California horsemen have done on Breeders’ Cup day is give the Breeders’ Cup $100,000, to be used for promotional purposes.

In Florida, the horsemen generally receive about 6% of the betting for their purse fund, but this was waived for the seven Breeders’ Cup races at Gulfstream Park this month. Instead, the horsemen received 6% of the betting on other races during the three-day weekend, which amounted to about $1 million.

The Breeders’ Cup in Florida was handled differently because the program was governed by special state legislation, which allowed Gulfstream Park to have three dates that would have belonged to nearby Calder in the middle of its meeting. Calder is a smaller track that wouldn’t do as much business as Gulfstream even on a normal racing day. Because of the Breeders’ Cup, the difference between the betting at Gulfstream for three days and three at Calder was phenomenal.

When asked recently to rate the top 10 horses of the 1980s, this reporter responded with Spectacular Bid, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Easy Goer, John Henry, Personal Ensign, Risen Star, All Along, Ferdinand and Lady’s Secret.

There might be objections to ranking Alysheba ahead of this year’s antagonists, Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, but Alysheba had the chance to perform--and produce--as a 4-year-old, while the other two have to wait for the start of the next decade before they get the same opportunity.

A striking aspect of any review of the ‘80s is the number of unusual--and even unexplained--deaths of horses that were either at the height of their abilities or on the threshold of greatness.

In 1982, Landaluce, an unbeaten 2-year-old filly who had won five races by 46 1/2 lengths, died of an infection on the day she was to have run in the Hollywood Starlet. This speedy daughter of Seattle Slew had taken ill only six days before.

The next year, Roving Boy, the champion 2-year-old colt in 1982, won the Alibhai Handicap at Santa Anita, but a few strides past the finish line his rear legs caved in. Efforts to save the horse failed.

Roving Boy had been the future-book favorite for the 1983 Kentucky Derby until he suffered a broken leg. He had missed most of the season, and the Alibhai was to have been one of the races on the comeback trail.

Joe Manzi, Roving Boy’s trainer, was in tears as he rushed to his fallen horse at Santa Anita. This year, a few days before the Kentucky Derby, Manzi suffered a fatal heart attack only hours after saddling a horse at Hollywood Park.

In 1984, just days after Swale had given trainer Woody Stephens his third consecutive victory in the Belmont Stakes, the son of Seattle Slew died in his barn at Belmont Park. Returning from a gallop on a hot, humid day, Swale reared up and fell, and was probably dead before he hit the ground. An autopsy failed to find the cause of death.

That fall, several days after he won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Hollywood Park, Eillo died of intestinal complications before he could be shipped back to Florida.

Landaluce, Roving Boy, Swale and Eillo all won championships before they died. Timely Writer also had that championship quality, winning the Flamingo and the Florida Derby in 1982, and he would have been the favorite in the Kentucky Derby had an injury not taken him out of the race.

That fall, Timely Writer had gotten good again and was favored in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont. On the turn for home, Timely Writer and Jeffrey Fell might have been making a winning move, but the colt broke down, causing a three-horse spill, and his injuries were so crippling that he had to be destroyed.