The 1984 Breeders' Cup

 

Breeders’ Cup 1984

Joseph Di Rienzi

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled this year on November 1 and 2 at Del Mar Racetrack, is celebrating its 40^th anniversary. Since its inception, it has grown from a one day 7 race affair to a two day, 14 race extravaganza. This post will recap the races on the inaugural, November 10, 1984, at the now defunct Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, CA.

In its inception, it was a one-of-a-kind day of racing. Never had there been so much money distributed on a single card. The first four races each had $1 million purses, the fifth and the sixth, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Breeders’ Cup Turf, respectively, were each worth $2 million, and the finale, the Breeders’ Cup Classic’s total purse was $3 million, at the time the richest race in the world.

Much of the buildup for the first Breeders’ Cup Day involved who was going to be entered and who was not. Because the initial entry process involved nominating a stallion’s progeny years in advance (with higher costs for doing it later), only the most prominent sires’ foals were made Breeders’ Cup eligible by the stallions’ respective owners or syndicate managers. Also, there was resistance, especially by some traditional Eastern-based stables, who presumed winning major races in New York would be sufficient to secure a championship. The most high profile horse whose participation was in question was the extremely popular nine-year-old gelding John Henry who was not nominated. To secure an entry in the Breeders’ Cup Turf his owner Sam Rubin would have to pay a $400,000 supplementary fee. After refusing to do this most of the year, Rubin had relented and paid a non-refundable $133,000 pre-entry fee, only to discover shortly after that his beloved charge had a swollen ankle that would not only prevent him from running in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but ultimately necessitated the horse’s retirement. 

As the series began at 11:15 AM PT, it was a typically warm sunny day with the dirt track listed fast and the turf course firm. What set the early editions of the Breeders’ Cup races apart from the current collection is that each of the seven races were designed to determine a divisional or, in some instances, an overall championship.

The first race on Breeders’ Cup Day was the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and if any race could have served to demonstrate the importance of the occasion, this was the one. All the major two-year-old males, still in training were entered - Chief’s Crown, Spectacular Love, Spend a Buck, Script Ohio, and Tank’s Prospect. The race’s distance was a mile run out of chute at the end of the Hollywood Park backstretch. After a bunched group went for the early lead, Spend a Buck emerged in the lead and set lively fractions. Chief’s Crown, trained by Roger Laurin and raced in the name of Star Crown Stable by the late Carl Rosen’s children, raced in mid-pack early, then launched a rally around the far turn only to find Spend a Buck with a clear lead at the top of the stretch. In a relentless stretch drive, Chief’s Crown wore down a very game Spend a Buck, while Tank’s Prospect closed steadily along the rail. At the finish, the son of Danzig had a ¾ length lead over Tank’s Prospect who was an equal margin over Spend a Buck. Script Ohio was a distant fourth, 6½ lengths further back. With this victory, Chief’s Crown easily secured the Eclipse Award for Two-Year-Old Male.

Chief's Crown winning the Juvenile
(BloodHorse@BloodHorse)

The Two-Year-Old Filly Eclipse Award was not initially decided by the one mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The first horse to cross the finish was Fran’s Valentine at nearly 75-1. Second, a ½ length back was Harbor View Farm’s Outstandingly, a 23-1 chance. However, a stewards’ inquiry resulted in a disqualification of Fran’s Valentine to tenth place for interfering with Pirate’s Glow just after the start of the race. The winner, a daughter of Exclusive Native from the family of Buckpasser, solidified her claim for an Eclipse Award by coming back and winning the Hollywood Starlet Stakes defeating Fran’s Valentine legitimately.

Fran's Valentine (far left) finishing first in the Juvenile Filly
(bloodhorse.com)

The 6 furlong Breeders’ Cup Sprint may have lost the favorite, when LeRoy Jolley trainer of Track Barron opted for the climatic Breeders’ Cup Classic despite his colt’s impressive win in the Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park. In Track Barron’s absence, the speedy Eillo assumed the favorite’s role. A compact son of Mr. Prospector owned by Crown Stable, he had piled an impressive sprinting record winning 7 of 9 starts including the Tallahassee, Hialeah Sprint Championship and Chief Pennekeck Handicaps. Despite not winning any graded stakes races, Eillo was made the clear favorite over a somewhat lackluster field and, using his customary speed, just held on by a nose over Commemorate with Mr. Fighting Fit, 1½ lengths back in third. This victory not only secured Eillo an Eclipse Award as Sprinter but seemed to point the way for a successful stallion career. Unfortunately, he died about a month later from an attack of colic, another sad testimony to the ephemeral nature of the thoroughbred breed.  

 

Eillo (on right) winning the Sprint
(bloodhorse.com)

 

The fourth Breeders’ Cup race was the Mile on grass, a race designed to attract top European milers. The first running did attract a few such as Lear Fan and Prego, but the main competitors were U. S. raced horses such as the filly Royal Heroine, the older horse Cozzene, and three-year-olds such as Tights and Tsunami Slew. Royal Heroine, after her good second to John Henry in the Arlington Million, finished second again, this time in the female only Ramona Handicap at Del Mar. The coupled entry of Royal Heroine and Prego (both owned by Robert Sangster) was made the favorite, and the former, a John Gosden trainee, relishing the mile distance, mowed down her male competitors in the stretch to win by 1½ lengths setting a new course record. In second place was Star Choice with Cozzene a neck back in third. This victory did not clinch an Eclipse Award for Royal Heroine in that another filly, Sabin, who had won 9 stakes races during the year including the Yellow Ribbon Stakes and the Gamely Handicap, had a title claim, despite not running on Breeders’ Cup Day. The two met later in the Hollywood meeting in the 9 furlong Matriarch Stakes. At the finish, it was Royal Heroine by 1 length over Reine Mathlide with Sabin, 2 lengths back in third place. This victory was sufficient to give Royal Heroine the Female Turf Horse championship.

Royal Heroine winning the Mile
(breederscup.com)

The Breeders’ Cup Distaff was run initially at 1¼ mile and had all the principal contenders for both Three-Year-Old Filly and Older Female Eclipse Awards – Princess Rooney, Adored, Life’s Magic, Lucky Lucky Lucky and Miss Oceana entered. What appeared to be one of the most contentious races on the Breeders’ Cup card turned into a rout as Princess Rooney sat at the throat of pacesetter Lucky Lucky Lucky till the top of the stretch, and when jockey Eddie Delahoussaye gave the call, she bounded forward to a lead that stretched to 7 lengths at the finish. In second place was Life’s Magic, clinching sophomore filly Eclipse honors, with Adored ¾ length back in third. Farther behind were Lucky Lucky Lucky in sixth and Miss Oceana, seventh and last. Not only was this dominant performance by Princess Rooney (owned by Paula Tucker and now trained by Neil Drysdale) enough to guarantee her Eclipse Award for Older Female, but it was clearly the most impressive effort of the whole Breeders’ Cup Day. (Indeed, the time for the Distaff was 1 second faster than the Breeders’ Cup Classic run later in the day.)

 

Princess Rooney winning the Distaff
(bloodhorse.com)

The 1½ mile Breeders’ Cup Turf lacked John Henry, but it did attract an international field, headed by the previous year’s Horse of the Year, All Along. The now five-year-old mare had come into the Turf having lost three of the races she had won in her championship year. Adding scope to the entries was the Australian champion Strawberry Road who was on a world tour running previously in Germany and in France. The betting public settled on the dependable Majesty’s Prince as the favorite with All Along the second choice. The Daniel Wildenstein owned mare ran her best race of the year, sitting mid-pack off Strawberry Road’s pace until gaining a clear lead on the stretch turn. However, it was 53-1 Lashkari, an improving three-year-old son of Mill Reef owned by the vaunted Aga Khan stable and trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, who caught All Along close to the finish to win by a neck. In third place was Raami a ½ length behind All Along; Strawberry Road finished a good fourth with Majesty’s Prince a non-threatening sixth. This was one Breeders’ Cup race that did not crown a champion, as John Henry in absentia was voted the Eclipse Award for Male Turf Horse.

 

Lashkari (on left) winning the Turf
(breederscup.com)

The Breeders’ Cup Classic at 1¼ mile, the climatic race on the day had a field of eight headed by Equusequity Stable’s Slew o’ Gold. Others in the field was his entry mate Mugatea, Desert Wine, Wild Again, Canadian Factor and three-year-olds Gate Dancer, Precisionist, and Track Barron. Black Chip Stable, owner of Wild Again, believed enough in the horse’s chances even though he was a decided longshot and paid the $360,000 supplementary fee to race in the Classic. The buildup to the race concerned Slew o’ Gold’s foot problems which seemed to worsen as his vets worked feverishly to remove any infection and re-patch his hoof. His participation in the Classic seemed very questionable until the day before the race. The “Slew people” had a bad experience with Triple Crown hero Seattle Slew (sire of Slew o’ Gold) when they raced him at Hollywood Park, and they may have felt it was “déjà vu all over again.” However, their bad fortune would be from a different source this time around.

As the field left the gate Mugatea, Precisionist and Wild Again went together for the lead setting a fast pace and opening up several lengths on the rest of the field. Early down the backstretch Wild Again, at odds 31-1 under Pat Day, assumed a short lead with Slew o’ Gold well back in fifth and Gate Dancer even farther back in seventh. Around the far turn, Slew o’ Gold made a sweeping move to reach Wild Again at the top of the stretch and as they battled, Gate Dancer closed rapidly on the pair. At the 1/8 pole Gate Dancer bore in significantly on Slew o’ Gold, just as Wild Again was drifting out, sandwiching the big colt between his two opponents. At the finish, Wild Again was a head in front of Gate Dancer with Slew o’ Gold, all progress stopped by the crowding, finishing third, ½ length back. After a lengthy stewards’ inquiry, Gate Dancer was viewed as the prime offender and was disqualified and placed third behind Slew o’ Gold. From my view, Wild Again should have also been disqualified for bearing out into Slew o’ Gold in deep stretch. The outcome in terms of awards was that Slew o’ Gold was voted the Eclipse Award for Male Older Horse, but was denied Horse of the Year, which for the second year in a row, he probably deserved. Here was a horse who was battling through injury and impeded and still was only beaten about a ½ length for all of it.
  

Wild Again (far right) winning the Classic
(breederscup.com)

John Henry, despite (and perhaps due to) not racing on Breeders’ Cup Day was given Horse of the Year, more, I believe for sentimental reasons than merit.

The intense competition of a championship day and the bringing together of horses from all parts of the country and even some places internationally marked the initial Breeders’ Cup and has infused the series over its 40-year lifetime. Despite, the expansion to accommodate specialties in gender, distance and surface that have diluted the strength of each race, the Breeders’ Cup still is a defining moment in the thoroughbred racing calendar.

Porta Fortuna to all participants this year.