ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610280166
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-15 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TORONTO
SOURCE: Associated Press
Cigar went out a loser on the track, but a winner in the eyes of his owner, the trainer who beat him - and just about everyone else.
``It's been a great run,'' owner Allen Paulson said after Cigar finished third in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at Woodbine. ``It's probably time to go home with him. He's one of the greatest ever.''
Cigar lost by less than a half-length as he finished third behind Alphabet Soup and Louis Quatorze - his third loss in 20 races. Those three defeats, however, came in his last four races.
``He's a good horse,'' trainer David Hofmans said of the 5-year-old Alphabet Soup. ``He was a great horse today, and he beat the greatest horse.''
The 6-year-old Cigar, seeking his second win in the Classic, was cheered as loudly in defeat as he had been when he entered the track.
``It was a great thrill,'' said winning jockey Chris McCarron, ``but taking something away from Cigar doesn't sit well.''
``To do what he did this year - he's still a champion,'' said Jerry Bailey, Cigar's jockey.
Cigar raced a total of eight times at seven tracks in three countries, including the United Arab Emirates.
``If there's a chink in his armor, it's he's run all year long,'' Hofmans said. ``My horse was fresh.''
Alphabet Soup, winning for the fourth time in seven starts this year, was never worse than third. He took the lead inside the eighth pole and got to the wire a nose ahead of 3-year-old Louis Quatorze, with Cigar another head back.
Cigar, fifth with a quarter-mile left, entered the stretch four wide and just couldn't make up enough ground.
Alphabet Soup ($41.70), raced the 1 1/4 miles under 126 in a track-record 2:01 and earned $2,080,000.
Another fan favorite was Ricks Natural Star, the cheap claimer who hadn't raced since Aug.25, 1995. He made his stakes and grass debuts in the $2 million Turf on Saturday, won by Europe-based Pilsudski, the second-place finisher in the Arc de Triomphe.
Pilsudski ($29.40), British-owned and trained and ridden by Walter Swinburn, took the lead in the deep stretch and won by 1 1/4 lengths in 2:30 1-5 for the 1 1/2 miles.
Corey Nakatani rode two winners.
The victory made Jenine Sahadi the first woman trainer to win a Breeders' Cup race.
The 26-year-old Nakatani also won the Distaff with Jewel Princess, trained by Nakatani's father-in-law, Wally Dollase.
Boston Harbor gave trainer D. Wayne Lukas his 13th Breeders' Cup victory in the Juvenile Colts & Geldings. He beat George Steinbrenner's Acceptable by a neck, clinching the division championship.
Storm Song, also clinching her divisional title, and Love That Jazz, both trained by Nick Zito, ran 1-2 in the Juvenile Fillies. It was Zito's first Breeders' Cup win.
Da Hoss, last in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Sprint, also was last for a time Saturday in the Mile on the grass. But he recovered to win.
Serena's Song, seeking her first victory in her third Breeders' Cup race, took the lead from Top Secret with a quarter-mile to go. But Jewel Princess passed her on the rail with about a sixteenth remaining for a 1 1/2-length victory.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB