LIAM TURNS IN SAINTLY PERFORMANCE CLASSIC WINNER LIKELY WRAPS UP HORSE OF TEH YEAR HONOR.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer ELMONT, N.Y. - As darkness fell on a chilly day at Belmont Park Noun 1. Belmont Park - a racetrack for thoroughbred racing in Elmont on Long Island; site of the Belmont Stakes Belmont Elmont - a town on Long Island in New York; site of Belmont Park , there was Jerry Bailey pumping his fist in a familiar celebration, Saint Liam Saint Liam (April 13, 2000 - August 22, 2006) was an American thoroughbred racehorse who was voted 2005 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year honors. Sired by Saint Ballado out of the dam Quiet Dance, by Quiet American, Saint Liam was unraced as a two-year-old. powering past the finish as the winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. , the people's choice capping his Horse of the Year campaign in style. The nation's greatest active jockey and the season's steadiest older horse won the nation's richest race, and now the vote for the sport's highest honor looks like a fait accompli. Yes, form prevailed in the end at the 22nd Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I thoroughbred horse races operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982 by a consortium of North American racing organizations, led by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. on Saturday. It sure took its sweet time, though, didn't it? The thoroughbreds' eight-race, more than $15 million championship event was strewn strew tr.v. strewed, strewn or strewed, strew·ing, strews 1. To spread here and there; scatter: strewing flowers down the aisle. 2. with the tattered reputations and torn mutuel tickets by the time the $4.68 million Classic stepped into the late afternoon's slanting sunshine in front of a crowd announced at 54,289. Lost in the Fog Lost in the Fog (February 4, 2002 - September 17, 2006) was an American thoroughbred race horse. Bred by Susan Seper and born in Florida, the Fog's sire was Lost Soldier (sire so far of 10 stakes winners), a son of Danzig (himself the son of Northern Dancer ranked at #43 by The , the unbeaten speedball speed·ball n. An intravenous dose of cocaine mixed with heroin or an amphetamine. from the Bay Area, didn't just lose for the first time in 11 career races, he finished a tuckered seventh to Silver Train in the Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds & up. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs (3/4 mile), the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the . He was one of three horses to see their winning streaks come to sudden ends as Leroidesanimaux was knocked off by Artie Schiller in the Mile and Shakespeare suffered the slings and arrows of Shirocco and others in the Turf. Then there were the four horses who came up short in bids for repeat victories in Breeders' Cup races: Singletary, off the board in the Mile; Better Talk Now, far back in the Turf; Ouija Board Ouija board Device for obtaining messages from the spirit world, sometimes used by a medium during a séance. The name derives from the French and German words for “yes” (oui/ja). , outrun out·run tr.v. out·ran , out·run, out·run·ning, out·runs 1. a. To run faster than. b. To escape from: outrun one's creditors. 2. by Intercontinental in the Filly & Mare Turf, and Ashado, upset by Pleasant Home in the Distaff. Breakthroughs were enjoyed by jockeys Garrett Gomez and Edgar Prado, each earning his first two Breeders' Cup victories, as well as 2-year-old Stevie Wonderboy, the Merv Griffin-owned colt who won the Juvenile to become an early contender for the 2006 Kentucky Derby. But on the Belmont track where racing absorbs its seemingly annual disappointments in failed Triple Crown bids, the horses with chances to do something historic Saturday kept going down. Then Saint Liam came out of post position 12 in the 1 1/4-mile Classic with a chance to seize the Horse of the Year crown from sidelined Afleet Alex. ``The horse showed up the right way,'' said Richard Dutrow, the second-generation New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of trainer who has managed Saint Liam's career for owners William and Suzanne Warren. ``What more can I ask for?'' Saint Liam, a 5-year-old by Saint Ballado, would win his fourth Grade I stakes of the year, making it one in the winter (the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in Florida), one in the spring (the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs in Kentucky), one in the summer (the Woodward Stakes at Belmont) and one in the fall. His only bad race in a 4-for-6 year was his sixth-place finish behind Rock Hard Ten in the Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during . The Stephen Foster victory was actually credited to Bobby Frankel, Saint Liam's trainer of record while Dutrow served a suspension for a medication rules violation. This time Saint Liam won by one length, with Flower Alley second and Perfect Drift third and the supposed ``now'' horse Borrego an invisible 10th in the race reduced to 13 runners by Rock Hard Ten's withdrawal Friday. The winner was clocked in 2:01.49, among the slowest recent Classics, on a day when temperatures dipped to 46 degrees and wind blew in the horses' faces on the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. . Bailey, the Hall of Famer who might have been riding in his last Breeders' Cup before retirement, had been 0 for 6 Saturday in trying to add to his event-record 14 career victories. He performed masterfully, though, to win the Classic for the fifth time. From that outside post in a race that starts on the first turn in Belmont's unique configuration, Bailey angled Saint Liam over and into space in mid-pack so that they didn't have to race too wide and lose ground. Never more than four lengths behind front-running Sun King, Saint Liam turned into the stretch outside Sun King, Suave suave adj. suav·er, suav·est Smoothly agreeable and courteous. [French, agreeable, from Old French, from Latin su and the momentary leader Flower Alley. Saint Liam poked his pink-hooded head in front with 200 yards to go and drew clear as Bailey whipped right-handed. No doubt at the finish. William Warren confirmed afterward that he plans to retire Saint Liam, who will go to stud with a 9-for-20 record and $4.4 million in earnings. Warren made it clear he expects to pick up a Horse of the Year trophy this winter in Beverly Hills. ``If (Afleet Alex) wants to run against us in 45 days,'' Warren said of the 3-year-old who represents the leading championship competition, ``we're ready.'' With upsets dominating before Saint Liam's triumph, bettors were unable for the second year in a row to piece together a perfect pick-six ticket. Those linking five of the six winners collected $90,325 each. Wagering records fell. More than $122 million in betting from all sources was reported for the eight races, a Breeders' Cup high. More than $14.6 million was bet at Belmont, topping the $14.5 million for the Smarty Jones Belmont Stakes in 2004. Kevin Modesti, (818) 713-3616 heymodesti(at)aol.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Saint Liam, ridden by Jerry Bailey, rounds the final turn on the way to winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont Park. Peter Morgan/Associated Press (2) Jockey Garrett Gomez, aboard Stevie Wonderboy, is congratulated by Dennis O'Neill, the brother of trainer Doug O'Neill. GregoryBull/Associated Press Box: (1) RESULTS Results from Equibase (2) BREEDERS' BEST |
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