Starcraft Has Bad Luck of the Draw

The first time an owner put up $800,000 to run a horse in the Breeders’ Cup Classic was in 1998, when R.D. Hubbard took racing’s ultimate gamble with Gentlemen at Churchill Downs.

Although Gentlemen, a very good horse, had lost five straight and hadn’t won in nine months, Hubbard liked what he had seen a month earlier -- his 6-year-old running second to Wagon Limit and out-finishing Skip Away, winner of the 1997 Classic, in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Then Gentlemen bled from the lungs at Churchill, virtually quit running six furlongs into the race and his jockey, Corey Nakatani, was forced to pull him up with more than an eighth of a mile to go.

The Breeders’ Cup gets pricey when horses aren’t nominated before they ever run, and the next $800,000 supplementary was posted Wednesday when Paul Makin, a high-rolling Australian, entered his New Zealand-bred, Starcraft, in Saturday’s Classic at Belmont Park.

Then they drew the post positions, and Starcraft was saddled with No. 14, the outside spot in a capacity field. Makin is still waiting to get lucky in the Breeders’ Cup.

“He’ll just have to run a bit faster now,” said Luca Cumani, who has been training Starcraft for the last four races, including major wins in France and England. “We’re giving away a lot of ground, and ground given is ground lost. It was going to be hard, but 14 makes it even harder.”

Starcraft, who has run 21 times, all on grass, in earning $2.3 million, was installed at 12-1 on the morning line. Favorites in the race, all of them candidates for horse-of-the-year in North America, are Saint Liam, 3-1; Rock Hard Ten, 7-2; and Borrego, 9-2. They also appeared to have drawn poorly. Rock Hard Ten has the inside post, Borrego has No. 11 and Saint Liam is No. 13.

Because 1 1/4 -mile races start on the clubhouse turn at Belmont, which is a 1 1/2 -mile oval, high-numbered posts are supposed to be poison, but horses with outside draws have done well in the three Classics run here. Unbridled won from No. 14 in 1990, and more recently, Cigar and Tiznow both won from No. 10.

Makin, who made his money betting horses in Hong Kong and Japan, seems unfazed about the risk he’s taking. The Classic purse of $4 million will be enhanced by $680,000 of the $800,000 that Makin is putting up, but Starcraft still needs at least a second-place finish for his owner to show a profit.

Cumani would have preferred running Starcraft on grass, in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. That race, worth more than $2 million with supplementary money, would have cost Makin an ante of only $300,000.

Pat Valenzuela, the California rider who has never even seen Starcraft, has been hired to ride the 5-year-old.

“We found his life history on the Internet,” Makin said. “We wanted John Velazquez, but he was booked [on Flower Alley]. Then we wanted Jerry Bailey, but he was booked [Saint Liam].”

Valenzuela has won seven Breeders’ Cup races, which ties him for sixth place on the career list, but he’s 0 for 4 in the Classic. Valenzuela might have won the Classic in 1989, but he tested positive for cocaine, was suspended, and Chris McCarron, his replacement, finished first with Sunday Silence.

“If my horse handles the dirt, he will win,” Makin said. “I would have liked to have raced against Leroidesanimaux in the Mile, but if we beat him, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. It would be a bigger deal to make history in the Classic.”

Makin bought Starcraft for about $50,000 as a yearling. He has raised eyebrows by saying he has never bet on his horse, and doesn’t plan to on Saturday. This is the man’s story, so cut him some slack. That $800,000 supplementary is enough of a gamble.

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With full fields in three of the eight races, the 22nd Breeders’ Cup totals 101 entrants, the most since there were 103 in 2000.... Notable among recent defections was Pomeroy, who might have given undefeated Lost In The Fog some up-front pressure in the Sprint. Pomeroy came back lame after working half a mile at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., on Wednesday.

New York is experiencing its wettest October, but there’s no rain in the forecast between now and Saturday. Temperatures Saturday are expected to be in the mid-50s, and Belmont officials would be happy with a crowd of 50,000. Turf racing has been suspended this week to protect the grass. The main track is expected to be fast, but the grass course will be soft.

* BREEDERS’ CUP FIELDS, THE DAY IN SPORTS