By John Scheinman
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, October 27, 2007

OCEANPORT, N.J., Oct. 26 -- Corinthian, a mercurial chestnut colt who this past summer won the prestigious Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park but lost his most recent two starts by a combined 22 3/4 lengths, found his form again and splashed his way to victory Friday in the inaugural $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

On the first of two Breeders' Cup race days at Monmouth Park, the term "dirt mile" was an egregious misnomer as an unrelenting rain settled over the racetrack and turned it into a fish bowl.

In almost total darkness, reminiscent of the 1988 Breeders' Cup Classic, Corinthian chased a torrid pace set by the local favorite Gottcha Gold, swooped past on the outside on the turn and pulled away to win by 6 1/2 lengths under jockey Kent Desormeaux.

A promising 3-year-old on the Triple Crown trail last year, Corinthian was beset by injuries and missed seven months of racing. When he returned in February, he was either very good or very bad.

In the Breeders' Cup Mile, he was very good, easily defeating favorite Discreet Cat and running the mile and 70 yards distance (used because of Monmouth's odd circumference) in a scintillating 1 minute 39.06 seconds, just two-fifths of a second off the track record.

"Once we cornered for home, he stuck to his task for a solid 300 yards, and I said, 'Man, I can't even imagine that anyone is near me,' " Desormeaux said, "and I looked up at the Jumbotron and they were eight [lengths] back and I said, 'You got 'em boy, just keep doing what you're doing.'"

Corinthian was retired to stud duty by owner Centennial Farms after the race.

A crowd of 27,803 attended the races but most people jammed the inside of the building, leaving the outdoor seats virtually empty in the grandstand. Track conditions were downgraded from muddy to sloppy for the dirt, good to yielding for the turf.

Still, the day shattered the all-source handle record for Monmouth Park with nearly $30.4 million wagered on the card.

In the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Nownownow, ridden by Julien Leparoux, rallied from last place to first to beat 11 other 2-year-olds and win the first running of the race by a half-length over Achill Island. Nownownow was trained for the race by Patrick Biancone, suspended recently by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority after vials of cobra venom were discovered in his Churchill Downs barn.

Biancone, whose suspension officially begins Thursday, agreed to transfer his horses over to assistant Francois Parisel for the Breeders' Cup.

The Associated Press reported Biancone violated the terms of that agreement Friday by appearing on the Monmouth Park backstretch in the morning and was asked by track officials to leave.

Biancone would share on "no financial profits" from the race, Nownownow's owner-breeder Fabien Ouaki said after the race.