Cigar Billed as Star of Hollywood Script

In “Waiting for Godot,” Samuel Beckett’s first play, the mysterious title character never makes it to the stage.

A title for the Hollywood Park meet that opens tonight might be “Waiting for Cigar,” and track officials hope they have better luck with that theme than Santa Anita did. Cigar, last year’s horse of the year, missed the Santa Anita Handicap last month because of a bruised foot. But now, after a 14th consecutive victory and a $2.4-million payday in Dubai, he is expected to come west for the $1-million Hollywood Gold Cup, the race he won a year ago.

Before the Gold Cup on June 30, there might even be an interim race for Cigar, who is getting his usual entreaties from Suffolk Downs in Boston. Last year, Suffolk put up a $500,000 bonus for any horse that won two Gulfstream Park handicaps, the Pimlico Special and its own Massachusetts Handicap. Cigar did all of the above and earned the bonus plus the $150,000 winner’s share of the purse.

This time, the Suffolk race has a different wrinkle, but it’s still tailored for Cigar: The winner gets a guaranteed $150,000, plus a $250,000 bonus if he has already won three Grade I races. Cigar has 10 Grade I’s to his credit. One of his few non-graded triumphs is, interestingly enough, last year’s Massachusetts Handicap. And the race isn’t graded this time around, either.

The Massachusetts Handicap will be run on June 1. Suffolk is an easy van ride for Cigar, who is stabled at Belmont Park, 200 miles away in Elmont, N.Y. And that race would leave him with enough of a breather before the Hollywood Gold Cup.

If Cigar won at Suffolk, the Gold Cup would be his opportunity for 16 in a row, which would tie Citation’s record. None of the victories in Citation’s streak was at Hollywood Park, but he completed his career at the Inglewood track, winning the Century and American Handicaps and the Gold Cup in 1951.

Two bonuses that Cigar isn’t eligible for are being offered to horses that run in the Santa Anita Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup and the $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 10. Mr Purple, upset winner of the Big ‘Cap, is the only horse with a shot at $2 million for the sweep but there are also payouts totaling $500,000 for the four horses that accumulate the most points for high finishes in the series.

Since winning the Big ‘Cap, Mr Purple has finished fifth, well beaten by Cigar’s stablemate, Geri, in the Oaklawn Handicap.

“The Oaklawn Park track used to favor California horses,” said Ron McAnally, who trains Mr Purple. “But now I think it’s the kind of track that helps the Eastern horses. Mr Purple should do better back in California, but of course I don’t like the idea of hooking that monster from Dubai.”

Mr Purple will probably need a prep for the Gold Cup, and a likely spot would be the $250,000 Californian at Hollywood Park on June 2.

The 67-day season begins modestly enough with a three-stakes card tonight, but in the featured Los Angeles Handicap, fans will see a 5-year-old who wins almost as consistently as Cigar. Abaginone has lost only twice, but sore shins and surgery for a chipped ankle restricted his appearances to three a year in 1994 and 1995. This will already be his third start this year, and comes on the heels of two fast and easy victories at Bay Meadows and Santa Anita. His winning margin was six lengths each time.

“When he’s right, he’s awfully tough,” trainer Sandy Shulman said. “The lights bother some horses when they’re not used to them, but this horse doesn’t have a problem. He’s already won under the lights at Hollywood.”

For his ninth start, Abaginone will carry high weight of 119 pounds, one more than Kingdom Found, who will run in trainer Rafael Becerra’s name for the first time. Becerra, a longtime assistant to Gary Jones, has taken over some of the horses since Jones’ retirement at the end of the Santa Anita meet. In Kingdom Found’s last race, he finished third, 6 1/2 lengths behind Abaginone, in the Potrero Grande Handicap.

Horse Racing Notes

The Daily Racing Form has narrowed the field for the Kentucky Derby to 20 horses, which would mean that Alyrob, a strong second before his disqualification in the Santa Anita Derby, will be able to run. If more than 20 horses are entered, Alyrob will be excluded because he has no earnings in graded races. One of the recent defections is E C’s Dream, who was fifth in the Santa Anita Derby.

The Racing Form’s list includes Alyrob, Blow Out, Built For Pleasure, Cavonnier, City By Night, Corker, Diligence, Editor’s Note, Grindstone, Halo Sunshine, Honour And Glory, In Contention, Louis Quatorze, Matty G, Prince Of Thieves, Semoran, Skip Away, Unbridled’s Song, Victory Speech and Zarb’s Magic.

Semoran is among 12 horses entered in the $100,000 Derby Trial on Saturday, which is opening day at Churchill Downs. The last horse to win both the Trial and the Derby was Tim Tam in 1958. . . . Craig Perret has been named by trainer Richard Cross to ride Halo Sunshine in the Derby, which will be run May 4. . . . Kent Desormeaux has the assignment on Diligence for trainer Nick Zito, who said that Eddie Delahoussaye turned down the mount because he’s riding Eltish the same day in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Wayne Lukas hired Jose Santos to ride Victory Speech but still needs a jockey for Honour And Glory. . . . As of Thursday afternoon, Hollywood Park was without an agreement to send its racing signal to Nevada casinos. The track has been asking the casinos to pay a rights fee of 4% of what they handle, which would be an increase over the 3.5% that Santa Anita charged at the meeting that ended Monday.

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EXPANDED HANDICAP

A new format that includes more extensive race analysis from Times handicapper Bob Mieszerski makes its debut in today’s editions. C11