
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 7, 1993                   TAG: 9311070196
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: E9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: ARCADIA, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

ARCANGUES SCORES BIG UPSET IN BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC

With only a few seconds remaining in the Breeders' Cup on Saturday, the racing world appeared neat and orderly. Bertrando was cruising on the lead in the $3 million Classic, and a victory would make him the horse of the year. Moreover, the results of the day were going to confirm the superiority of California horses and jockeys, who had dominated five of the day's six previous races at Santa Anita, with Europe's contingent being blanked.

Then an unheralded French horse named Arcangues, at 133-1 odds, surged past Bertrando and score the most stunning upset in the Breeders' Cup's 10-year history. His $269.20 win payoff was fully warranted, for he had never raced on dirt and his only recent grass races in Europe were mediocre.

Voters for the Eclipse Awards were left as perplexed as bettors, but Saturday's results suggested that Lure, the brilliant winner of the Mile, might have earned the trophy that goes to the best race horse in the United States. Kotashaan, winner of the Turf, is a contender for the title, too.

One colt who was left without honors was the most hyped horse on the card, the 2-year-old Dehere. Proclaimed by his Eastern fans as a budding superstar, he made an abortive move on the turn and finished eighth in the Juvenile behind the runaway winner, Brocco.

That was one of many disappointments for Eastern horses, who (with the exception of Lure) were humiliated by the home forces.

Phone Chatter won the Juvenile Fillies by a head over Sardula, handing the New York-based 2-year-old Heavenly Prize her first defeat.

Hollywood Wildcat won the Distaff by a nose over Paseana, trouncing the well-regarded Easterner, Sky Beauty.

Kotashaan outdueled Bien Bien, another Californian, to win the Turf.

Cardmania rallied to lead a 1-2-3-4 California sweep of the Sprint.

So bettors understandably viewed the Classic as an all-Western affair, making Bertrando and two stablemates the favorite over the stretch-running Best Pal.

Arcangues was properly ignored. Even his jockey didn't know much about his mount.

"I can't pronounce his name," Jerry Bailey said. "I didn't even understand the instructions in the paddock."

Bailey angled to the inside as the field raced to the first turn, but the eyes of 55,130 spectators were on Bertrando and his stablemate, Marquetry, the two principal speed horses in the field.

Bertrando sped a half-mile in a 46 4/5 seconds and didn't appear taxed. On the turn, jockey Gary Stevens said, "My horse absolutely exploded and I thought it was all over." Bertrando shook off his stablemate, then trainer Bill Shoemaker's colt Diazo. Best Pal wasn't accelerating. Who was left?

Arcangues saved ground around the turn, then moved around Best Pal and found an opening. Bailey drove through, flew past the leader and won by two lengths in 2:00 4/5.

With this defeat on his record, Bertrando doesn't have a good enough record to earn the horse-of-the-year title. Lure does; he came to Santa Anita with impeccable credentials. He looked invincible in this year's Mile - until the post-position draw, when he wound up in the potentially disastrous Post 12.

Lure was five wide at the first turn, then the European colt Barathea - unaccustomed to the tight turns of U.S. turf courses - started to go wide. "On the first turn," Lure's jockey Mike Smith said, "everybody was screaming."

But as soon as he turned into the backstretch, Lure, a 4-year-old, sprinted away and opened a clear lead on Fourstars Allstar. The French filly Ski Paradise finished second, 2 1/4 lengths behind Lure.

Keywords:
HORSE RACING

by CNB