For Azeri, Bold Move Is a Classic

The decision to run Azeri in the $4-million Breeders’ Cup Classic here Saturday at Lone Star Park apparently was made during a brief phone conversation between trainer Wayne Lukas and the 6-year-old mare’s owner, Michael Paulson, on Monday night.

“I’d like to swing for the fences, Wayne,” Paulson said. “How do you feel about that?”

“Let’s go,” Lukas said.

A day before the decision deadline, Lukas announced Tuesday at a luncheon in Dallas that Azeri, the 2002 horse of the year, would be running in the richest Breeders’ Cup race, instead of the $2-million Distaff.

Azeri, who won the 2002 Distaff and then missed last year’s race because of a tendon injury, would have been a heavy favorite in Saturday’s Distaff but will be a longshot in the Classic. British bookmaker William Hill listed Azeri at 8-1 for the Classic, behind Pleasantly Perfect, last year’s winner, and Ghostzapper, Birdstone and Roses In May. Thirteen horses are expected to run.

With Smarty Jones, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, taking an early retirement, the Breeders’ Cup needed a 10-gallon hat for its 21st run, the first in Texas. The Classic field also includes Funny Cide, who has had trouble winning consistently this year after winning the Derby and Preakness in 2003.

Azeri will be only the third female to run in the 1 1/4 -mile Classic. Jolypha finished third in 1992 and Triptych was sixth in 1986. Distaffers have beaten colts in 10 Breeders’ Cup races, but only three times on dirt and all of those in the six-furlong Sprint. The last female to win on dirt was Desert Stormer in 1995.

Azeri adds more speed to a race that already included Ghostzapper, Roses In May, Funny Cide, Birdstone and Newfoundland, horses that run on or close to the lead. In eight of Azeri’s 17 wins, including the 2002 Distaff, she led from gate to wire.

“Azeri reminds me a lot of Serena’s Song,” Lukas said, referring to a filly he trained to an Eclipse award in 1995. “She dares you to run with her. She never has a bad day. She’s always good, or better.”

Azeri has been beaten only six times in 23 starts. She has earned $3.9 million, a record for a filly or mare.

“This is Texas, and the Breeders’ Cup is a hold-’em event,” Lukas said, using a poker analogy. “So we’re all in for the Classic. We’re going to play the queen and see what happens. It’s not much fun in the shallow end of the pool, so we’re going to jump right in.”

Lukas, a Hall of Fame trainer who has won a record 17 Breeders’ Cup races, has a long history of running females against males, and pushing his horses to their limits. In Europe, the girls routinely take on the boys, but Lukas stands alone as a trainer who unhesitatingly rolls the dice with those tactics here. Lukas said that the Azeri decision was Paulson’s -- after the trainer had contributed his input -- and that he backed Paulson 100%.

Lukas beat males with Terlingua in 1978 at Hollywood Park, not long after he’d switched from training quarter horses to thoroughbreds. Other Lukas females to beat males include Serena’s Song, Winning Colors, Lady’s Secret and Althea. Winning Colors, winner of the 1988 Kentucky Derby, is the third and last filly to have won that race.

Lady’s Secret, horse of the year in 1986, was helped in the voting by her victory over males in the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga. Azeri wouldn’t have been able to win horse of the year with a victory in the Distaff, but an upset in the Classic would surely sway voters.

Laura de Seroux, who trained Azeri until she was fired by Paulson late in 2003, declined to comment on the decision to run the mare in the Classic. De Seroux and Paulson had clashed as far back as 2002, when the owner was eager to try his horse against males.

De Seroux recommended that Azeri be retired after she missed the 2003 Breeders’ Cup, but Paulson got other opinions from veterinarians in Lexington, Ky., and sent the horse to Lukas for another season. Azeri has won three races and has run second twice in seven starts. Her victory in the Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 10 was her third of the year and 11th overall in Grade I races. She has run the Classic distance only once, finishing second to Storm Flag Flying in the Personal Ensign Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 27. She has won six of seven starts at 1 1/8 miles, the Distaff distance.

In her only race against males, she finished a badly beaten eighth in the Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park on May 31.

“She was against some world-class sprinters that day, and it was a very dead track.” Paulson said. “We talked before the race about not letting her get stuck on the rail, but there she was -- stuck down on the inside.”

Mike Smith rode Azeri for 18 races and 15 wins, then Pat Day took over for her last five starts. Day will be aboard Saturday. He would have ridden Perfect Drift in the Classic had Azeri run in the Distaff. Now Kent Desormeaux will ride Perfect Drift.

Jerry Bailey, who has won a record 14 Breeders’ Cup races, has six Breeders’ Cup mounts: Pleasantly Perfect in the Classic, Six Perfections in the Mile, Aubonne in the Filly & Mare Turf, Storm Flag Flying in the Distaff, Balletto in the Juvenile Fillies and Kela in the Sprint. Six Perfections, like Pleasantly Perfect, is trying to repeat.... Besides Azeri, Lukas has Stellar Jayne in the Distaff and Consolidator in the Juvenile.