Paulson Rues Ways Cigar and Bailey Lost to Mandella’s Horses

The Dare And Go-Cigar race won’t go away. For Allen Paulson, owner of the beaten Cigar, his review was a post-mortem, and the other night, he analyzed what happened in last Saturday’s Pacific Classic.

“We couldn’t beat the rabbit [Siphon] and Dare And Go too,” Paulson said. “They double-teamed us. That [Richard] Mandella’s a smart guy. He knew that if he couldn’t beat us with one of his horses, he might beat us with the other one.”

Cigar’s 16-race winning streak ended when he and jockey Jerry Bailey chased Siphon early, then had little left to ward off the rush from Dare And Go through the stretch. Both Siphon and Dare And Go are trained by Mandella.

Bill Mott, Cigar’s trainer, was protective of Bailey, saying that all he did was follow orders, but Paulson wasn’t as forgiving. Bailey’s job is safe--he has given Cigar too many good rides for one slip to jeopardize his status--but nevertheless Paulson thought that his horse might have bettered Citation’s win streak if Cigar hadn’t blazed an opening mile of 1:33 3/5.

“Bailey had us up there too close considering that pace,” Paulson said. “It was going to be impossible for Cigar to finish strong after that opening mile.”

The only horse that Bailey and Mott feared in the Pacific Classic was Siphon, the speedster who had won the Hollywood Gold Cup on the front end in June.

The Paulson-Mott-Bailey entry that day was Geri, who finished second. Mott said afterward that Geri needed more seasoning, but he also came away with the well-founded theory that Siphon could be dangerous in any race if he got away early.

“Siphon’s a horse who can run 1:09 [for six furlongs] and still win,” Bailey said after the Pacific Classic.

Mott felt that he had little to fear from the closers last Saturday. Except for one horse--Dare And Go--he was right. After Cigar, who was beaten by 3 1/2 lengths, came Siphon in third place, 10 1/2 lengths behind Dare And Go.

“We made too much out of the Hollywood Gold Cup,” Paulson said. “That was the mistake. If we hadn’t run against Siphon [with Geri] that day, I don’t think we would have gone into the Pacific Classic with such a high opinion [of Siphon].”

Horse Racing Notes

Jockey Matt Garcia, who began a seven-day suspension for an infraction in Sunday’s fourth race, was given 15 more days by the Del Mar stewards in a ruling issued Thursday. Kent Desormeaux and Paul Atkinson escaped injury in the accident Sunday caused when Wrapped In Hope, ridden by Garcia, came out onto Not Too Shamme and caused Desormeaux and Atkinson, who was on Fathia, to go down. Not Too Shamme was fatally injured. In Monday’s seventh race, Garcia was disqualified from second and placed last on Auvergne, for careless riding and causing interference to several horses on the first turn. The 15-day suspension will begin Aug. 24 and continues through Sept. 9, meaning Garcia won’t be able to ride again until Sept. 11, Del Mar’s closing day.

The long-rumored split of jockey Kent Desormeaux and his agent of 10 years, Gene Short, is official. Starting Wednesday, Desormeaux’s book will be handled by Ron Anderson, the agent for Chris Antley and Gary Stevens.

Times staff writer Bob Mieszerski contributed to this story.