THOROUGHBRED RACING : Trainer Jackson Recounts Events That Led to Downfall of In Excess

Trainer Bruce Jackson will not second-guess himself about horse of the year, and how it slipped away from him and In Excess in the Breeders’ Cup.

But Jackson did take time the other day to review the events that led to In Excess’ ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the worst American race the Irish-bred colt ever ran.

First of all, Jackson was not enthusiastic about running In Excess in any Breeders’ Cup race. After In Excess had beaten Farma Way, Festin and Strike The Gold in the Woodward Handicap at Belmont Park in mid-September, Jackson preferred staying in New York, to run in the New York Racing Assn. Mile at Aqueduct the week before the Breeders’ Cup.

But Jack Munari, who owns In Excess, had gotten Breeders’ Cup fever. Munari, who made the transition from quarter horses to thoroughbreds with his trainer, had allowed Jackson to call the shots all season. Munari didn’t want to run in July at Belmont in the Suburban Handicap, which at 1 1/4 miles might have compromised In Excess’ stamina. With Gary Stevens never using his whip, In Excess won the Suburban in track-record time of 1:58 1/5.

“A mile and a quarter at Belmont is only around one turn,” Jackson said. “And I knew we could beat the horses that were in there.”

In Excess, unable to beat the best horses at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita last winter, went East and swept New York’s Metropolitan, Suburban, Whitney and Woodward Handicaps, a first since Kelso’s grand slam in 1961.

Jackson brought In Excess to Churchill Downs a month early, ostensibly to train for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, a two-turn race at 1 1/4 miles. While In Excess adjusted to his new surroundings, Jackson visited the Kentucky Derby Museum on the track grounds, watching movies of the Derby from the last 25 years.

“They showed that horses on the lead don’t win 1 1/4-mile races at that track,” Jackson said.

Some Derby exceptions were Spend A Buck in 1985 and Winning Colors, the filly, in 1988.

“Winning Colors wasn’t the best horse her year,” Jackson said. “The race set up perfectly for her. That’s how she won. Nobody else wanted to go with her early. She got that easy early lead, and then barely hung on at the wire.”

In Excess’ first workout at Churchill Downs produced a 1:29 4/5 clocking for seven furlongs. Jackson called Munari in California and told him the bad news.

“When are you working the horse next?” Munari asked.

“In a week,” Jackson said.

“I’ll be there,” Munari said.

On Oct. 15, In Excess worked a mile like a claimer, in 1:42 1/5. According to Jackson, Munari went back to the barn and was sick.

“I just couldn’t get the horse to work on that track,” Jackson said.

Eight days later, Jackson switched In Excess to grass, the surface the horse had grown up with while racing in England in 1989-90.

The horse improved, and at pre-entry time, the week before the Breeders’ Cup, Jackson cross-entered In Excess in the Classic on dirt and the Mile on grass.

“I knew we were in trouble,” Jackson said. “The Classic was too far for him, especially the way he was handling the track, and something that’s wrong with the Breeders’ Cup is that if you can’t run in the mile-and-a-quarter race, you’ve got to drop down to six furlongs. There’s nothing in between on dirt.

“Look, this is a real good horse. But what he is is a real good miler, and that’s it. We were able to stretch him out in races that set up for him over tracks that he liked.”

At entry time, Jackson elected to run in the Mile, which meant that he would not face many of the handicap dirt standouts that he had been accused of ducking all season.

“I didn’t have any choice,” Jackson said. “Then it rained the day before the Breeders’ Cup. That loosened up the grass course.”

Jackson woke up Breeders’ Cup morning virtually knowing that he would need a concession speech. Then in the paddock that afternoon, In Excess couldn’t handle the hullabaloo.

“This horse is brainless,” Jackson said. “Nothing bothers him, usually. But at Churchill, they let those camera crews get real close, and they were all over us. The horse couldn’t handle it.”

Black Tie Affair, the favorite to win horse of the year in voting that’s under way, won the Classic from the lead, but Jackson insists that his theory about Churchill Downs still holds.

“He wouldn’t have won if In Excess had been in there,” Jackson said. “We would have been pressuring him all the way. And then neither one of us would have won it.”

Horse Racing Notes

The decision hasn’t been made whether In Excess will run in 1992. He could be sold, he could run again or he might be sent to stud. . . . Hopeful Amber, undefeated in three starts, drew the inside post for Saturday’s $250,000 Hollywood Starlet at 1 1/16 miles for 2-year-old fillies. Hopeful Amber will be ridden by David Flores. The rest of the eight-horse field, in order, consists of Pennant Fever, with Pat Valenzuela riding; Looie Capote, Kent Desormeaux; Crownette, Chris Antley; Golden Treat, Chris McCarron; Magical Maiden, Gary Stevens; More Than Willing, Eddie Delahoussaye; and Soviet Sojourn, Corey Nakatani. All will carry 120 pounds.

Soviet Sojourn, winner of two stakes at Del Mar, makes her first start in the Starlet since an 11th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. . . . The Starlet has no bearing on an Eclipse Award. Pleasant Stage, winner of the Oak Leaf at Santa Anita, finishing two lengths ahead of Soviet Sojourn, and first in the Breeders’ Cup, has clinched the divisional title.

The $500,000 Hollywood Futurity, to be run Sunday, will be the fifth race, accommodating a telecast by ESPN. The Futurity, which will be run for the 11th time, was a $1-million race the last eight years, but the purse was halved this year because, Hollywood officials said, the seven-figure pot was not attracting Eastern horses. . . . The Starlet used to be a $500,000 race.

Turbulent Kris, who will be supplemented into the Futurity at a cost of $10,000, has the same parents--Kris K. and My Turbulent Miss--as Prized, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf in 1989. . . . Antley, a New York jockey, will remain at Hollywood after the Starlet to ride Dance Floor in the Futurity. . . . The Hollywood season has five days left, with a post time of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the closing day. . . . Santa Anita opens next Thursday.