Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406140193
SECTION: MISCELLANEOUS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Once again, Tabasco Cat thrilled one of his biggest fans - Jeff Lukas, the trainer's son and young assistant the colt had run down and almost killed last December.
As he had done in the Preakness three weeks ago, Tabasco Cat overtook Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin in the stretch and won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
Immediately after the stirring victory, Lukas, son of trainer Wayne Lukas, spoke to ABC's Jim McKay on an open phone line, while his father tried to check back tears in the winner's circle.
"A big effort again today," 38-year-old Jeff Lukas said from his home in Glendora, Calif. "The horse was game both times. It was very incredible to watch. It was very enjoyable to be involved in the win today at Belmont Park."
Wayne Lukas had tried to contact his son after the victory in the Preakness, but Jeff, who had watched the race, had taken his children to a carnival and was not at home.
Jeff Lukas, who suffered brain injuries when he was run down Dec. 15 at Santa Anita, will return to being a part-time trainer June 27.
"I told someone it's a long way from a 350-yard quarterhorse race at Ruidoso Downs to a 1 1/2-mile Belmont in New York City," Wayne Lukas, a former quarterhorse trainer, said after his first Belmont win in his eighth try.
That victory did not come easy as Go for Gin burst out of the gate along the rail and was still in front when the field of six 3-year-olds turned for home.
"We played cat and mouse with him all the way around," said Pat Day, the jockey on Tabasco Cat who was second from the start until the turn for home.
Then in the stretch run, Tabasco Cat pounced, passing Go for Gin on the outside and winning by two lengths.
"We did it," Lukas shouted. "We did it. We got him."
"Yeah. We got him," said the 40-year-old Day, who won his second Belmont in his eighth try. His first victory was on Easy Goer in 1989.
Go for Gin was a half-length in front of Strodes Creek, who was 3 1/2 lengths ahead of Signal Tap. Amathos finished fifth and Ulises was last. Brocco, the Santa Anita Derby winner who was fourth in the Kentucky Derby but skipped the Preakness, was scratched Saturday morning because of a stone bruise in his left front foot.
The time of 2:26 4-5, under a scale weight of 126 pounds, was the fifth fastest running in 126 Belmonts.
Go for Gin, who scored a front-running victory in the Kentucky Derby in which Tabasco Cat finished sixth, also gave up the lead to Tabasco Cat in the stretch of the Preakness.
"He fought back again," said Go for Gin's rider Chris McCarron. "He tried to come back, but he wasn't able to do it."
"I saw another great event, another great Triple Crown, and that's what it's all about," Go for Gin's trainer, Nick Zito, said. "No excuse. Chris said he ran his heart out, and Tabasco Cat was the same. No problem."
Tabasco Cat paid $8.80, $3.80 and $2.40 and earned $392,280 from a purse of $653,800 to boost his career earnings to $1,323,037 on a record of seven wins, a second and a third in 12 starts. He has won four of six starts this year.
Tabasco Cat, owned and bred by David Reynolds, 78, of Richmond, Va., and William T. Young, 76, of Lexington, Ky., became the ninth 3-year-old to accomplish the Preakness-Belmont double and the first since Hansel in 1991.
Go for Gin returned $3 and $2.20 and Strodes Creek, the 6-5 favorite despite never having won a stakes although he was the Kentucky Derby runner-up, paid $2.20 to show.
Some horsemen and followers of the breed questioned Tabasco Cat's pedigree and his ability to go 1 1/2 miles. The colt is a son of Storm Cat out of Barbique Sauce.
"Pedigree is a place to start, but it is only part of the equation," Lukas said. "There is also pace, training, timing and soundness."
Go for Gin set the pace Saturday, Day took care of the timing and Lukas had the colt trained perfectly.
There was one point when backers of Tabasco Cat must have had a scare: with a half-mile remaining, Go for Gin suddenly opened up daylight and appeared to be ready to draw off.
But Lukas wasn't worried.
"Baby Hands [Day] knows exactly where he's at. If you're within range I always feel so very confident with Pat Day. He gives them a little something at the end."
by CNB