Columnist Ralph Siraco: Eclipse race keeps star horses on track

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Dec. 3, 2001 | 9:58 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday, and his Southern California selections run on the Scoreboard page Tuesday-Friday. Reach him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 2275 Corporate Circle Drive, Suite 300, Henderson, NV 89074.

Although the World Thoroughbred Championship Breeders' Cup is widely recognized as horse racing's championship day of competition, it is not the season finale.

Horse racing covers practically all 365 days, enough to determine the year-end Eclipse Awards.

In recent weeks, there has been some debate on whether the sport's divisional awards should be predicated on the performances and victories of the eight Breeders' Cup races. That series of races is presented some two months before the end of the year -- before several Grade I events are decided, races that in some years could be as pivotal as the Breeders' Cup in determining votes for Eclipse honors.

During the early years of the Breeders' Cup, many horsemen used the championship races as the end of a horse's yearly campaign. But with so much at stake for some contenders, and a number of big money opportunities after the Breeders' Cup, many horses now remain in competition beyond the fall showdown.

So far this year, more than a dozen horses who competed in the Breeders' Cup have either already raced after the Oct. 27 championships or are scheduled to compete before Dec. 31.

Through Sunday, only four have come back to win races.

Repent, who finished second at odds of 42-1 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, came back to win the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs on Nov. 24. The Kenny McPeek trainee will now be rested until the Gulfstream Park meeting with next May's Kentucky Derby as the ultimate goal.

Saarland finished eighth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and returned to win the recent Remsen at Aqueduct on Nov. 24. Like Repent, this Shug McGaughey trainee will also be freshened for a spring classic run.

Starine turned a dismal 10th-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf into a Matriarch Stakes victory on the Hollywood Park turf on Nov. 25. The Bobby Frankel-owned and trained mare will rest until spring.

Swept Overboard, who finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, returned to win the Hollywood Turf Express on Nov. 23, and trainer Craig Dollace indicates a well-deserved rest is in order for his gray stretch runner.

Only one Breeders' Cup winner, Distaff victor Unbridled Elaine, raced post-Breeders' Cup, as she finished third in the Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 22. Breeders' Cup Mile winner Val Royal scratched from the Nov. 24 Citation Handicap on the Hollywood Park lawn and is scheduled for a start in the Hong Kong Mile on Dec. 16.

Of the others who have raced since their Breeders' Cup outings, only Caller One has competed more than once. After his third in the BC Sprint, the James Chapman trainee finished sixth in the De Francis Dash at Laurel on Nov. 11 and third on Sunday in the Underwood Handicap at Hollywood Park. He needs a rest.

After finishing a gutty runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the filly Xtra Heat also returned in the De Francis Dash. As she did in the BC Sprint, Xtra Heat battled Caller One before yielding to finish third. Trainer John Salzman, Jr., indicated she may compete this Saturday in the Garland Of Roses Handicap at Aqueduct.

Officer heads the list of also-rans who have raced since Breeders' Cup. In an unorthodox move, trainer Bob Baffert brought his star juvenile back one week after his fifth-place finish as the BC Juvenile favorite to finish a tarnished runner-up in the California Cup Juvenile on Nov. 3. He may run yet again before year's end in the Dec. 15 Hollywood Futurity.

Kona Gold finished fourth in the De Francis Dash after failing to defend the BC Sprint while finishing seventh. Spain, who just missed her defense of the BC Distaff in a photo finish, could finish no better than fifth in the Falls City.

Forbidden Apple is scheduled to join Val Royal in the Hong Kong Mile after finishing second to that one in the Breeders' Cup Mile, while Siphonic, who finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, is tabbed for the Hollywood Futurity before year's end.

So, even though the Breeders' Cup does not end the season nor define the Eclipse trophy, many who race beyond the championship day find limited success.