No Silent Running in Lukas’ Shedrow

This was the quietest Breeders’ Cup week the 13-year-old series has ever had. It was so quiet that you could hear a $3,500 gelding from Ruidoso Downs drop.

Cigar, the heaviest favorite on today’s seven-race card at Woodbine, didn’t arrive here from New York until late Wednesday. The European horses, who have good chances to win both of the grass races, have been stabled at the quarantine barn, away from the main-line traffic along the backstretch. And Wayne Lukas, the trainer who has won more Breeders’ Cup races than anybody, didn’t reach the barn area until Friday.

Once Lukas had supervised--from horseback--the morning gallops of his 10 Breeders’ Cup starters, he appeared about 9 a.m. outside his barn, wearing designer togs, designer sunglasses, a pair of leather chaps and a Hoot Gibson-size cowboy hat. Lukas talked about his horses as well as everybody else’s, including Cigar, the horse he’ll try to beat with Editor’s Note in the $4-million Classic, and the no-hope Ricks Natural Star, the cheap claimer from New Mexico who probably will be beaten by everyone in the $2-million Turf.

“He’ll be involved in the race for about 30 yards,” Lukas said. “His workout to get here was so slow that it wouldn’t even have counted in California. They should have found some way to keep him out. I don’t know the guy that’s got him, but that’s the worst part. He’s going to lose his $40,000, and I understand he’s hardly got $40,000 to lose.”

The only grass horse Lukas, 61, runs today is Marlin, 15-1 in the Turf. Lukas, who hasn’t developed many grass standouts while leading North America in purses for 12 of the last 13 years, is absent from the $1-million Mile, the Breeders’ Cup’s other turf race. He has multiple horses in the $1-million Juvenile (Boston Harbor and Gold Tribute), $1-million Juvenile Fillies (Sharp Cat, City Band and Cheyenne City) and $1-million Sprint (Honour And Glory and Lord Carson), and will try to win the Distaff with Serena’s Song, who is running for the 27th time in the last two years.

But for Editor’s Note and Marlin, all of Lukas’ horses will go off at short prices as he tries to add to a Breeders’ Cup record that includes 12 wins and $11.5 million in purses. The next-closest trainer in those categories, with seven wins and $6.4 million, is Shug McGaughey, who has two starters today. Lukas’ output has come from 94 starters, who have run in 51 of the 84 races since the Breeders’ Cup began in 1984.

Lukas’ horses have also accounted for 15 second-place finishes and 10 thirds, and last year at Belmont Park the Lukas barn racked up $716,000 in purses without winning a race.

“We’re going into this one with guarded optimism,” Lukas said. “This set looks as good as any group we’ve ever had in October and November. They’re all very sound. We should be contentious, and I think you can make a case for all of them to win.”

For the first time in the last two years, several professional handicappers are picking against Cigar, who is 4-5 on the Classic’s morning line despite losing two of his last three starts.

At Woodbine, Cigar is stabled in the barn next to the Lukas contingent. “I think it would be foolish to stand here and say that Cigar’s not going to run a good race,” Lukas said. “He’s had some intentional walks [easy races] this year, but he looks good to me and I think he’ll run his eyeballs out.”

Editor’s Note, who will be ridden by Gary Stevens, has won only two of 11 starts, but he has earned $1.2 million, mostly by taking the Belmont Stakes and the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. A son of Forty Niner, who finished fourth in the 1988 Classic, Editor’s Note finished fourth three weeks ago, behind Skip Away, Cigar and Louis Quatorze, in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont.

“I think he’s dangerous,” Lukas said. “But he’s got to be in position, and he’s not an easy horse to place. It’s not Gary’s fault, this is just a horse who does what he wants. In the Super Derby, he pushed Gary along. If he’s going to do anything [today], he’s got to be clear and running on the far turn.”

Being clear is no given in a 14-horse field, which includes Yanks Music, who’s trying to become the first filly to win the Classic. Her co-owner, Michael Fennessy, chose the richer race instead of the Distaff.

“I’ve got great respect for Yanks Music,” Lukas said. “But they’re swinging for the fences, all right. Not many people go hunting for Cigar.”

Lukas’ best Breeders’ Cup year came on a cold, drizzly day at Churchill Downs in 1988. He started a dozen horses, and Gulch won the Sprint and Open Mind the Juvenile Fillies. Then Is It True upset McGaughey’s Easy Goer in the Juvenile. Lukas finished 1-2-3 in the Juvenile Fillies and wound up with three second-place finishes and purses of more than $2.1 million.

“These races are hard to win,” Lukas said. “Everywhere you look, there’s a star. Top trainers, top riders, top horses.”

Horse Racing Notes

No rain is in the forecast, and the temperature may reach 60 degrees. . . . Anti-government labor protesters honored their promise of not disrupting business at suburban Woodbine on Friday, and they’re also expected to stay away today, when as many as 250,000 will attend rallies in the downtown area. Traffic was light and downtown looked like a Sunday rather than a Friday, with many workers not reporting to their jobs. . . . Arriving from New York, Jerry Bailey visited his regular partner, Cigar. Bailey has ridden the last three winners of the Classic--Cigar, Concern and Arcangues--and he also won the race with Black Tie Affair in 1991. “Unbelievable as it sounds, [the Jockey Club Gold Cup] was a learning experience,” Bailey said. “I hit him very hard with the left-handed whip about five or six times, and he resented it. If he gets the best trip, he’ll win, and I’m going to approach this race that way. I’m going to miss him. I know we’re getting down to the end. Indeed, I’ll miss him.”

Frankie Dettori will ride Mark Of Esteem, the English colt who is favored as part of an entry with Charnwood Forest in the Mile. Dettori won the Mile with Barathea in 1994. “This horse is better than Barathea,” Dettori said. “He’s got a fantastic turn of foot, and the engine’s there. Now we need some luck.” . . . The four-horse Sheik Mohammed entry in the Turf includes Swain, who has won seven of 11 starts in Europe and was fourth in the Arc de Triomphe; and Singspiel, who shipped from England to win the Canadian International at Woodbine on Sept. 29. Also running is Shantou, who has won three in a row for Dettori and trainer John Gosden, and Pilsudski, who was second in the Arc. . . . Timed in :35 2/5 for three furlongs, Yanks Music worked slightly faster than what trainer Leo O’Brien wanted.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Lukas Factor

These are trainer Wayne Lukas’ 12 winners in the Breeders’ Cup:

*--*

YEAR HORSE RACE JOCKEY 1985 Twilight Ridge Juvenile Fillies Jorge Velasquez 1985 Life’s Magic Distaff Angel Cordero 1986 Capote Juvenile Laffit Pincay 1986 Lady’s Secret Distaff Pat Day 1987 Sacahuista Distaff Randy Romero 1987 Success Express Juvenile Jose Santos 1988 Gulch Sprint Angel Cordero 1988 Open Mind Juvenile Fillies Angel Cordero 1988 Is It True Juvenile Laffit Pincay 1989 Steinlen Mile Jose Santos 1994 Flanders Juvenile Fillies Pat Day 1994 Timber Country Juvenile Pat Day

*--*

A look at Lukas-trained horses in today’s races: *--*

HORSE RACE JOCKEY ODDS Sharp Cat Juvenile Fillies Jerry Bailey 7-2 a-City Band Juvenile Fillies Shane Sellers 6-1 a-Cheyenne City Juvenile Fillies Gary Stevens 6-1 Lord Carson Sprint Shane Sellers 6-1 Honour And Glory Sprint Gary Stevens 3-1 Serena’s Song Distaff Gary Stevens 2-1 Boston Harbour Juvenile Jerry Bailey 8-1 Golden Tribute Juvenile Gary Stevens 6-1 Marlin Turf Shane Sellers 15-1 Editor’s Note Classic Gary Stevens 15-1

*--*