Dr. John Chandler's homebred Cetewayo passed the million-dollar mark in career earnings with a come-from-behind score in the $224,625 Stars and Stripes Breeders' Cup Turf Saturday at Arlington Park. The 8-year-old son of His Majesty, who was ridden by Arlington's leading jockey Rene Douglas, covered the 1 1/2 miles over firm turf in course-record time of 2:27.50. The Michael Dickinson- rained horse lowered the mark of 2:27 4/5 set by Master Dennis in 1964 and equaled last year by Falcon Flight.Cetewayo, the 19-10 favorite, paid $5.80, $4.20 and $2.60. Private Son returned $10.00 and $4.80. Pisces paid $2.60.
Cetewayo's ledger now shows 11 wins, three seconds and three thirds from 26 starts and the $137,475 winner's share of the purse boosted his career earnings to $1,043,018.
Under a well-timed ride by Douglas, Cetewayo was content to sit near the back of the pack some 18 lengths off the pace set by Riddlesdown, who posted evenly-measured fractions of 24.68, 48.43, 1:12.64, 1:37.29 and 2:02.45 before being challenged in the final quarter of a mile.
"It was hard to make a run at first," said Douglas, who won his third graded stakes of the Arlington meet. "I was so far back and I kept watching in front of me. I was kind of worried but there was nothing I could do. I took my time and hoped everything went the right way. He exploded like a good horse in the stretch."
Private Son, who was in the first pack throughout the race, found room on the rail to put a head in front in deep stretch but was unable to hold off the winner. Pieces finished third in the nine-horse race.Pacesetter Riddlesdown finished fourth followed by Bahroba, Red Mountain, Two Point Two Mill, Classic Par and Red Antics to complete the order of finish.
"I stayed on the fence the whole time and when I asked him, he went running," said Carlos Marquez Jr., who rode the runner-up. "It was a great trip and the horse has a lot of potential in the future. This was his fourth start this year and he hadn't run for six weeks. He is a very competitive horse."
"I thought it looked good at the quarter pole," said Pisces' jockey, Roger Velez. "Maybe the heat got to him. At the eighth pole, when I called on him he reached for air and didn't have a further response. You couldn't have asked for a better trip. You have to give him credit. He always tries."
Chandler says Cetewayo will likely run next in the grade I Sword Dancer (August 10 at Saratoga) at 1 1/2 miles rather than try the Arlington Million, a at 1 1/4 miles, one week later.
"A mile and a quarter is a bit short for him against younger horses," Chandler said. "He needs to get his stuff together early and come running late as you saw today. The Sword Dancer would be an obvious place."However, he did indicate that the $2 million John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf to be run here October 26 as part of the World Thoroughbred Championships is a possible objective, "He seemed to like the turf course here. I don't see why not."
(Chart, Equibase)
