Trainers Hope Thirteen Is Lucky as Line to Race Cigar Forms Here

Thirteen horses, among them a filly and one from Japan, are lined up to battle Cigar in the $4-million Breeders’ Cup Classic, perhaps encouraged because the winner of last year’s race has lost two of his last three starts and is having problems with his right front foot again.

Wearing a newly applied fiberglass patch, Cigar worked six furlongs in 1:15 1/5 Thursday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Trainer Bill Mott and owner Allen Paulson seem confident that the 1995 horse of the year will be at his best at Woodbine in Toronto on Oct. 26, when he tries to become the first horse to win the Classic twice.

Cigar’s foot problems began early this year, causing him to miss the Santa Anita Handicap in March and the Hollywood Gold Cup in June. Mott also came close to scratching him from the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs on June 1. Cigar’s victory that day was the second-to-last of his 16 in a row, a streak that ended when Dare And Go beat him in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August.

Dare And Go is also entered in the Classic, but Skip Away, who beat Cigar in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont this month, won’t run because of the $480,000 supplementary fee that would have been required to make him eligible.

Mott and his farrier, Jim Bayes, worked Tuesday night to put a new patch on Cigar’s foot.

“I was pleased with the workout,” Mott said Thursday. “He went much like he did last year. He’s fine, his foot is fine, and we are all in good humor. There’s something there, but to call it a quarter crack might be bad terminology. I’m happy to report that it does not seem to be a serious problem. What we did was basically repatch an old problem.”

In 12 previous runnings, the Classic has drawn capacity 14-horse fields only three times. But this year’s pre-entry, announced Thursday, was marked by the appearance of Yanks Music, a 3-year-old filly who has seven wins and two seconds in nine starts, and Taiki Blizzard, a lightly raced Japanese 5-year-old who hasn’t started since June 9.

Taiki Blizzard, who has been cross-entered in the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Mile, a grass race, has won two of 12 starts on grass and is undefeated in two outings on dirt. He finished fourth in last year’s Japan Cup.

Leo O’Brien, Yanks Music’s trainer, said he would prefer running in another Breeders’ Cup race, the $1-million Distaff, which is restricted to fillies and mares. A decision may not be made until next Wednesday, when entries for the seven Breeders’ Cup races are taken.

In another development, Paulson said that Cigar, scheduled to be retired to a stud career that would start next February, may race once more after the Breeders’ Cup. Paulson said that there has been preliminary talk about a $5-million match race, on dirt against Helissio, the Arc de Triomphe winner, in Japan. He also said that Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and the Meadowlands have expressed interest in a farewell race for Cigar.

“I think my horse is as strong as ever,” Paulson said. “In the last race, Bill Mott talked about human error, and I think that was it. There was too much distance early between my horse and the leaders. The pace was slow. Then we still would have won in another jump or two.”

That day, Cigar drifted out toward the center of the track under left-handed whipping by Jerry Bailey in the stretch. Cigar seldom felt Bailey’s whip during the streak, but sometimes horses will lug out because they are hurting.

Besides the Classic, the Distaff and the Mile on Oct. 26, the other Breeders’ Cup races at Woodbine will be the Juvenile, the Juvenile Fillies and the Sprint, worth $1 million apiece; and the $2-million Turf. These horses have been pre-entered:

Juvenile Fillies (1 1/16 miles)--Barbed Wire, Cheyenne City, City Band, Critical Factor, Dunbar Hill, Hidden Reserve, Larkwhistle, Love That Jazz, Minister’s Melody, Runaway Mary, Sharp Cat, Storm Song.

Sprint (six furlongs)--Alphabet Soup, Appealing Skier, Boundless Moment, Capote Belle, Chaposa Springs, Criollito, Friendly Lover, Honour And Glory, Iktamal, Lakota Brave, Langfuhr, Lit De Justice, Lord Carson, Paying Dues. Also eligible: Jess C’s Whirl, Love Grows.

Distaff (1 1/8 miles)--Clear Mandate, Different, Jewel Princess, My Flag, Mysteriously, Serena’s Song, Top Secret, Yanks Music.

Mile (one mile on grass)--Atticus, Chaposa Springs, Charnwood Forest, Da Hoss, Helmsman, Kiridashi, Mark Of Esteem, Memories Of Silver, Same Old Wish, Smooth Runner, Spinning World, Taiki Blizzard, Urgent Request, Volochine. Also eligible: Dumaani, Zarannda, Mighty Forum.

Juvenile (1 1/16 miles)--Acceptable, Boston Harbor, Brave Act, Cash Deposit, Falkenham, Gold Tribute, Gun Fight, His Honor, Michelle’sallhands, Ordway, Sal’s Driver, Zippersup.

Turf (1 1/2 miles on grass)--Awad, Chief Bearhart, Diplomatic Jet, Dushyantor, Luna Wells, Marlin, Pilsudski, Shantou, Singspiel, Swain, Talloires, Wall Street, Windsharp, Zagreb. Also eligible: My Emma, Ricks Natural Star.

Classic (1 1/4 miles)--Alphabet Soup, Atticus, Cigar, Dare And Go, Dramatic Gold, Editor’s Note, Formal Gold, Louis Quatorze, Mahogany Hall, Mt. Sassafras, Taiki Blizzard, Tamayaz, Will’s Way, Yanks Music.

Horse Racing Notes

Sonny Hine, who trains Skip Away, was released from a hospital in Lexington, Ky. Hine, who had been there six days, has been given medication to dissolve kidney stones and may be back at work at Keeneland today. . . . Besides Cigar, the only other Breeders’ Cup winner returning from last year is My Flag, who will try to win the Distaff after taking the 1995 Juvenile Fillies. . . . One of the standouts from abroad is Mark Of Esteem, who is expected to be named the champion miler in Europe. . . . Despite being the No. 5 trainer nationally with $4.1 million in purses, Bobby Frankel doesn’t have a Breeders’ Cup horse. Frankel’s horses have earned $2.4 million in Breeders’ Cup races even though he’s winless with 26 starters. . . . Wayne Lukas, who leads Breeders’ Cup trainers with 12 victories and $11.5 million in purses, will have at least one starter in every race but the Mile. This is Lukas’ lineup: Juvenile Fillies--Cheyenne City, City Band, Sharp Cat; Sprint--Honour And Glory, Lord Carson; Distaff--Serena’s Song; Juvenile--Boston Harbor, Gold Tribute; Turf--Marlin; Classic--Editor’s Note. . . . The supplementary entries, who cost their owners fees of $200,000 each, are Criollito in the Sprint and Different in the Distaff.