Azeri’s Act Has Usual Ending

There was some drama to the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Handicap here Sunday.

Then, the gates opened and jockey Mike Smith maintained his place atop Azeri.

Able to coast into the first turn with no pace pressure, the 3-10 favorite and reigning horse of the year made it 11 wins in a row with a 3 1/4-length victory over 4-1 second-choice Got Koko and three others in the Grade II.

Winning for the 14th time in 15 starts and pushing her earnings to $2,984,820, the 5-year-old Jade Hunter mare never had to be asked for her best by Smith in winning the Hirsch for a second year in a row.

Owned by Michael Paulson and trained by Laura De Seroux, Azeri -- the 127-pound highweight -- completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.12 and continued her trek toward a defense of her Breeders’ Cup Distaff title Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

She is likely to have one more race before she takes on the likes of Sightseek and Wild Spirit, trainer Bobby Frankel’s dynamic duo, in the Distaff. Although her connections wouldn’t commit Sunday to a specific race, the likely destination seems the $200,000 Lady’s Secret Breeders’ Cup on Sept. 28 at Santa Anita. She won that race in 2002 before capping her year with a five-length victory in the Distaff at Arlington Park.

“She’s getting stronger with each race,” Paulson said. “The way she did it, she made it look so easy. She’s a model of perfection.”

Azeri was able to continue her streak on the anniversary of a day Paulson would rather forget. On Aug. 10, 1996, Cigar, who was owned by Paulson’s late father, Allen, had his winning streak ended at 16 by 39-1 longshot Dare And Go in Del Mar’s Pacific Classic.

Jockey Alex Solis was aboard Dare And Go that afternoon in front of a record Del Mar crowd of 44,181, and Sunday he was on Got Koko, the one considered by the betting public most likely to stage a surprise.

Got Koko, the winner of Santa Anita’s three-race La Canada Series this winter, made a mild bid at Azeri on the backstretch, but that challenge was easily repelled. At the wire, Got Koko was barely able to save the place by a head over 18-1 shot Tropical Blossom.

“I was 100% confident that she was at her best again today,” De Seroux said about Azeri.

“I was very confident she would do exactly what she did. The profundity of how special she is, is increasing with each race.”

Smith, who turned 38 on Sunday, couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present. The jockey, who was inducted into racing’s hall of fame a week ago, won two other races on the card.

“She’s amazing,” he said. “She was on it today just like she was for the Breeders’ Cup last year. She was so calm and collected before the race and all business during the race. I didn’t begin to hit all her gears. She ran out of my vocabulary a long time ago. I don’t have enough good words to say about her.”

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Azeri caused a Del Mar record minus place pool of $96,380. Of the $682,857.60 bet to place in the Hirsch -- there was no show wagering -- $608,417.20 was bet on Azeri.

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In a day of upsets at a sloppy track at Saratoga, Private Horde, a 10-1 shot, rallied from far off the pace to win the $200,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap by five lengths.

In the process, the winning streak of 1-2 favorite Shake You Down came to an end at five. Unbeaten until Sunday since being claimed for $65,000 by trainer Scott Lake on March 12 at Aqueduct, the 5-year-old Montbrook gelding weakened to fourth in the field of five.

Owned and bred by Billy Tucker and trained by Joe Cain, Private Horde -- who had finished second, more than eight lengths behind Shake You Down in the Smile Sprint Handicap at Calder on July 12 -- won for the eighth time in 22 starts.

Ridden by Jason Lumpkins, he ran the six furlongs in 1:09.18.

“When Private Horde is good, I feel like he can run about as fast as a horse can run,” Cain said. “The race played out exactly like I hoped it would.”

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Winning Ways

The longest winning streaks in North American thoroughbred racing :

*--* Streak Horse Years 16 CITATION 1948-50 16 CIGAR 1994-96 16 *HALLOWED DREAMS 1999-00 15 COLIN 1907-08 15 VANDER POOL 1930-31 15 BUCKPASSER 1966-67 14 MAN O’ WAR 1919-20 13 *PERSONAL ENSIGN 1986-88 12 MORVICH 1921-22 12 SPECTACULAR BID 1978-79 11 NATIVE DANCER 1952-53 11 TOM FOOL 1952-53 11 KELSO 1960-61 11 *AZERI 2002-03 10 SYSONBY 1904-05 10 COUNT FLEET 1942-43 10 NATIVE DANCER 1953-54 10 *RUFFIAN 1974-75 10 SPECTACULAR BID 1979-80 9 SWAPS 1954-55 9 SEATTLE SLEW 1976-77 9 AFFIRMED 1977-78 * female

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