Tabasco Cat 1994 Belmont Winner
May 28, 2013 22:04:25 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on May 28, 2013 22:04:25 GMT -5
Many remember Tabasco Cat for the injury he caused to Jeff Lukas, but he was a really good thoroughbred. He won the Preakness and the Belmont, It had to be an extremely rough time for Coach.
In December 1993, Tabasco Cat seriously injured Jeff Lukas, who worked for his father as an assistant trainer. In a shedrow accident at Santa Anita Park, the colt broke loose and when Jeff Lukas tried to stop him, the excited horse slammed into him with such force that it fractured his skull and left him in a coma for several weeks. Although he recovered well enough to eventually return to work for a time, Jeff Lukas suffered permanent brain damage
From The NY TImes, June 12, 1994
HORSE RACING; Sand in His Face? Doesn't Bother Tabasco Cat
By GERALD ESKENAZI
Before the Belmont Stakes was a few hundred feet old yesterday, Go for Gin kicked sand in Tabasco Cat's face.
But that was no problem for Tabasco Cat, despite his reputation as a high-strung animal.
Tabasco Cat, ridden coolly by Pat Day, stayed behind Go for Gin yesterday even when forced wide, survived another sand-in-the-snout episode at the top of the stretch and went on to win it all. It gave Tabasco Cat a double in the Triple Crown for three weeks earlier, he won the Preakness.
Tabasco Cat is not supposed to have the breeding or the temperament to do this sort of thing. Certainly he doesn't have the reputation of Gofor Gin, who ended up second in the Preakness and second in the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Derby on a sloppy track on which Tabasco Cat finished sixth. Injured Kukas's Son
By now, the racing world knows that Tabasco Cat, running exuberantly after being washed down at Santa Anita, galloped out of control one day last December and barreled into Lukas's son, Jeff and critically injured him. Jeff Lukas is only now starting to return to part-time training, having suffered severe head injuries.
After the accident, Jeff's wife, Linda, told her father-in-law to drop the horse and let someone else train him.
The elder Lukas said: "I called everyone in -- Linda, the grooms, my assistants -- and told them, 'Look, this was a frightened horse. Let's not have people look at him and say that this was the horse that almost killed Jeff.' "
Lukas said yesterday that he had a mission with the horse: To make him more manageable, to allow him to be in races like yesterday's. Thus, in the morning, he would give Tabasco Cat what he described as an unorthodox sand roll: The colt would simply roll around in heavy sand for an hour, sometimes jumping up, then rolling in the sand, biting it. The procedure is unorthodox but it seems to have worked and it probably helped him prevail in the mile and a half challenge of the Belmont.
Day himself was shocked at what was going on moments after the race Day himself was shocked at what was going on moments after the race began. It was then that McCarron and Go for Gin lugged out into the middle of the track.
"I was wondering what was going through Chris's mind," Day said of McCarron. "It appeared to me he was in complete control and just took him wide."
McCarron admitted later that he had indeed brought the animal wide, but not intentionally.
"I was a little wide anyway and my horse saddled up to the right just a little bit, and I wasn't bothering anybody . . . so I didn't see any reason to pull him back," explained McCarron. Then, in the final turn, "he did it again and I let him go out again."
Why not, McCarron reasoned. He was still in the lead. Tabasco Cat was still stalking him. So why not kick some more sand in his face. "I wanted to discourage him," McCarron said of Tabasco Cat.
It didn't work.
Before the race, though, Jeff Lukas called his father and warned him, "Remind Pat not to let Chris make up a length around the turns."
But the elder Lukas said he knew that Day could keep Tabasco Cat close in second. Part of all that confidence may have been a plan in which Day exercised the horse in the mornings to get to know him, and part of it may have stemmed from Lukas's insistence on devoting so much time to the animal while his son was recuperating.
The trainer even watched Tabasco Cat eat his dinner, even if it took two hours. "I can see things he's doing, pick up a clue," he said.
According to Lukas, this is a changed horse. "He's much more manageable, much more professional. In a way, it's because of what happened. Before he ran into Jeff, he was never the center of attention. Now people are always looking at him, and he's not bothered by crowds."
Tabasco Cat also appeared to come out of the Belmont Stakes in good shape. Because he is high-strung, he expends a maximum amount of energy in his races and often more than he should during workouts.
Thus, in recent weeks, the work load was lightened considerably: Since the Preakness, he worked out seriously only twice, going five-eighths of a mile once, half a mile the other time.
It allowed him to have something left for the stretch yesterday.
"He was running a heck of a lot faster when he ran into Jeff," Lukas said, "than he was today."
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Tabasco Cat at Overbrook Farm in 1995.
Tabasco Cat (KY)
CH , H, foaled April 15, 1991
( Storm Cat - Barbicue Sauce, by Sauce Boat)
Connections as of last Start:
Jockey: Pat Day
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Owner: Overbrook Farm & Reynolds
Breeder: David Reynolds & Overbrook Farm
Best Racing Class Achieved: Multiple Graded Stakes Winner
Triple Crown Highlights:
1st Belmont S. - 1994
1st Preakness S. - 1994
Breeders’ Cup Participation:
2nd Breeders' Cup Classic - 1994
3rd Breeders' Cup Juvenile - 1993
Career Statistics:
•Starts: 18
•Firsts: 8
•Seconds: 3
•Thirds: 2
•Earnings: $2,347,671
•Earnings Per Start: $130,426
Tabasco Cat died from a heart attack in March 2004
www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/21116/classic-winner-tabasco-cat-dies-in-japan
In December 1993, Tabasco Cat seriously injured Jeff Lukas, who worked for his father as an assistant trainer. In a shedrow accident at Santa Anita Park, the colt broke loose and when Jeff Lukas tried to stop him, the excited horse slammed into him with such force that it fractured his skull and left him in a coma for several weeks. Although he recovered well enough to eventually return to work for a time, Jeff Lukas suffered permanent brain damage
From The NY TImes, June 12, 1994
HORSE RACING; Sand in His Face? Doesn't Bother Tabasco Cat
By GERALD ESKENAZI
Before the Belmont Stakes was a few hundred feet old yesterday, Go for Gin kicked sand in Tabasco Cat's face.
But that was no problem for Tabasco Cat, despite his reputation as a high-strung animal.
Tabasco Cat, ridden coolly by Pat Day, stayed behind Go for Gin yesterday even when forced wide, survived another sand-in-the-snout episode at the top of the stretch and went on to win it all. It gave Tabasco Cat a double in the Triple Crown for three weeks earlier, he won the Preakness.
Tabasco Cat is not supposed to have the breeding or the temperament to do this sort of thing. Certainly he doesn't have the reputation of Gofor Gin, who ended up second in the Preakness and second in the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Derby on a sloppy track on which Tabasco Cat finished sixth. Injured Kukas's Son
By now, the racing world knows that Tabasco Cat, running exuberantly after being washed down at Santa Anita, galloped out of control one day last December and barreled into Lukas's son, Jeff and critically injured him. Jeff Lukas is only now starting to return to part-time training, having suffered severe head injuries.
After the accident, Jeff's wife, Linda, told her father-in-law to drop the horse and let someone else train him.
The elder Lukas said: "I called everyone in -- Linda, the grooms, my assistants -- and told them, 'Look, this was a frightened horse. Let's not have people look at him and say that this was the horse that almost killed Jeff.' "
Lukas said yesterday that he had a mission with the horse: To make him more manageable, to allow him to be in races like yesterday's. Thus, in the morning, he would give Tabasco Cat what he described as an unorthodox sand roll: The colt would simply roll around in heavy sand for an hour, sometimes jumping up, then rolling in the sand, biting it. The procedure is unorthodox but it seems to have worked and it probably helped him prevail in the mile and a half challenge of the Belmont.
Day himself was shocked at what was going on moments after the race Day himself was shocked at what was going on moments after the race began. It was then that McCarron and Go for Gin lugged out into the middle of the track.
"I was wondering what was going through Chris's mind," Day said of McCarron. "It appeared to me he was in complete control and just took him wide."
McCarron admitted later that he had indeed brought the animal wide, but not intentionally.
"I was a little wide anyway and my horse saddled up to the right just a little bit, and I wasn't bothering anybody . . . so I didn't see any reason to pull him back," explained McCarron. Then, in the final turn, "he did it again and I let him go out again."
Why not, McCarron reasoned. He was still in the lead. Tabasco Cat was still stalking him. So why not kick some more sand in his face. "I wanted to discourage him," McCarron said of Tabasco Cat.
It didn't work.
Before the race, though, Jeff Lukas called his father and warned him, "Remind Pat not to let Chris make up a length around the turns."
But the elder Lukas said he knew that Day could keep Tabasco Cat close in second. Part of all that confidence may have been a plan in which Day exercised the horse in the mornings to get to know him, and part of it may have stemmed from Lukas's insistence on devoting so much time to the animal while his son was recuperating.
The trainer even watched Tabasco Cat eat his dinner, even if it took two hours. "I can see things he's doing, pick up a clue," he said.
According to Lukas, this is a changed horse. "He's much more manageable, much more professional. In a way, it's because of what happened. Before he ran into Jeff, he was never the center of attention. Now people are always looking at him, and he's not bothered by crowds."
Tabasco Cat also appeared to come out of the Belmont Stakes in good shape. Because he is high-strung, he expends a maximum amount of energy in his races and often more than he should during workouts.
Thus, in recent weeks, the work load was lightened considerably: Since the Preakness, he worked out seriously only twice, going five-eighths of a mile once, half a mile the other time.
It allowed him to have something left for the stretch yesterday.
"He was running a heck of a lot faster when he ran into Jeff," Lukas said, "than he was today."
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Tabasco Cat at Overbrook Farm in 1995.
Tabasco Cat (KY)
CH , H, foaled April 15, 1991
( Storm Cat - Barbicue Sauce, by Sauce Boat)
Connections as of last Start:
Jockey: Pat Day
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Owner: Overbrook Farm & Reynolds
Breeder: David Reynolds & Overbrook Farm
Best Racing Class Achieved: Multiple Graded Stakes Winner
Triple Crown Highlights:
1st Belmont S. - 1994
1st Preakness S. - 1994
Breeders’ Cup Participation:
2nd Breeders' Cup Classic - 1994
3rd Breeders' Cup Juvenile - 1993
Career Statistics:
•Starts: 18
•Firsts: 8
•Seconds: 3
•Thirds: 2
•Earnings: $2,347,671
•Earnings Per Start: $130,426
Tabasco Cat died from a heart attack in March 2004
www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/21116/classic-winner-tabasco-cat-dies-in-japan