Not All Are Made to be Broken : HORSE RACING

First of all, none of horse racing’s money records are safe. For example, Cigar was retired in 1996 with a record $9,999,815 in purses, but there are now two $4-million races every year--the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Dubai World Cup--and the Japan Cup has been going up in value, toward $3 million. The performances of U.S. horses and horsemen abroad are counted in their records here.

Speaking of Cigar, much was made of his 16-race winning streak that ended at Del Mar in 1996. That streak tied the post-1900 record set by Citation, but how about this for a streak: Kinscem, a Hungarian mare, won all 54 of her starts.

All right, she did it between 1876 and 1879, but it’s still on the books. The handlers of Kinscem didn’t duck the challenges, either. They raced her all over Europe, winning major races in Germany, France and England. Kinscem won at distances from 5 1/2 furlongs to 2 1/2 miles and carried as much as 168 pounds.

Trainer Wayne Lukas holds two records that will be difficult to break. In 1987, Lukas saddled the winners of 92 stakes races. No one--not even Lukas himself--has come close to that number. Think about it, 92 stakes wins. A trainer has to have a huge, powerhouse stable to even start horses in 92 stakes in a year.

From 1983 through 1992, no one could touch Lukas in the national money standings. He was the purse leader for all 10 years. In 1993, Bobby Frankel unseated him and Lukas finished ninth. Lukas is on another national run, having led the country every year since 1994. But 10 in a row might be difficult even for him. This year, Lukas is in third place, more than $4 million behind Bob Baffert.

Other racing records that appear to be chiseled in stone: Citation’s 16 stakes victories in one year, 1948; Exterminator’s 33 stakes wins from 1917 through ‘24; trainer Jack Van Berg’s 496 wins in a year, 1976, and jockey Kent Desormeaux’s 598 wins in a year, 1989.