Lido Palace’s Owners on Spot

The Breeders’ Cup Classic apparently picked up the best two horses from Europe for its Oct. 27 running, but at Belmont Park on Saturday a horse won the Woodward Stakes and left his owners with a weighty decision that could cost $800,000.

In a rematch of Europe’s top turf stars, Fantastic Light won by a head to hand Galileo his first loss, and both camps seem eager to settle their rivalry on dirt, in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park.

Whether Lido Palace joins them for the $4 million race hinges on the payment of an $800,000 supplement to make the 4-year-old Chilean-bred eligible.

“That’s a lot of money to put up,” said trainer Bobby Frankel, whose stable has racked up $3 million in purses the last five weeks. “I’ll have to discuss it with the owners before we decide what to do.”

John Amerman of Palos Verdes Estates bought Lido Palace, the Chilean horse of the year, last year and gave the colt to his wife Jerry as a Christmas gift.

In the last six weeks, he’s beaten New York’s best, winning the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga and the Woodward over the track where the Breeders’ Cup will be run.

Lido Palace’s Whitney win was suspect because he carried nine fewer pounds than Albert The Great, the second-place finisher, and even Frankel was concerned about a weight shift for the $500,000 Woodward.

Lido Palace picked up 11 pounds Saturday and ran with the same impost as Albert The Great, but he still won by one length, beating Albert The Great over his favorite track. Trainer Nick Zito’s colt had won six of seven starts at Belmont going into the Woodward.

Tiznow, last year’s North American horse of the year, finished third, beaten by 11/2 lengths, in his first start since winning the Santa Anita Handicap six months ago.

Tiznow, ridden by Chris McCarron, stayed close to Albert The Great in the early going, but in the stretch run Lido Palace closed in the center of the track to overhaul both of them.

Lido Palace, the third choice in a five-horse field, paid $7.80, running 11/8 miles in 1:472/5.

Frankel has another probable for the Classic in Aptitude, who’s scheduled to run in the $1-million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on Oct. 6.

From across the Atlantic, Fantastic Light and Galileo appear to be Breeders’ Cup-bound.

Galileo had won six in a row going into Saturday’s $935,385 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown near Dublin, the most recent victory a two-length decision over Fantastic Light in England.

But that was at 11/2 miles, and Fantastic Light’s handlers thought that Saturday’s shorter distance of 11/4 miles would be more to their advantage.

Then Friday night, Sheik Mohammed of Dubai, who owns Fantastic Light, told the 5-year-old’s jockey, Frankie Dettori, that they’d be changing strategy.

Running in front of Galileo instead of pursuing him, Fantastic Light prevailed by a head after a long stretch duel.

Give The Slip, the pace-setter and Fantastic Light’s stablemate, lost the lead at the head of the stretch, with Fantastic Light saving ground on the inside and Galileo being forced to close three-wide.

Galileo, a 3-year-old ridden by Mick Kinane, was the 4-11 favorite and carried seven fewer pounds than Fantastic Light.

Horses that ran in another stake at Belmont on Saturday will be better off if Sheik Mohammed moves Fantastic Light over to dirt for the Breeders’ Cup.

That will make the assignment easier in the Breeders’ Cup Turf for With Anticipation, who was a 21/4-length winner over Silvano, the Arlington Million winner, in the $500,000 Man o’ War.

With Anticipation, ridden on the lead by Pat Day and paying $6.80, ran 27 of his 28 races on dirt before trainer Jonathan Sheppard made a permanent switch to grass early this year.

With Anticipation has finished first in all five turf starts since then, one of the victories rescinded by a stewards’ disqualification.

In another stake at Belmont, Exogenous, at 8-1, won the $250,000 Gazelle Handicap, for 3-year-old fillies, by 31/2 lengths, with Two Item Limit second and the 3-5 favorite Fleet Renee running third.

At San Mateo, Lexicon ran six furlongs in 1:07 4/5 to beat Swept Overboard, the 3-10 favorite, by three-quarters of a length in the $150,000 Bay Meadows Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Literal Prowler, ridden by Tyler Baze, beat favored Grey Memo by three-quarters of a length to win the Phil D. Shepherd Stakes at Fairplex Park.