Kona Gold, Solis Finally Win One

After running third at Churchill Downs in 1998 and second at Gulfstream Park last year, Kona Gold won the Sprint on Saturday, giving jockey Alex Solis his first Breeders’ Cup win after 31 unsuccessful mounts.

“This is an overwhelming feeling,” Solis said. “The monkey’s finally off my back. You work hard all year and then get to the Breeders’ Cup and get no more than seconds and thirds, that’s very aggravating. I’ve always told my kids to never quit and keep trying, and that’s what it takes. I’m so proud of this horse. I’ve been riding him since he was a 2-year-old, and I love him to death. It’s like my kids, I’ve seen him grow up.”

Kona Gold, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Bruce Headley, beat the filly Honest Lady by half a length. Kona Gold’s time of 1:07 3/5 broke the six-furlong record at Churchill Downs, where Big Pistol had set the mark with a 1:08 3/5 performance in 1986.

Bet On Sunshine finished third. Favored Kona Gold paid $5.40.

“I don’t think the record time had anything to do with the track condition,” Headley said. “This is just a fast horse. He also set the track record for 5 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita.”

TURF / Kalanisi’s Effort Beyond Compare

A tremendous year for jockey John Murtagh continued when he rode Kalanisi to a half-length win over 41-1 shot Quiet Resolve. John’s Call, the 9-year-old gelding, finished third, only a nose back of Quiet Resolve.

Besides riding Kalanisi for trainer Michael Stoute, Murtagh was also the regular rider for the now-retired Sinndar, who won the Arc de Triomphe and the English and Irish Derbies.

“After my [English Derby] win at Epsom, an interviewer said to me that things couldn’t get any better than this,” Murtagh said. “Well, they’ve gotten better every day. It’s been a fantastic year. Things can always get better for you when you’re riding good horses.”

Asked to compare Kalanisi and Sinndar, Murtagh was stopped in his tracks.

While he pondered the question, Stoute said:

“He’s just lucky to have ridden both of them.”

“That’s the answer,” Murtagh finally said.

Kalanisi, bred and owned by the Aga Khan, paid $11.20, completing 1 1/2 miles in 2:26 4/5 on a firm course. The favorite, Montjeu, was far back early off a slow pace and finished seventh.

JUVENILE / Macho Uno Becomes Numero Uno

The second of two winners raced by Frank Stronach was Macho Uno, who beat Point Given by a nose. Street Cry was third, with A P Valentine, the favorite, finishing last in the 14-horse field.

Macho Uno, winning for the third time in only his fourth start, won despite drifting badly to the right under Jerry Bailey’s right-handed whipping late in the stretch. Winning in a time of 1:42 for 1 1/16 miles, Macho Uno paid $14.60.

It was Bailey’s second win of the day, giving him 11 overall and tying him with Pat Day for the Breeders’ Cup lead. Day didn’t have any winners Saturday.

“It would have been a shame if [Macho Uno] had gotten beaten, because he was the best horse,” Bailey said. “He thought the race was over.”

Macho Uno becomes the early favorite for next year’s Kentucky Derby, although a Juvenile winner has never won the Derby.

“We hope to get him straightened out by [the Derby], because he’s an exceptional horse,” trainer Joe Orseno said.

A P Valentine, ridden by Jorge Chavez, won the Champagne at Belmont Park three weeks ago and his breeding rights were sold last week for an estimated $15 million.

“At the quarter pole, I thought we were going to blow by everybody,” Chavez said. “When I asked him, he had run out of gas.”

FILLY & MARE TURF / Perfect Sting Goes the Distance

Thirty minutes before Macho Uno’s win, Stronach, Orseno and Bailey combined with Perfect Sting for a three-quarter-length win over Tout Charmant in the 1 3/8-mile race, which was introduced to the Breeders’ Cup program last year.

Perfect Sting, clocked in 2:13, paid $12 while winning her fifth race in six starts. A four-race winning streak was snapped by Tout Charmant at Keeneland on Oct. 13.

“I wasn’t sure she could go this distance, but she sure proved it,” Bailey said. “She likes to win, and all those 1’s next to her name are there for a reason.”

Perfect Sting gave four pounds to Tout Charmant at Keeneland. On Saturday, they both carried 123 pounds.

Petrushka, the favorite, finished fifth.

“She was never really traveling well,” jockey Murtagh said. “Usually she is very generous, but she never kicked it in today.”

MILE / Grass Greener for War Chant

Before his Fusaichi Pegasus disappointed in the Classic, trainer Neil Drysdale saddled War Chant, another 3-year-old, for a neck win over North East Bound. A pair of noses separated the next two finishers, with Dansili third and Affirmed Success fourth.

War Chant, Drysdale’s sixth Breeders’ Cup winner, had made his grass debut only three weeks ago, winning the Oak Tree Mile at Santa Anita.

War Chant, giving jockey Gary Stevens his eighth Breeders’ Cup win, is a son of Hollywood Wildcat, the Drysdale trainee who won the Distaff in 1993. Irv and Marjorie are the owners of both horses.

War Chant and Kona Gold were the only Breeders’ Cup favorites to win Saturday, War Chant paying $9. The winner’s time was 1:34 3/5.

“I’m in shock just being here,” said Stevens, who retired because of bad knees Dec. 26, then resumed riding Oct. 4.

JUVENILE FILLIES / Caressing Scores a Big ($96) Win

Caressing hung up a $96 win mutuel after beating Platinum Tiera by half a length in 1:42 3/5 for 1 1/16 miles.

Caressing, trained by David Vance and ridden by John Velazquez, is owned by Carl Pollard, a board member at Churchill Downs. Caressing went into the race with two wins in four starts and had finished second to Thunder Bertie in her last start.

The winner had been entered in Friday’s Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill, but was scratched when a spot opened for her to enter the Juvenile Fillies.

Favored Raging Fever finished sixth and Thunder Bertie was seventh.

“I don’t think of this as an upset,” Pollard said. “We had a lot of confidence.”

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Cup Runneth Over

FIRST THINGS FIRST

* Victor Espinoza, aboard Spain in the Distaff, and Alex Solis, aboard Kona Gold in the Sprint, were Breeders’ Cup winners for the first time. Espinoza was riding his second race, Solis his 32nd.

OLD HANDS

* Jerry Bailey, with back-to-back victories in the Filly and Turf aboard Perfect Sting and the Juvenile aboard Macho Uno, moved into a tie with Pat Day for most Breeders’ Cup jockey victories (11).

* Gary Stevens, aboard War Chant in the Mile, won his seventh Breeders’ Cup race, and Chris McCarron, aboard Tiznow in the Classic, won his eighth. Four of McCarron’s victories have come in the Classic (Alphabet Soup, Alysheba and Sunday Silence were the other winners).

BIG SHOTS

* The payoffs by Spain ($113.80) in the Distaff and Caressing ($96.00) in the Juvenile Fillies were records for those races. The previous highest prices: in the Distaff, $96.20 by One Dreamer in 1994, and in the Juvenile Fillies, $67 by Cash Run in 1999. The record Breeders’ Cup payoff is $269.20 by Arcangues in the Classic in 1993.