Ralph Siraco: Top horses might not be in Breeders’ Cup

Monday, Oct. 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

TO PAY or not to pay, this is the question.

Is it nobler in the minds of owners to keep the stash in the vault or risk the stipend for a chance at glory, history and the big bucks, too.

Enough of the Shakespearean paraphrasing.

The big questions remain, will this year's Breeders' Cup include the best 3-year-old of the year and will the Breeders' Cup Distaff have the best of the world's distaffers competing in Breeders Cup XIII at Woodbine?

As the Breeders' Cup approaches, the best of the world's division leaders may not be represented in the sport's championship day unless some owners ante up the stiff entry fee to ensure that all of the best in the sport assemble for the Breeders' Cup this year.

And some have already said no mas to the staggering penalty to enter their steeds for Breeders' Cup competition.

Price too high

This Breeders' Cup day may very well be remembered as much for the ones who did not participate as for the ones who do.

Simply put, some of the best thoroughbreds competing today must pay a supplementary fee to enter racing's biggest day because the connections of their respective sires did not nominate the now-warranted offspring for the year-end showdown. The penalty for such an oversight is 12 percent of the gross purse if the sire was not nominated to the Breeders' Cup program when the foal was conceived, and 20 percent of the gross purse in the sire AND foal were not nominated. So, with the purses ranging from $1 million to $4 million, it can be a heavy admission to enter the championship fray.

Of course, the sheer money is only a part of Breeders' Cup glory, a place in racing history and potential added value to the breeding rights are also factors in the equation.

This year, two marquee players fall into the supplementary category.

The hottest distaffer in the country, Different, and this year's top 3-year-old, Skip Away, are sitting on the supplementary shelf, and only the sportsmanship of their respective owners will dictate their participation in Canada one week from Saturday.

There have been 40 supplementary entries in the first dozen runnings of Breeders' Cup, and 12 have at least won back their supplementary costs.

Supplemental entries

The first Breeders' Cup Classic, in 1994 at Hollywood Park, was won by supplementary entry Wild Again. For the $360,000 fee, he took down the $1.35 million first-place money. Other supplementary winners were Tasso (1985 Juvenile), Pebbles (1985 Turf), Bayakoa twice (1989 and 1990 Distaff) and Paseana (1992 Distaff).

The computed are about 4 to 1 on the supplementary money, so the decision to enter the Cup depends on merit and not to fashionably get a good seat for the event.

The Breeders' Cup Turf will not have two of the top three points-getters this year, because their connections will pass the supplementary process. Mecke, who most recently captured the Arlington Million, will not go, and Sandpit, a multiple graded winner, will also pass the championship competition at Woodbine.

The Breeders' Cup Distaff will get a key supplementary entrant in the Argentine mare Different. She most recently won the Grade I Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, Ky., and her owners, Sid and Jenny Craig (of weight-loss fame), will use that prize money along with earnings from her other U.S. victories to enter the filly-mare showdown. Different has won all four of her stateside starts and has a record of nine wins in 10 lifetime starts. She will try and follow the winning formula of 1992 Distaff victress Paseana for the same owners. She also has the best prep-race trend in her favor with the Spinster participation. Seven of the past 12 Breeders' Cup Distaffs have been won by runners who have raced in their previous outing in the Spinster Stakes.

The most important supplement to this years's Breeders' Cup competition would be Skip Away. This 3-year-old sensation has already locked up the division title with his stunning turn-back win over superhorse Cigar in the recent Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. The hard-knocking son of Skip Trial has started a dozen times this year with six victories, two seconds and a pair of thirds on his docket. After winning an allowance race at Gulfstream Park in Florida this winter, he returned to finish third in the Florida Derby at the same emporium.

Major player

Skip Away's following stellar victory in Keeneland's Blue Grass Stakes set him up as one of the year's Kentucky Derby favorites. Lady Luck frowned on him in the Triple Crown as he received the worst three-race post position draws in the history of the Crown. A Kentucky Derby 12th from post 16 preceded a Preakeness second from post 11 and another runner-up effort in the Belmont from slot 13. Victories in the Ohio Derby and Haskell Invitational led to a third-place finish at Saratoga's Travers Stakes in August. A Woodbine Million win and his photo-finish stunner over Cigar make this guy a major player for Horse-of-the-Year honors.

The stage is now set for owner Carolyn Hine and her husband, trainer Sonny Hine, to seize the moment with their top sophomore. They will have to shell out a $480,000 ante to play Breeders' Cup Classic poker on Oct. 26. But with a win over the Woodbine track already and another potential victory over Cigar plus the chance of Breeders' Cup history and a Horse-of-the-Year title should be enough of a pat hand to push the chips to the center of the Breeders' Cup felt.

The Craigs will roll the dice from their winning hand of 1992 and the Hines, who are still riding the fence, are waiting for the supplementary deadline to call the hand.

They should be reminded of Jimmy Croll's decision to pass the Breeders' Cup of 1994 with Holy Bull. His decision to wait until next year never came.

So, while the Craigs may have a different view of the Breeders' Cup, we can only hope Carolyn and Sonny Hine don't let this Breeders' Cup showdown with Cigar slip away.