King Cugat scores in the Arlington Classic and Mark Guidry posts 4,000th victory the same day

King Cugat turned out to be a tyrant, as anticipated, in the $150,000 Arlington Classic Stakes (G2). But Mark Guidry, who rules the jockey colony on the Chicago-area circuit, also reigned at Arlington International Racecourse on July 1.

Arlington Classic S. (G2)
Arlington International, July 1, $150,000, 11/8 miles, turf, firm, 1:48.16
1-KING CUGAT, c. 3, Kingmambo-Tricky Game, by Majestic Light.
2-Boyum, c. 3, Valiant Nature-Arjunand, by Diesis (GB).
3-El Ballezano, c. 3, French Deputy-Kovna, by Seattle Slew.

Three races before King Cugat, the prohibitive 1-to-20 favorite carrying the tan and red colors of Centennial Farms scored an authoritative 2 3/4-length victory in the first leg of the Mid-America Triple series of grass races for three-year-olds, Guidry became the 36th jockey in North America racing history to ride 4,000 winners.

The 42-year-old Guidry's milestone came in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race for Illinois-breds, the fifth race on the card. Riding for trainer and co-owner Christine Janks, Guidry brought 1.80-to-1 favorite Manitowish from just off the pace to assert himself in the stretch and defeat front-running Star Advantage by 1 1/4 lengths.

Earlier, Guidry recorded victory number 3,999 in the second race aboard Summertime Blues, and he ended the racing day by getting number 4,001 in the ninth on Top Gamble. Guidry is currently Arlington's leading rider with almost double the number of winners of his closest competitor. He won the Arlington title in 1992 and has earned nine Sportsman's Park and seven Hawthorne Race Course titles since making his Chicago circuit debut in the late 1980s.

"I've been fortunate to ride a lot of good horses," replied Guidry when Arlington's in-house TV commentator, Christine Gabriel, asked which was the best he had ever been aboard. "To categorize them would be unfair to the horses and to the people who work with the horses. Every winner that you have is a good horse."

King Cugat might turn out to be much better than a good horse in the opinion of jockey Robby Albarado, who accompanied the son of Kingmambo out of Tricky Game, by Majestic Light, from Churchill Downs.

"I see a great career for this horse," said Albarado after the blue-blooded bay colt easily outclassed four foes in the Classic. "He does everything so effortlessly."

King Cugat was nine lengths back in third place early in the 1 1/8-mile race while Bolt was building a big lead. Guidry's mount, El Ballezano, dueled with Bolt in the opening quarter-mile and that eventually took a toll on the pacesetter.

"We thought we'd have the only speed," lamented Bolt's trainer, Gene Cilio. Approaching the turn for home, Bolt had an energy crisis. Meanwhile, Albarado had King Cugat on cruise control and they easily assumed the lead. At this point, Boyum's trainer, Carl Nafzger, was hoping his colt would be able to make a serious challenge.

"When we caught up with King Cugat at the head of the lane, I thought we'd make a race of it," said Nafzger. "But he just ran away from us. We've got a good horse; King Cugat is a better horse."

Although King Cugat rebuffed the threat with authority, Albarado gave him a brisk hand ride for the rest of the way.

"I wanted to instill in him that he has to keep going," explained Albarado. "I didn't want him to wait on horses. I wanted to get him ready for the day when he meets horses who'll keep coming at him all the way to the wire. "Physically, he has the credentials. Mentally, he keeps getting better and better."

King Cugat won in 1:48.16 on firm turf, a time that compares favorably with the course record of 1:47 2/5 set by Mr. Leader as a four-year-old in the 1970 Stars and Stripes Handicap. Boyum, second choice in the wagering at 11.20-to-1, finished second, and El Ballezano was a distant third. There was no show wagering.

King Cugat paid the legal minimum $2.10 and $2.10 and Boyum also yielded a $2.10 return to those who bet on him to place.

Winning streak

The victory was King Cugat's fifth in seven races and extended his winning streak that dates back to last November to four races. In his only two losses he was a competitive second. His two other outings this year were at Churchill Downs where he won the Crown Royal American Turf Stakes (G3) and $287,000 Jefferson Cup Stakes. All seven of King Cugat's races have been on grass.

The Boston-based Centennial Farms partnership bought the Kentucky-bred colt for $110,000 from his breeder, Dinwiddie Farm, at Fasig-Tipton's 1998 Saratoga yearling sale and turned him over to Bill Mott to train.

"We were attracted to him because he looks like an athlete and because he had a nice pedigree," said Centennial Farms President Donald Little Jr., whose father, Donald V. Little, is the Centennial chairman and senior vice president of Paine Webber Inc.

"We thought he'd go for a lot more. I always was tempted to try him on the dirt. But Bill (Mott) saw his true talent-the way he moved on the turf-and that's where he stayed.

"This could turn out to be the best horse we've ever had."

Centennial Farms has had several noteworthy horses since the elder Little began putting together syndication packages in 1982. Among them are 1992 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Rubiano and Colonial Affair, winner of the 1993 Belmont Stakes (G1) and 1994 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), Whitney Handicap (G1), and Excelsior Handicap (G2). According to Don Jr., the Centennial program involves setting up 38-share syndicates.

"The minimum investment is $20,000 and it covers all of the horse's expenses as a two-year-old," he explained. "This horse made money ($196,640) as a two-year-old so the investors haven't had to pay anything up to now. About 50%-to-60% of the people involved in our syndicates are people already involved in the horse business, small horse owners who use this to diversify. We have 28 investors in this horse."

Twelve of the investors came to Arlington for the Classic, bringing family and friends and producing the biggest winner's circle scene of the meeting, which began on May 14. Currently, Centennial Farms has 27 horses in training split between Mott and Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer.

Mott's assistant, Ralph Nicks, brought King Cugat from Churchill to Arlington. After the Classic, both Nicks and King Cugat were scheduled to join Mott at his stable headquarters in Saratoga Springs, New York.

"Bill sent the colt to me in Kentucky in late April," said Nicks. "He had some little ailments that needed some time over the winter, and there aren't many good opportunities for three-year-olds on the grass early in the year. He's a good three-year-old; we' re hoping he can become a great four-year-old."

Nicks and Little were uncertain as to whether Mott planned to send King Cugat back to Arlington for the second leg of the Mid-American Triple, the $200,000 American Derby (G2) on July 23. However, the long-range goal is to have him come back on August 19 for the final leg, the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes (G1).