THOROUGHBRED RACING : Cigar to Stay in U.S., Pursue Series Bonus

Instead of running for $4 million in one race in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, next year, Cigar is expected to run in a bonus series of California races that could be worth $6 million, the horse’s owner said Thursday.

“We’d like to give racing a shot in the arm by running this horse in the U.S. as much as possible,” said Allen Paulson, who bred and races Cigar, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic last month at Belmont Park and a cinch for 1995 horse of the year.

Cigar, a 5-year-old, will start next year on a 12-race winning streak, having registered 10 of those victories in 1995. After winning the Classic, Paulson and his trainer, Bill Mott, indicated that Cigar would be running in a new race, the $4-million Dubai World Cup on March 27, but they changed plans when it became clear that three California tracks--Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar--were going to pay a $3-million bonus to any horse sweeping their three million-dollar races.

Craig Fravel, executive vice president of Del Mar, said Thursday that plans for MGM Grand to be a partner in the bonus series are expected to be approved today at a corporate meeting at the hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

The three races, which probably will be called the California Classic Crown Series, will include the Santa Anita Handicap in March, the Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park in July and the Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August. If first place in each race is worth $550,000, a horse sweeping the series would collect $4.65 million in purses and bonus money. First place in the Dubai race is worth $2.4 million.

“This bonus idea was on the drawing board long before Cigar became such a tremendous horse,” Fravel said. “We’ve been working on the bonus idea for several months. It’s perfect timing that we’re going to be able to offer the bonus and Mr. Paulson is indicating that he’s going to run Cigar.”

Paulson lives in Malibu and owns a farm in Bonsall, north of Del Mar. He said that the $3-million bonus was an important consideration in committing to the California races.

“Without that bonus, we might take a different look at things.” Paulson said. “But with the bonus in place, if Cigar could win all three, we’d earn twice as much money as we would earn for just the one race in Dubai. Not only that, we’ll be able to run him more in the U.S. by not going to Dubai, which is a long ways away.

“We would have [missed out on] a lot of races by going over there. It would have taken him a month to get over there and get acclimated, and then there would have been more time, probably another month, to get him back here and settled down once again.”

Mott stables his horses at Gulfstream Park during the winter and in New York the rest of the year, but he brought Cigar to California in July and won the Gold Cup. Paulson said that Cigar will ship in and out of California for the three races next year.

“I can see us running a schedule pretty much like we did last year,” Paulson said.

That might include the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream in Florida on Feb. 10, followed by the Santa Anita and Oaklawn handicaps, the Pimlico Special, the Hollywood Gold Cup, the Pacific Classic, the Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Woodbine in Toronto in November.

Cigar, who has earned $5 million and ranks fourth, behind Alysheba, John Henry and Best Pal on the money list, is still at Belmont Park, but is scheduled to be shipped to Florida soon.

“He’s in perfect condition,” Paulson said. “We had him checked out from head to toe a couple of days after the Breeders’ Cup. He’s an amazing horse. He looked like he could have run another race just a few days after the Breeders’ Cup.”

The three California tracks and MGM Grand are expected to take out an insurance policy that will cover the $3-million bonus. Since the Pacific Classic was first run in 1991, no horse has won even two of the three races.

Fravel said that in the event no horse sweeps the series, $500,000 in bonuses will probably be awarded to four horses that run in all the races and accumulate the most points for high finishes.

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Hidden Lake is already stakes-placed, but most of the attention will be on Advancing Star in Saturday’s $100,000 Maker’s Mark Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Hollywood Park.

Advancing Star will be making her second start, after winning by eight lengths and running six furlongs in an impressive 1:08 4/5 on Oct. 21. Apprentice Jose Valdivia Jr. rode Advancing Star in her debut, but trainer Richard Mandella has given Gary Stevens the assignment for Saturday.

Advancing Star drew the outside post for the seven-furlong race. The other entrants, in post-position order, are Hear The Music, Hawaiian Cowgirl, Hidden Lake, Saratoga Flower, Wouldyoubelieveit and Thankyourluckystar.

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Horse Racing Notes

Eddie Delahoussaye, who finished 10th in the standings at the Oak Tree meeting that ended Monday, rode three winners Thursday, all longshots. Delahoussaye’s final winner of the day came in the feature with Northwest Storm, who won for the first time in seven starts this year, running a 1:34 2/5 mile on the turf course. The 5-year-old mare had finished second five times, with only one victory, in seven previous starts on the Hollywood grass. . . . Hennessy, who was beaten by a neck by Unbridled’s Song in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Belmont Park last month, is a probable for Sunday’s Hollywood Prevue Stakes. . . . Desert Stormer, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, is being considered for the Vernon O. Underwood Breeders’ Cup Stakes at Hollywood on Dec. 9. Trainer Frank Lyons also plans to run the 5-year-old mare in the Santa Monica Handicap at Santa Anita on Jan. 27.