|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Upset-minded Cat Thief tries to steal Fusaichi Pegasus' show
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Fusaichi Pegasus is cast in the starring role, while once again Cat Thief will try to be a Classic scene-stealer. These two colts are among 106 of the world's best horses set to contest the eight Breeders' Cup races Saturday at Churchill Downs. The total purse money is $15.2 million. Fusaichi Pegasus, lightly raced since his impressive victory in the Kentucky Derby, is favored to make the 11/4-mile Classic his seventh win in eight starts this year. "He's the horse to beat," Bob Baffert, trainer of Classic starter Captain Steve, said of Fusaichi Pegasus, who will be running his last race. "It's going to be in his favor coming in here fresh." Cat Thief goes into the $4.77 million Classic off 10 straight losses since he paid $41.20 for winning the Classic last year. He went into that race having won only one of his previous 11 starts. "I told some people the other night he only shows up when there's $4 million or more on the line," said Pat Day, who will ride the 4-year-old colt for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Fusaichi Pegasus would be the seventh 3-year-old to win the Classic. He also would the fifth Kentucky Derby winner to win the race, but only the third to win it in the same year of his Derby triumph. While Derby winners have won the Classic, no Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner has ever gone on to win the Derby. Two Juvenile starters - Alysheba (1986) and Sea Hero (1992) - became Derby winners, and it's a good possibility next year's Derby champion is in the 14-horse Juvenile field. Juvenile contenders include Champagne winner A P Valentine, trained by Nick Zito, winner of two Derbies; Flame Thrower, the Del Mar Futurity and Norfolk winner, trained by Baffert, who also has won two Derbies; and Yonaguska, winner of the Hopeful and trained by Lukas, who has four Derby victories. Baffert also will saddle Arabian Light and Point Given. The fact that Fusaichi Pegasus has raced only once - a victory in the one-mile Jerome Sept. 30 at Belmont Park - since finishing second in the Preakness on May 20 doesn't seem to bother trainer Neil Drysdale. "The initial plan was to run in the Jerome and come here," Drysdale said. "But he ran so well in the Jerome we thought that we might run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (Oct. 14), but then he came up with a little foot problem. "Coming up to the Kentucky Derby, he never missed a beat. Here, he did have to miss a few days for the foot to heal. But it's healed completely. I don't think the time missed will affect him." A victory Saturday would send Fusaichi Pegasus to a breeding career as Horse of the Year. The son of Mr. Prospector will stand at stud under a deal worth $60 million-$70 million. Another who could retire to breeding as Horse of the Year is 4-year-old Lemon Drop Kid, who scored consecutive victories in the Grade II Brooklyn and Suburban handicaps and the Grade I Whitney Handicap and Woodward before finishing fifth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. "No doubt about it, who else could they give it to," trainer Scotty Schulhofer said of Lemon Drop Kid becoming Horse of the Year with a Classic victory. "He's a champion to me, anyhow." As for the colt's performance in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Schulhofer said, "He got eliminated (badly bumped) at the start. After that, he lost all interest. He came out of the race all right, and he's at the top of his game right now." Other leading Classic contenders are the 3-year-olds Albert the Great, the Zito-trained winner of the Dwyer and Jockey Club Gold Cup; Tiznow, a half-length winner over Captain Steve in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup; and Giant's Causeway, a winner of five Group I stakes in England and Ireland, who will be making his dirt-track debut.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
