Horse Racing / Bill Christine : Teleprompter a Longshot to Win Horse of Year

Want a longshot for Horse of the Year?

How about Teleprompter?

Teleprompter, Lord Darby’s English-bred 4-year-old gelding, has won only one race in the United States, but that was an important one, the Budweiser-Arlington Million in August.

Teleprompter will make his second U.S. start in the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Turf Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 2.

Suppose this scenario unfolds on Breeders’ Cup day:

--None of the lukewarm favorites for Horse of the Year--Chief’s Crown, Vanlandingham, Track Barron, Greinton and Lady’s Secret--runs a strong race.

--Teleprompter runs the kind of race he ran at Arlington Park and wins the Turf Stakes impressively.

That would give him wins in two of America’s major races, and although Eclipse Award voters--turf writers, racing secretaries and Daily Racing Form representatives--are reluctant to consider a grass specialist for Horse of the Year, that’s what they did in 1983, another year when there were no standout choices.

A close vote went to All Along, the filly who was winless all year before she won the Arc de Triomphe in France in October and swept three other turf races in Canada and the United States.

All Along was named Horse of the Year with only two U.S. wins on her record.

If the same thing happened to Teleprompter, it would be a strange conclusion to a strange year. The main reason Teleprompter is running in the United States is that there are so few races that accept geldings in Europe.

A panel of international racing secretaries has completed fields for the four Breeders’ Cup races that drew more than the maximum number of 14 horses.

On Tuesday, the list of horses qualified by their performances this year was announced. Wednesday, the racing secretaries added these horses:

JUVENILE STAKES

Selected starters--Grey Classic, Regal Dreamer, Au Bon Marche, Louisiana Slew, Scat Dancer, Snowy Mountain.

Also eligible--Real Courage.

SPRINT STAKES

Selected starters--Al Sylah, Basket Weave, Committed, Fiftysix Ina Row, Vilikaia.

Also eligible--Artichoke, Vacarme, Proud Clarioness, Majestic Venture.

MILE STAKES

Selected starters--Chapel Cottage, Never So Bold, Palace Music, Rousillon, Shadeed.

Also eligible--Gallanti, Green Paradise, Capture Him, Sulaafah.

TURF STAKES

Selected starters--Kozana, Lashkari, Pebbles, Shernazar, Theatrical.

Also eligible--Romildo, Baillamont, Slew the Dragon, Long Mick.

Also eligibles can run only if any of the 14 starters aren’t named when entries are taken at Aqueduct next Wednesday.

The California rule that enables suspended jockeys to ride in designated races is unique in American racing. It also is getting ridiculous.

Because of the rule, Chris McCarron, despite a five-day suspension, was able to ride Yashgan to victory Sunday in the $400,000 Oak Tree Invitational at Santa Anita.

At Santa Anita, suspended jockeys are allowed to ride in all major races, which seems like a reasonable policy under the rule.

But at Bay Meadows, three non-stakes races have been designated, solely for the purpose of ensuring a promotion. Bay Meadows has an annual jockeys’ competition between its riders and a foreign group, and last year, two of the local riders couldn’t compete because they had drawn suspensions. This year, the three races are designated as exceptions so suspensions won’t be a factor.

“It’s a rule that may or may not last,� one Santa Anita steward said. “Actually, the rule came into effect as the result of a suggestion from quarter-horse interests.�

The Jockeys’ Guild is opposed to the California rule, on the grounds that if its members are suspended, allowing them to ride in a rich stake while missing the cheaper races, the penalty loses its teeth.

Racing is off to a promising start in Minnesota, where Canterbury Downs just completed its first thoroughbred season in suburban Minneapolis.

Canterbury, whose minor investors include Santa Anita, averaged 13,000 fans a day during an 83-day season, a figure that ranks 11th among North American tracks.

Canterbury’s fans began betting conservatively, but at the end, the daily per capita wager was more than $105. That’s well under the national average of about $145, but better than the $60 to $70 per capita that Canterbury bettors started with.

Living only two blocks from Santa Anita, Terry Lipham couldn’t stay away. The veteran rider, who suffered multiple injuries when he was thrown by a horse and stepped on by others at Del Mar Aug. 2, visited friends in the jockeys’ room the other day.

“I didn’t want to come here because that would make me miss it that much more,� Lipham said. “But I ran out of football games to watch on TV, so here I am.�

Lipham, who is still walking with a cane, hopes to ride again.

Racing Notes There’s an overlap in ownership of the horses Forzando II and Au Bon Marche, who will both be running in Breeders’ Cup races. Charles Cale of Los Angeles and Jack Liebau of San Marino have an interest in both horses. . . . Spendthrift Farm has been up for sale for some time, and Gainesway Farm, another major breeding outfit in Kentucky, also is reportedly available. Interested buyers of Spendthrift are said to be England’s Robert Sangster, and the Maktoum brothers, Arabian sheiks who have been Sangster’s frequent rivals at Kentucky yearling auctions. . . . Although Chuck Tanner left Pittsburgh to manage the Atlanta Braves, he still has a breeding interest in His Majesty and Little Current, stallions owned by John and Dan Galbreath, who recently sold the Pirates. . . . If offbeat spelling gave a horse speed, winners in the Breeders’ Cup would be Arewehavingfunyet, Fifty Six Ina Row, Isayso and Dontstop Themusic. . . . Charles Baumbach, one of the owners of Sunset Handicap winner Kings Island, would like to bring the colt back to the races despite a bowed tendon, but his partner, Dan Agnew, favors sending the horse to stud. “I’ve never had much luck running horses after they’ve bowed,� Agnew said.