As Favorite Wins Gold Cup, Rest Don’t Get Close to Cigar : Horse racing: Field is left behind in $1-million race as 5-year-old scores ninth victory in a row and stakes claim to Horse of the Year honors.

Although the idea seemed far-fetched Sunday, there is a horse that might have been able to beat Cigar.

Unfortunately, Holy Bull was injured on Feb. 11 and now stands at stud in Kentucky.

Without Holy Bull in the field, Cigar won the $1-million Gold Cup at Hollywood Park by 3 1/2 lengths, proving decisively that no active thoroughbred can compete with him.

Racing in California for the first time since 1993, Cigar, the 5-year-old son of Palace Music, ran his win streak to nine and all but wrapped up Horse of the Year honors.

Getting a trip similar to the one he got in his 2 1/2-length victory in the Oaklawn Handicap on April 15, the 9-10 favorite sat fourth early while kept wide and under a stranglehold by Jerry Bailey, cruised to the lead around the turn, then strode away to win. Tinners Way, the 6-1 third choice, got up in the final strides to beat 23-1 shot Tossofthecoin by a head for second.

Concern, the 3-1 second choice, finished sixth, but did have an excuse after his third loss to Cigar.

Three weeks after his impressive victory in The Californian, the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner will be going home without some teeth.

“When he first walked into the gate, he kind of acted up a little bit,” jockey Mike Smith said. “We got him to settle down and he seemed to be fine. But, just before the gate opened, he threw his head off to the side and ran his mouth right into the door.

“He knocked his bottom teeth out, then went the entire first quarter-mile shaking his head.”

Even with a full mouth, Concern wouldn’t have been able to handle Cigar, who completed the 1 1/4 miles in 1:59 2/5. Owner Allen Paulson’s entry was in a one-horse race again. The smallest margin of victory during his streak has been two lengths, and the average has been about 4 3/4.

If he wasn’t given his just due before Sunday, he will be now. Trainer Bill Mott and Bailey are even bigger fans now than they were before.

Originally scheduled to wait until the Whitney Handicap on Aug. 5 to make his next start after his four-length victory in the Massachusetts Handicap a month ago, Cigar was lured west by Hollywood Park.

Paulson wanted to run here, and Mott reluctantly agreed. Because Cigar was carrying 126 pounds, the highest impost of his career, and had shipped across the country, Mott thought his superstar might be vulnerable Sunday.

“We put him in a situation where he could have gotten beat, but it didn’t matter,” the trainer said. “I knew the horse was doing fine, was sound and his last two races hadn’t been that tough on him.

“It wasn’t in our original plans to come, but because the horse was doing well and Mr. Paulson wanted to see him run out here, we came and it worked out.”

To say the least. Cigar ran the fifth-fastest Gold Cup in history and carried the most weight of any horse to win the race since Perrault did it under 127 pounds in 1982.

“I think they’re starting to talk about him as they were talking about Holy Bull,” said Mott, who admitted he was surprised at the ease in which Cigar won. “He’s got kind of a catchy name and he’s proven how good he is on the race track. I don’t see anything that he hasn’t done right now. He’s won from a mile to 1 1/4 miles, on the lead and from behind. He’s beaten the best that we have to offer in America.

“In my mind, he’s pretty well established he’s as fine a horse as we’ve seen in a long, long time, regardless of what happens from this point on. I think the case for Cigar [for Horse of the Year] is pretty doggone strong.”

Bailey, who already has said Cigar is the best horse he has ever ridden, was surprised to hear some boos when he came to the walking ring before the horses came on the track and again in the post parade.

Those who booed the winner and cheered local hero Best Pal, who finished fifth in his third consecutive off-the-board effort, were in the minority.

“Obviously, the people who made [Cigar] favored were at the window and not at the rail,” Bailey said. “The way this horse keeps doing this race after race after race, you have to love him.

“I don’t know how he could have run a better race than he did today. If I had any reservations this year, it would have been today with all the factors involved; the change in plans, the travel, the weight. I think everything was stacked against him and he just proved he was better than them.”

Tinners Way, looking for his second victory in a $1-million race after his 7-1 upset in last year’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar, sat well off the swift pace set by Urgent Request and Del Mar Dennis and rallied to complete the exacta.

“He ran a very good second,” Delahoussaye said. “I thought the winner was a nice horse, but today he proved he’s a great horse. He was running nice and kind with [Bailey] and it looked like he had a handful of horse. I was hoping he was running off, but when he called on him, he just took off.”

The finish of the Gold Cup was hardly a ringing endorsement for the quality of this year’s Santa Anita Handicap. Upset winner Urgent Request finished last on Sunday, virtually walking to the wire. Second-place finisher Best Pal was fifth and his future seems unclear. Del Mar Dennis, a close fourth in the Big ‘Cap, was seventh.

Horse Racing Notes

Cigar’s victory was his 11th in 22 career starts and he is 10 for 11 on the main track. The winner’s share of $550,000 boosted his earnings to $2,779,815 and the victory was also worth a 1995 truck to his groom, Juan Campuzano. The truck was presented courtesy of Hollywood Park and a local dealership. . . . Where Cigar will run next is unclear, but it isn’t likely to be in the Pacific Classic on Aug. 13. “We really want to save something for the end of the year,” Mott said. “I’m sure Mr. Paulson would feel the same way. You don’t want to squeeze blood out of a turnip and I don’t think we’d run back in 30 days after we shipped out here. He wouldn’t be [at Del Mar] training and we would have to ship again to do it.”