Sunday, October 27, 2002
Contact: Notes Team
(847) 385-7472/7473
2002 Breeders' Cup Odds & Ends
Volponi's 6½-length victory in the Classic is the largest margin of
victory for that race. Inside Information holds the mark for the largest
margin of victory in any Breeders' Cup race with a 13½-length triumph in
the 1995 Distaff at Belmont.
Volponi, the longest-priced horse in Saturday's Classic, returned
$89.00 to win; the second-largest win payoff in Classic history, second
only to Arcangues' $269.20 in 1993. It was the sixth biggest upset in
Breeders' Cup history.
Horse Win Payoff Race
Arcangues $269.20 1993 Classic
Spain $113.80 2000 Distaff
Lashkari $108.80 1984 Turf
One Dreamer $96.20 1994 Distaff
Caressing $96.00 2000 Juvenile Fillies
Volponi $89.00 2002 Classic
Volponi is the second horse to exit New Jersey's Meadowlands Cup and
win the Classic. Alysheba, the 1987 Classic winner, made his last start
before the Breeders' Cup with a win in the trademark Meadowlands race.
Volponi finished second.
Volponi's sire Cryptoclearance competed in three consecutive
Classics from 1987-89 and finished fifth each year.
Medaglia d'Oro was the fifth straight favorite to falter in the
Classic. The 3yo colt finished second at odds of $2.70-1. Only five
favorites have prevailed in the Classic and the last was Skip Away at odds
of $1.80-1 in 1997.
Trainer Bobby Frankel joined the late Charlie Whittingham as the
only trainers to have finished among the top three positions with two horses
in the Classic. Frankel's Medaglia d'Oro was second and Milwaukee Brew
finished third. Whittingham finished first and third, respectively, with
Ferdinand and Judge Angelucci in the 1987 Classic.
Three horses became millionaires Saturday, including Classic winner
Volponi ($2,748,976). The others were Distaff runner-up Farda Amiga
($1,282,302) and Turf third Falcon Flight ($1,236,546). Three others became
multi-millionaires: Classic runner-up Medaglia d'Oro ($2,264,720), Distaff
winner Azeri ($2,227,740) and Classic third Milwaukee Brew ($2,136,612). In
addition, Turf winner High Chaparral ($3,689,841) eclipsed the $3 million
milestone.
High Chaparral was the fourth consecutive John Deere Turf win for
the Europeans. European-based horses have now won 10 of 19 runnings of the
race. The other winners: Lashkari (1984), Pebbles (1985), In The Wings
(1990), Miss Alleged (1991), Tikkanen (1994), Pilsudski (1996), Daylami
(1999), Kalanisi (2000) and Fantastic Light (2001).
High Chaparral also became the fifth 3yo to win the Turf. The
others: Lashkari (1984), Manila (1986), Prized (1989) and Tikkanen (1994).
Domedriver gave Europe its eighth victory in the Mile. The other
winners: Last Tycoon (1986), Miesque (1987 and '88), Royal Academy (1990),
Barathea (1994), Ridgewood Pearl (1995) and Spinning World (1997).
Indian Ridge sired his second Breeders' Cup Mile winner when
Domedriver prevailed Saturday. Ridgewood Pearl, in 1995, was his first.
Orientate, at odds of $2.70-1, was only the fifth favorite to win
the Sprint.
Starine, who paid $28.40 to win, is the largest win-payoff in the
Filly & Mare Turf's brief four-year history.
High Chaparral became the third Sadler's Wells horse to win the
Turf. The others were In The Wings (1990) and Northern Spur (1995).
Vindication became the second Seattle Slew colt to win the Juvenile.
The other was Capote in 1986.
Storm Flag Flying completed a third generation Breeders' Cup triple
with her victory in the Juvenile Fillies. Her dam, My Flag, won the 1995
Juvenile Fillies at Belmont Park. My Flag's dam, Personal Ensign, won the
1988 Distaff at Churchill Downs.
Storm Flag Flying joined Unbridled Elaine as the second horse to
complete a third generation Breeders' Cup triple. Unbridled Elaine's sire,
Unbridled's Song, won the 1995 Juvenile. Unbridled, the sire of Unbridled's
Song, won the 1990 Breeders' Cup Classic.
BC Winner BC Win
Sire/Dam BC Win
Alphabet Soup 1996 Classic
Cozzene 1985 Mile
Anees 1999 Juvenile
Unbridled 1990 Classic
Chief Bearhart 1997 Turf
Chief's Crown 1984 Juvenile
Elmhurst 1997 Sprint
Wild Again 1984 Classic
My Flag 1995 Juvenile Fillies
Personal Ensign 1988 Distaff
Storm Flag Flying 2002 Juvenile Fillies
My Flag 995 Juvenile Fillies
Tempera 2001 Juvenile Fillies
A.P. Indy 1992 Classic
Tikkanen 1994 Turf
Cozzene 1985 Mile
Unbridled Elaine 2001 Distaff
Unbridled's Song 1995 Juvenile
Unbridled's Song 1995 Juvenile
Unbridled 1990 Classic
Val Royal 2001 Mile
Royal Academy 1990 Mile
War Chant 2000 Mile
Hollywood Wildcat 1993 Distaff
Storm Flag Flying and Vindication are the seventh and eighth horses,
respectively, to remain undefeated after winning a Breeders' Cup race. The
others were Personal Ensign ('88), Meadow Star ('90), Gilded Time ('92),
Flanders ('94), Favorite Trick ('97) and Johannesburg ('01).
Storm Flag Flying gave trainer Shug McGaughey his second victory in
the Juvenile Fillies, following her dam, My Flag, who won it in 1995.
McGaughey is also a two-time Mile winner with Lure (1992-'93). Trainer D.
Wayne Lukas has won the Juvenile Fillies four times.
Kona Gold became the first horse to start in a Breeders' Cup race
five times when he finished fourth in the Sprint in his fifth consecutive
try at the race. Four other horses -- Affirmed Success, El Senor, Pleasant
Tap, and Precisionist -- each made four Breeders'
Cup appearances.
Eleven horses that ran Saturday were supplemented into races. Three
horses were supplemented into the eight-horse Turf field and High Chaparral
and Falcon Flight ran 1-3, respectively. Golan was sixth.
Other supplements that netted a profit for their connections were
Islington and Golden Apples, the 3-4 finishers, respectively, in the Filly &
Mare Turf.
Starine, winner of the Filly & Mare Turf, was supplemented into that
race last year and raced with a credit Saturday.
JOCKEY RECORDS
Mike Smith, Jerry Bailey and John Velazquez further
enhanced their reputations with notable performances Saturday.
Smith triumphed in the Distaff with Azeri and the
Juvenile with Vindication to increase his Breeders' Cup victory total to 10,
third all-time behind Bailey (13), and Pat Day (12).
By winning twice, Smith became the first rider to
capture two races in Breeders' Cup races on four cards, last accomplishing
the feat in 1997. Smith also increased his winning percentage to 20.9
(10-48), tops among Breeders' Cup riders with five or more wins.
Velazquez, who piloted Storm Flag Flying to victory in
the Juvenile Fillies and Starine in the Filly & Mare Turf, became the 14th
rider to win two Breeders' Cup races on a single day.
Bailey, who captured the NAPA Breeders' Cup Sprint aboard Orientate,
became the first rider to win a Breeders' Cup race in five consecutive
years. Previously, Bailey, Smith (1992-95) and Corey Nakatani (1996-99) had
won races in four consecutive years.
Although he was shut out of the winner's circle on his
six mounts, Day added to some of his record Breeders' Cup totals.
The only rider to have appeared in Breeders' Cup races
all 19 years, Day's number of Cup starters reached 107. By placing second
twice (Farda Amiga in the Distaff) and With Anticipation (Turf), and third
in the Mile with Good Journey, Day's mounts have earned $22,730,600, more
than $5 million ahead of the retired Chris McCarron.
Bailey is third in career earnings with $15,768,120.
TRAINER RECORDS
Orientate gave D. Wayne Lukas a record 17th Breeders' Cup victory.
He also leads all trainers with number of starts and money won. With
Orientate's victory in the Sprint, Lukas' record is 137-17-20-14 for total
earnings of $18,608,400.
In comparison, the trainer with the third highest number of starters
is Shug McGaughey with 46. McGaughey is the second-leading Breeders' Cup
trainer in terms of races won, having notched his eighth victory on Saturday
with Storm Flag Flying in the Juvenile Fillies. It was McGaughey's only
starter in this year's Breeders' Cup. McGaughey's complete Breeders' Cup
record is 46-8-8-1.
Phil Johnson, at age 77, became the oldest winning trainer of a
Breeders' Cup race when Volponi took the Classic. The late Charlie
Whittingham was 76 years old when Sunday Silence won the 1989 Classic.
Volponi was Johnson's sole entrant in this year's Breeders' Cup.
Johnson's only two other starters came in 1990: Adjudicating (4th, Sprint) and
Colchis Island (6th, Turf).
Robert Frankel earned his first Breeders' Cup win with his 39th
starter, Squirtle Squirt, in the 2001 Sprint. It didn't take long for him
to get his second victory when Starine won this year's Filly & Mare Turf.
He sent out a total of seven runners Saturday, including second-place
finishers Banks Hill (Distaff) and Medaglia d'Oro (Classic). Frankel's
complete Breeders' Cup record now stands at 49-2-7-7, the 49 starters are
the second most in the Breeders' Cup.
Bob Baffert also sent out seven horses in this year's Breeders' Cup
and visited the winner's circle once after Vindication won the Juvenile.
His other runners in the Juvenile, Kafwain and Bull Market, finished second
and fourth, respectively. Baffert's complete Breeders' Cup record is
36-3-7-2.
Going into this year's Breeders' Cup, Aidan O'Brien had won one
Breeders' Cup race from 14 attempts: the 2001 Juvenile with Johannesburg.
He sent out seven to compete in this year's event and was successful with
High Chaparral in the Turf. His Rock of Gibraltar was second in the Mile.
O'Brien's Breeders' Cup record is 21-2-3-2.
French trainer Pascal Bary joins Shug McGaughey and Phil Johnson in
having sent out only one horse on this year's Breeders' Cup day and winning.
The Bary-trained Domedriver took the Mile, while McGaughey sent out Storm
Flag Flying to take the Juvenile Fillies and Johnson saddled Volponi to win
the Classic. Bary has one other Breeders' Cup win on his resume: Miss
Alleged (1991, Turf). His record in the Breeders' Cup is now 6-2-0-0.
OWNER/BREEDER RECORDS
The Paulson family, the leading Breeders' Cup owner and breeder,
improved its record to seven wins from 39 starts as an owner and six wins
from 37 starts as a breeder when Azeri won the Distaff.
Storm Flag Flying (Juvenile Fillies) was the sixth winner owned by
the Phipps family in 36 starts and sixth winner bred from 33 starters.
Domedriver (Mile) was the fourth winner owned and bred by the
Niarchos family. It has bred 21 starters and owned 19 starters.
Breeder Sean Coughlan improved his record to a perfect two for two
when High Chaparral won the Turf. His only other starter, Ridgewood Pearl,
won the 1995 Mile.
Orientate was the first Breeders' Cup winner for breeder Gainesway
Thoroughbred Limited in five starts. The Sprint winner was the second for
owners Bob and Beverly Lewis, who have started 14 horses as sole owners or
in partnerships. They won the 1994 Juvenile with Timber Country in
partnership with Gainsway Farm and Overbrook Farm.
Juvenile winner Vindication was the first winner for breeder Payson
Stud in four starts and second winner for Padua Stable in eight starts.
Padua won the '99 Juvenile Fillies with Cash Run.
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