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Trainer Richard Mandella shared credit with his staff for his stable's success in Saturday's Breeders' Cup races.

"I didn't do all this work myself," Mandella said at a press conference while singling out his staff, including assistant trainer Becky Witzman and his top exercise rider, Crystal Brown. "I have a great staff. I can't say how much I appreciate it."

He said Halfbridled and Action This Day, who won the Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile, would likely not race again until they turn 3. Plans are less certain for Johar, who earned a deadheat for victory in the Turf, and Pleasantly Perfect, who won the Classic. Both came out of their races in good shape, Mandella said, but both are older horses with Breeders' Cup victories on their resume, which makes them attractive stallion prospects.

The connections of every Breeders' Cup winner expressed satisfaction with the way their horses came out of their races. Several will race again, but others will be retired, including High Chaparral, who was a deadheat winner in the Turf. He goes to stud at Coolmore.

David Hofmans, who trains Distaff winner Adoration, said he had not mapped out a future race for that filly. Cajun Beat, who won the Sprint, returned Sunday morning to Kentucky, trainer Steven Margolis said.

Islington, the winner of the Filly and Mare Turf, will become a broodmare next year, but might make one final start this fall in Asia before being retired. Six Perfections, the winner of the Mile, will definitely race next year, according to Alan Cooper, the racing manager for the Niarchos family.

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Halfbridled (in front) wins the Juvenile Fillies to end all debate over the 2003 Eclipse Award winner in that category. The other categories aren't nearly as clear-cut.

Perfect Drift certainly could have secured Horse of the Year with a victory in the Classic, and Medaglia d'Oro might have had a shot as well, but both lost Saturday at Santa Anita. That leaves Mineshaft, who accomplished more than any other horse before the Breeders' Cup and then was retired prior to the Classic, as the most logical choice for Eclipse Award voters at year's end.

"Other than not, unfortunately, running in the Breeders' Cup, he made it through the whole season," said Mineshaft's trainer, Neil Howard, from his barn at Churchill Downs on Monday. "He did everything a handicap horse should do. He traveled, he won at a distance, he ran on fast tracks and on sloppy tracks, he ran good times, and he won with authority. I was humbled to have a horse like him."

Mineshaft also seems certain to win the title as champion older horse.

Perfect Drift, who beat Mineshaft in the Stephen Foster Handicap in June, returned to Kentucky on Monday. "We're disappointed he had bad luck in the race, but he had a huge amount of luck the rest of the year," his trainer, Murray Johnson, said Monday from Kentucky. Perfect Drift had to check on the first turn of the Classic.

Johnson said Perfect Drift, a gelding, would get a lengthy rest and would not go back into training until late January or February.

"Dubai," Johnson said, referring to the Dubai World Cup in March, "is out. He'll have a similar campaign to this past year."

A few other categories are clear-cut. Halfbridled, who completed a perfect 4-for-4 season with a victory in the Juvenile Fillies, should be a unanimous choice as champion 2-year-old filly. Jerry Bailey, who could set a record for purse earnings this year and won the Mile with Six Perfections, is the front-runner to win his seventh Eclipse Award as champion jockey.

Islington makes a compelling case for champion female turf horse. She had built-in sentiment this year following her brutal trip in last year's Filly and Mare Turf, and her victory this year came at the expense of the division's acknowledged leaders, Dimitrova, Heat Haze, Tates Creek, and Voodoo Dancer. Six Perfections could also garner votes.

After that, though, it gets very difficult, starting with a conundrum for champion trainer. Do you reward the sustained, year-long excellence of Bobby Frankel, who has won a record 23 Grade 1 races in 2003, but who flopped on Breeders' Cup Day, or the unprecedented single-day feat of Richard Mandella, whose own strong year has four Breeders' Cup wins as a compelling exclamation point?

Champion 3-year-old colt is another tough call. Had either Funny Cide or Ten Most Wanted won the Classic, or even come close, that might have swayed voters to their corner. But now both are in a dogfight with Empire Maker, who beat both in the Belmont Stakes, but lost to Funny Cide in the Derby, and failed to answer the bell when Ten Most Wanted won the Travers.

Elloluv or Lady Tak might have clinched champion 3-year-old filly had either won the Distaff, and while Elloluv's second-place finish to the older filly Adoration enhances her candidacy, is it enough to beat out Bird Town, the winner of the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes, or early-season star Composure? Wise-guy voters might even go for grass specialist Six Perfections.

The Distaff also could have been the crowning moment for Sightseek, but her dull fourth-place finish as the favorite might very well swing voters to Azeri, the 2002 Horse of the Year, who surrendered huge chunks of weight in every race and lost just the Lady's Secret, which likely will prove to be her final career start.

Cuvee would have locked up champion 2-year-old colt had he won the Juvenile, in which he was favored, but he stopped badly and finished last. The Juvenile winner, Action This Day, owned only a maiden win entering the race, so he might need to run again in the Hollywood Futurity and win that race to give him a leg up on rivals such as Birdstone, Eurosilver, and Rulers Court, all of whom won major preps for the Juvenile and then bypassed the Breeders' Cup.

Aldebaran is another Breeders' Cup favorite who could have made championship talk moot with a victory, but his loss in the Sprint forces voters to also seriously consider Congaree, who beat Aldebaran in the Carter, and Cajun Beat, the Sprint winner.

That's an easy category, though, compared to champion male turf horse. Either Storming Home or Sulamani could have wrapped up the Eclipse Award with a victory in the Turf, and though both remain strong candidates, both were soundly defeated by High Chaparral and Johar, who finished in a dead heat. High Chaparral is the defending champion in this division. Can he win a second Eclipse Award after again racing just once in this country?

These are among the questions that will face Eclipse Award voters at year's end. Perhaps by then all the brushfires, both real and metaphoric, will be put out.

Rapid City is known as the gateway to Mount Rushmore, but for one bettor who wagered on the Breeders' Cup pick six, the town is the path to riches. At the only betting window inside the Time Out Lounge, a local horseplayer turned an $8 pick six play into a $2.7 million payday when his ticket was the only winner on the Breeders' Cup races at Santa Anita.

The man, whose identity was undisclosed as of Monday afternoon, was among scores of bettors drawn to picking the winners of the last six Breeders' Cup races. Bettors wagered $4,489,454 on the bet.

Going into the final race, just four live tickets remained, each keyed to a different horse - Classic favorite Medaglia d'Oro, Ten Most Wanted, Congaree, and Pleasantly Perfect, the only runner the South Dakota bettor used in the final leg. It was enough.

The winning ticket had four singles, and two races with two horses. It singled Mile winner Six Perfections ($12.60); had two in the Sprint, Cajun Beat ($47.60) and Aldebaran; singled Filly and Mare Turf winner Islington ($7.80); had two in the Juvenile, Action This Day ($55.60) and Tiger Hunt; singled Turf winner High Chaparral ($6.40), who dead-heated with Johar; and ended with Pleasantly Perfect ($30.40).

Along with his $2,687,611.60 winning payoff, the bettor also won two of the 48 consolation payoffs, each worth $18,663.80. His total haul, before taxes, was $2,724,939.20.

The winning bettor was scheduled to sign papers and make arrangement for payment Tuesday at the Time Out Lounge, a restaurant-tavern run by 76-year-old June La Croix. La Croix said she was granted a license to offer parimutuel wagering last year, one month before the 2002 Breeders' Cup. "We're sanctioned," she said. "We're legal."

Good thing. It was one year ago that an Autotote employee and two co-conspirators electronically altered a pick six ticket after four Breeders' Cup races had been run, and they ended up with all six winning tickets. Chris Harn, Derrick Davis, and Glen DaSilva wound up in prison after the scandal was uncovered.

Nervous Breeders' Cup officials entered the 2003 event confident in the integrity of the tote system.

"We went through a good vet process on this," said Ken Kirchner, senior vice president of product development for the Breeders' Cup. He said scans were performed after each leg of the pick six to identify live tickets at each stage. A preliminary review of wagering patterns at the betting window where the Rapid City horseplayer placed his bet corresponded to the winning pick six ticket.

There was further relief when it was learned that the winning pick six bet was a paper ticket - not an electronic wager - purchased from a live teller.

"Folks say the bet is too tough," said Kirchner. "This shows it is possible."

According to La Croix, the lounge owner, the winning bettor is a local man in his early 40's and may have had a partner in the bet. La Croix said the man visits the Time Out about once a month, and was one of about 50 patrons to place Breeders' Cup wagers there Saturday. She said the establishment's total handle Saturday was between $11,000 and $12,000, and included about $20 wagered on the pick six.

La Croix said the winning bettor did not watch the races at the bar, but returned later that night to cash multiple pick three tickets. "When he came in, he never told us he had the big winner, but we kind of figured it out," La Croix said Monday. "There's a lot of talk about it this morning."

Breeders' Cup officials said Monday that they hoped to arrange a conference call and photo opportunity with the winning bettor on Tuesday.

If hitting the pick six was difficult, the card also was tough for horseplayers who invested in the Breeders' Cup future bet. Three rounds of future betting were held, with four pools in each round. Six of those 12 pools were won by horses who were not among the 23 individual horses listed, making the winner "all others."

It started with the Distaff. Adoration was not listed individually in either round. "All others" paid $21.40 (for $2) in Future Pool 2 and $39.80 in Pool 6. Juvenile Fillies winner Halfbridled returned $6.80 in Pool 10, only 20 cents more than on race day.

Mile winner Six Perfections paid $43 in Pool 12. Sprint winner Cajun Beat was in the all-others field, which paid $12.40 in Pool 3 and $22.20 in Pool 7.

Filly and Mare Turf winner Islington paid $13 in Pool 11. Juvenile winner Action This Day was in the all-others field in Pool 9, returning $17.40. The dead heat in the Turf trimmed payoffs on High Chaparral ($12.60 and $8.60) and Johar ($21.40 and $19.40) in pools 4 and 8. Classic winner Pleasantly Perfect was an all-others runner in Pool 1 and returned $21.80. Listed individually in Pool 5, he returned $119.80.

Earlier that day at Santa Anita, Solis had won the country's two richest races - the $2 million Turf aboard Johar, who finished in a dead heat with High Chaparral, and the $4 million Classic aboard Pleasantly Perfect.

Long after he returned home from a celebratory dinner with family and friends, Solis stayed up watching replays. He went to bed at 1 a.m., then awoke at 4 and did not go back to sleep. The television went back on.

"I was too excited," he said. "I was still buzzing."

Solis was not the only one in the house feeling that way. "Austin went to sleep smiling," Solis said of his son. "He was still sleeping and smiling early in the morning."

The two wins combined with a second-place finish in the Juvenile with Minister Eric gave Solis the distinction of being the recipient of the first Bill Shoemaker Award for outstanding performance by a jockey on Breeders' Cup Day.

The award, determined by a vote by the press, was inaugurated last week, shortly after the death of Shoemaker on Oct. 12.

His wins aboard Johar and Pleasantly Perfect came moments after Solis feared that his chances of a Breeders' Cup win were gone. Since the end of the Del Mar meeting on Sept. 10, Solis had been anxiously awaiting a chance to ride Minister Eric, who had finished second in the Del Mar Futurity.

In the Juvenile, Minister Eric led in early stretch, but was caught in the final sixteenth by stablemate Action This Day.

"I thought he was my best chance," Solis said. "I have a lot of faith in that horse, and I think he will have a big future. When he turns into a man, he will be fun to watch."

Solis has ridden Johar in all but one of his 15 starts, including wins in the 2002 Hollywood Derby and San Marcos Stakes in January.

Johar led in a small field when he finished a game second in the Clement Hirsch Turf Championship on Sept. 28, but in most of his races has come from behind. Solis was not worried when Johar was far back early in the Turf, run over 1 1/2 miles.

"He broke so relaxed," Solis said. "I just improvised. It worked out so good. The others were right on top of each other, and it made it easier."

In early stretch, Johar was fourth with a stubborn Falbrav and High Chaparral in front of him.

"I thought I'd blow by them the way he was running," Solis said. "I switched my whip to the left, and High Chaparral looked at Johar and he took off running again."

It took 11 minutes for officials to determine High Chaparral and Johar had finished in a dead heat.

"I knew it was close, and I thought I had a chance," Solis said. "I saw his head going down at the wire."

Solis thought Pleasantly Perfect had an excellent chance in the 2002 Classic until the colt bled in his prep race and was not allowed to start. When Pleasantly Perfect prepped with a defense of his title in the Goodwood Handicap on Oct. 4, Solis again thought he had a big shot in the Classic.

"We always did think he could do that, but it didn't turn out," he said. "The last couple of weeks, he was getting better and better. You could feel him getting stronger and stronger, and that really helped us out there. He was ready."

Before Saturday, Solis had a poor record in the Breeders' Cup, winning once with 40 mounts - Kona Gold in the 2000 Sprint at Churchill Downs.

"The Breeders' Cup races have been kind of tough on me," he said. "I've told my kids, you don't quit and you don't take the easy way out.

"I always believed that something special would come my way."

Gill to establish California beachhead

Michael Gill, who leads the nation's owners in victories this year, is establishing a stable in Southern California, trainer Nick Canani said.

On Sunday, Gill and Canani claimed five horses for $109,000 at Santa Anita. Their new acquisitions include Workum, who won a $10,000 claimer over a mile in the fifth race.

Canani, who left Southern California earlier this year to launch a stable in Maryland for Gill, said that he is returning to California, and that some of the recently claimed horses will be sent to other circuits.

Canani said plans to send a stable of Gill horses to Fair Grounds have been scuttled.

"The plan is to stay [in California] as long as they give us stalls," he said. "We need some place for the turf horses. This was always in the works for me. I tried to get Mike to come out here, and that's how I got involved."

Canani did not say how large the Gill stable in California would be, but speculated that some runners from the East would be sent to California.

Gill, who lives in New Hampshire, has more than 275 racehorses competing in several circuits. He has been the subject of controversy at some Eastern tracks this year because of his aggressive claiming tactics.

Davis spends day at races

Outgoing California Gov. Gray Davis attended the Breeders' Cup, but he limited his activity to watching, leaving the betting to his wife.

"The people of California will benefit from her misfortune," he said.

Davis watched the Breeders' Cup from the director's room. After the Classic, he walked through the box seat area and visited with horse owner David Shimmon and Oak Tree executive Sherwood Chillingworth.

Davis was recalled earlier this month and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

During his terms, Davis signed bills allowing for a reduction in the taxes that racetracks pay to the state to run race meetings. The savings were returned to the racetrack and the horsemen in the form of purses. In addition, he approved a measure in 2001 permitting betting via the telephone and Internet, but vetoed a similar measure in 2000.

At the same time, Davis irked many horse racing participants for his support of Native American casinos, which are perceived as a threat to racing.

Davis said he would have supported a bill to increase the takeout on exotic wagers from 20.18 to 20.68 percent in an effort to offset the high cost of workers' compensation insurance paid by trainers. The bill was introduced in August but did not reach Davis's desk after it failed to reach a vote in the Legislature.

"I would be open to that, but I'd like to look at the fine print," he said.

Ellis had his chance

In addition to training horses for owner B. Wayne Hughes, Ron Ellis is also one of two men in charge of buying horses for Hughes, the former Public Storage magnate. Ellis, along with Seth Semkin, bought Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Action This Day for $150,000 for Hughes last July at Keeneland. It was Richard Mandella, however, who trained the colt.

According to Ellis, there are three places where Hughes's yearlings are broken: California, Florida, and South Carolina. Ellis went to look at the yearlings in Florida - where he gets to pick five - and was scheduled to go to South Carolina, where Action This Day and Siphonizer were located. But a storm canceled his flight.

Ellis decided to return to California and called the South Carolina farm manager, Frank Wooten, to find out about how the yearlings were training. Ellis did not know Wooten well, so when Wooten told him that "they were all good," Ellis didn't know how much credence to give the information. Ellis elected not to select any of the ones in South Carolina.

"I won't make the same mistake again," Ellis said. "I'm happy, though. It's a team effort, and Dick's done a great job."

Ellis said he has several 2-year-olds for Hughes and hopes he can procure another Derby contender for him. This year, Ellis campaigned Atswhatimtalknbout, who finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby.

"I've got some nice ones that haven't run yet," Ellis said.

Hughes, said Ellis, "still has some bullets in the gun. I'm very happy for Wayne. He's been very good to me."

Frankel, Bailey near records

Despite a relatively disappointing Breeders' Cup day, both Bobby Frankel and Jerry Bailey edged closer to records Saturday.

Frankel, who earlier this year set the single-season record for Grade 1 wins with 23, closed to within $60,000 of D. Wayne Lukas's yearly trainer earnings record of $17,842,358. Though he was shut out on the card, Frankel's pursuit of Lukas's record was greatly aided by Medaglia d'Oro's second-place finish in the Classic, which earned $800,000.

Frankel has enjoyed a banner year, but he may come up second best in the Eclipse balloting after Richard Mandella's four-win Breeders' Cup day. The year in which Lukas set the earnings record, 1988, he was defeated in the Eclipse balloting by Shug McGaughey, who that year trained champions Personal Ensign and Easy Goer.

Bailey, who this year has already has surpassed his own North American jockey earnings record, is now within $571,000 of his overall earnings record of $22,871,814, which was set in 2002. Bailey's total last year was enhanced by the $3.6 million he earned riding Street Cry to victory in the Dubai World Cup.

Bailey won the Breeders' Cup Mile aboard Six Perfections Saturday, his 64th stakes win of the year, putting him four behind Mike Smith's record total of 68, set in 1994.

- additional reporting by David Grening and Irwin Cohen

The previous record for a Breeders' Cup card was set last year at Arlington Park, when all-sources handle was $115.5 million on an 11-race card.

The $120.8 million figure for this year is expected to rise when foreign totals are included. The Breeders' Cup was expected to release those totals on Thursday. Much of the foreign betting on the Breeders' Cup in parts of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa is conducted in separate pools, not added into the commingled pools.

According to handle figures on the charts of the eight Breeders' Cup races, total handle for those races was about $100.5 million, which would be a 6.9 percent decline compared to the $108 million handle on the eight Breeders' Cup races last year. This year's $100.5 million figure does not include the separate-pool totals, nor does it include handle on several pick three and pick four bets that linked non-Breeders' Cup races with the Breeders' Cup events.

Betting on Breeders' Cup races has declined one time in the event's 20-year history. In 2001, total betting fell slightly, from $101.3 million to $98.7 million.

A total of 90 horses raced this year in the eight Breeders' Cup races, the same number as last year.

Ontrack betting was $17,171,465, a record for the Breeders' Cup. The previous record was set at Santa Anita in 1986, when $15,410,409 was wagered.

Attendance this year was 51,648. Ten of the 20 Breeders' Cups have drawn more people, including both times the event was held at Santa Anita. In 1993, attendance at Santa Anita was 55,130, and in 1986, attendance was 69,155. Breeders' Cup officials were hoping that attendance would be at least equal to the 1993 figure.

Temperatures on Saturday in Southern California reached into the high 90's, far above the typical readings for the area in late October. A thick layer of haze could be seen over the track on Saturday, in part because of wildfires 20 miles to the east of the track.

Many of the top horses in training did not compete in this year's Breeders' Cup, including top handicap horse Mineshaft, 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri, 2003 Pacific Classic winner Candy Ride, and 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker. A number of top juvenile runners also were not entered.

The overnight rating for NBC-TV's five-hour broadcast of the eight Breeders' Cup races was 2.2, identical to last year's overnight rating. Overnight ratings are derived by surveying the top 55 markets in the United States, and each point represents about 740,000 households.

Share for the broadcast was 5, representing 5 percent of the televisions in use at the time. Share last year was also a 5. Final ratings will be available on Thursday, according to Kathy Connors, an NBC spokeswoman.

Wagering for the Breeders' Cup pick six, which had a guaranteed pool of $3 million, was $4,489,454, a decline of 1.8 percent compared to last year. Handle on the pick six has declined for five straight years.

There was one winning pick six ticket worth $2,687,611.20, sold to an offtrack betting customer in South Dakota. Forty-eight tickets had five of six winners, and each of those tickets was worth $18,663.

Total wagering on eight head-to-head matchups was $346,739, a decline of 54.9 percent compared to total handle of $768,894 on seven races last year. Head-to-head wagering allows bettors to select one horse to finish ahead of another horse regardless of whether the horses finish in the money.

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Pleasantly Perfect overtakes Medaglia d'Oro to win the Classic, with Dynever in third.

The Hall of Fame trainer became the first to win four Breeders' Cup races on one card, and capped his record-setting day by sending out 14-1 shot Pleasantly Perfect to win the $4 million Classic on a hot, steamy afternoon on which temperatures reached 99 degrees.

Just as he did in 1993, Mandella won both the Juvenile Fillies and the Turf. But he also won the Classic and Juvenile, eclipsing the previous record of three wins set by D. Wayne Lukas on a seven-race card in 1988.

"I don't know how to describe the feeling," said Mandella, whose seven runners earned $4,564,040 for the day. "I'm still in shock. I didn't believe it could happen again, but it happened bigger and better than ever."

Mandella has never won an Eclipse Award as champion trainer, but this day, on which he secured at least one championship with the 2-year-old filly Halfbridled, could get him that elusive trophy.

The Classic victory was sweet redemption for both Pleasantly Perfect and Mandella. Pleasantly Perfect would have been one of the top choices in last year's Classic at Arlington Park, but Illinois racing rules prevented him from entering the race after he bled in the test barn following a victory in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap. He won the Goodwood again as a prep this year.

Pleasantly Perfect ($30.40) ran down Medaglia d'Oro in the deep stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths under jockey Alex Solis, who was the riding star of the day with two victories. An emotional Solis said he was dedicating the win to Bill Shoemaker, who died two weeks ago.

Dynever was third, three-quarters of a length behind Medaglia d'Oro. Congaree was fourth and was followed, in order, by Hold That Tiger, Perfect Drift, Evening Attire, Ten Most Wanted, Funny Cide, and Volponi.

Volponi was trying to win the Classic for the second straight year. This was his final start before going to stud.

"We had the same position as last year, but he did not kick the same way," said his jockey, Jose Santos. "When I could see he wasn't going to get anything at the top of the stretch, I just left him alone to take care of him."

Pleasantly Perfect was timed in 1:59.88 for 1 1/4 miles on the fast main track. His victory, coupled with the losses by Medaglia d'Oro and Perfect Drift, likely will make the already retired Mineshaft the Horse of the Year.

Medaglia d'Oro set out for the lead after bumping with Congaree at the start, and those two set a sharp pace of 22.79 seconds, 46.35, and 1:10.32 for the first six furlongs.

"I couldn't let the other horse go alone on the lead," said Jerry Bailey, who rode Medaglia d'Oro. "I knew I was taking a chance running a pretty quick pace, but if I let him shut me down on the inside I'd have been in big trouble. My horse never quit fighting."

Pleasantly Perfect was eighth during the early going and avoided an incident on the first turn, where Funny Cide came out suddenly, causing Perfect Drift and Ten Most Wanted to check sharply and lose position. Pleasantly Perfect began a sustained rally on the far turn and caught a valiant Medaglia d'Oro with 100 yards remaining.

Pleasantly Perfect, a 5-year-old horse by Pleasant Colony, has won six times in 13 starts. The Classic marked only his second start after returning from a seven-month layoff. "He had a sore foot," Mandella said. "He was body-sore. Nothing serious. He never got past all that until Del Mar."

Mandella purchased Pleasantly Perfect as a yearling for $725,000 for owner Gerald Ford, a retired banking executive who races under the stable name Diamond A Racing Corp.

- additional reporting by Mike Welsch