WALTER SWINBURN took the opportunity to settle an old score yesterday as he bathed in the after-glow of a first Breeders' Cup success.
Eight months after a near-fatal fall in Hong Kong, earning Breeders' Cup glory on the Michael Stoute-trained Pilsudski was achievement enough.
But he couldn't resist hitting back at American rider Jerry Bailey for his performance aboard Cigar in the classic.
Bailey's description of Swinburn "kinda flopping around" on Ezzoud as he went by on Arcangues to land the 1993 classic stung the Irish rider.
But Swinburn had some choice words for Bailey after watching him come five horses wide on the home turn to finish only third on Cigar.
"I watched him in the classic and I thought, `My God'! I would like to have seen Frankie Dettori on Cigar. He might have won twos classics going away," he said.
"Woodbine is one of my lucky tracks. I think I have something like a 60 per cent strike rate having ridden winners here on All Along and Ivor's Image and finished second on Shardari."
