BAFFERT SEEMS A BIT BAFFLED BY ALL HIS SUCCESS.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing For most of the winners, the road to the 1997 Eclipse Awards went through Hollywood Park. That's where Skip Away, Favorite Trick, Countess Diana, Ajina and Chief Bearhart clinched divisional championships by winning Breeders' Cup races in November. For Bob Baffert, the road started at little quarterhorse tracks like Prescott Downs in Arizona and Los Alamitos in Orange County. That made it even sweeter when Baffert learned Thursday he was voted the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding thoroughbred trainer for last year. ``I feel very honored,'' Baffert said from his Santa Anita barn. ``When I left Prescott Downs in 1983, I never dreamed I'd be in this position, let alone winning the Kentucky Derby. It's a very emotional experience for me.'' Baffert won the '97 Derby and Preakness with Silver Charm, a year after losing the Derby by a nose with Cavonnier. His barn finished the season with 26.3 percent winners and $8.9 million in purses, fourth in the country. It was Baffert's seventh year as a thoroughbred trainer. He started with quarterhorses in his native Arizona in 1971. ``I just kept waiting for it to end, and it wouldn't end,'' said Baffert, 44, whose year-long hot streak included big victories with Anet, Isitingood, Souvenir Copy, Real Quiet and Vivid Angel in '97. ``If I wasn't going to win it this year . . . it would have been hard to top this year.'' Baffert beat out Kentucky-based Pat Byrne in a decidedly mixed vote. Baffert got the support of the Daily Racing Form The Daily Racing Form, LLC (DRF) is a broadsheet newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States. staff (45-44) and racing executives from the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (13-11). National Turf Writers Association The National Turf Writers Association (NTWA) is an American association of journalists, columnists and other writers involved with reporting on the horse racing industry. The organization was founded by prominent sports writer Joe Hirsch who served as its first president. members went for Byrne (85-1/2-48-1/2). The way the awards are determined, Baffert won because he captured two of the three blocs, even though Byrne had 56.7 percent of the votes. ``Maybe it should be like Nebraska and Michigan - have co-champions,'' Baffert said. Baffert-trained Silver Charm was voted champion 3-year-old colt or gelding. Byrne trained two champions: Favorite Trick (2-year-old colt or gelding) and Countess Diana (2-year-old filly). Favorite Trick, undefeated in eight starts, and older-male champion Skip Away were named ``finalists'' for the Horse of the Year award. The results of that voting, which has already taken place, will be announced at the Eclipse Awards banquet Feb. 10 in Rancho Mirage. ``The accounting company said they could give us a third (finalist), but it's really a two-horse race,'' said Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently : Gentlemen didn't come close in the Horse of the Year voting, even though he collected 123 votes to Skip Away's 145 in the older-male category. That almost certainly means that most of the Gentlemen voters for older male supported Favorite Trick for Horse of the Year, and the latter will become the first 2-year-old to win the sport's biggest honor since Secretariat in 1972. In addition to Baffert and Silver Charm, California-based horses and people named Eclipse winners were: Ryafan (female on turf). John and Betty Mabee (breeders), who also won the award in 1991. Other champions: Jockey Jerry Bailey, who became the first to win the honor three straight years since Eclipse Awards were introduced in 1971. Owner Carolyn Hine, who, with her husband, trainer Sonny Hine, paid $480,000 to nominate Skip Away for the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. and won the race Nov. 8 at Hollywood Park. Hidden Lake (older filly or mare). Smoke Glacken (sprinter), a 3-year-old who beat out Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds & up. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs (3/4 mile), the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the upsetter Elmhurst to deny trainer Jenine Sahadi and owners Carol and C.N. Ray a repeat in the category they won with Lit de Justice In France under the Ancien Régime, the lit de justice was a particular formal session of the Parlement of Paris, under the presidency of the king, for the compulsory registration of the royal edicts. in 1996. Chief Bearhart (male on turf), despite considerable support for Marlin, Spinning World and Influent in·flu·ent adj. Flowing in or into. n. 1. An inflow, especially a tributary. 2. Ecology A nondominant organism in a community that exerts an important modifying effect. . Ajina (3-year-old filly), who filled the void left when an injury ended Blushing K.D.'s career in July. Nine-year-old Lonesome Glory (steeplechase steeplechase Either of two distinct sporting events: (1) a horse race over a closed course with obstacles, including hedges and walls; or (2) a footrace of 3,000 m over hurdles and a water jump. horse) won for the fourth time. Roberto Rosado, who rode mainly at Philadelphia Park, and Philip Teator, based in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , tied for the apprentice championship. Every Eclipse winner except Smoke Glacken, Lonesome Glory and the apprentice riders competed in California at least once. The five Breeders' Cup winners named champions were the most since 1991. A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. Santa Anita standings: Jockeys (through Wednesday): Gary Stevens, 11 winners; Kent Desormeaux, 10; Corey Nakatani, 9; Eddie Delahoussaye, David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the , Alex Solis and Jose Valdivia Jr., 6. Trainers: Bob Baffert, Craig Dollase and Richard Mandella, 5; Barry Abrams and Ron McAnally, 4. Handicapper hand·i·cap·per n. Sports & Games 1. One who assigns handicaps. 2. One who predicts the winners in a horserace, especially one who publishes such predictions as a guide for bettors. Noun 1. helper: Hang loose: Betting favorites were winning an uncommonly low 27.9 percent of Santa Anita races through Wednesday. Upcoming: At Santa Anita: $100,000 Survive Stakes, 5-1/2 furlongs for California-bred fillies and mares, today; $200,000 San Pasqual Handicap The San Pasqual Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses age three and up willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt. It offers a purse of $150,000. Winners
Mileposts: The San Pasqual isn't up to its usual standard: Carrying top weight (117) is Northern Afleet, last seen running seventh in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. . . . The San Miguel marks the start of the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. trail for Commitisize and other 3-year-olds. . . . Favorite Trick's owner, Joseph LaCombe, chose Bill Mott to take over the 2-year-old champion's training from Pat Byrne, who has become the private trainer for Frank Stronach. Mott can handle the pressure: He trained Cigar. . . . Trainer Sonny Hine said the March 7 Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during is ``a possibility'' for Skip Away after a season debut at Gulfstream. . . . Lil's Lad, trained by Neil Howard (of Summer Squall fame), won an allowance sprint by 16-1/2 lengths at Gulfstream Park on Sunday and earned a 108 Beyer speed figure The Beyer Speed Figure is a system for rating the performance of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America designed in the early 1970s by Andrew Beyer, the syndicated horse racing columnist for The Washington Post. , highest among this group of 3-year-olds. . . . Hollywood Park has installed a new racing surface. It has less clay and silt, and includes fibers called Sports Grids, which bind the soil together, and stabilizers, which absorb water. . . . Goncalino Almeida is out of the hospital after breaking four ribs in a Dec. 30 fall at Santa Anita. He hopes to ride as early as Wednesday. . . . Crypto Star injured his right foreleg, apparently while finishing fifth in the Malibu, and will miss three months, trainer Wally Dollase said. . . . Exotic Wood, scratched from the wet-track El Conejo, is pointing for the Jan. 24 Santa Monica Handicap The Santa Monica Handicap is a race for thoroughbred race horses run at a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt at Santa Anita Park. The Grade I race is open to fillies and mares age, three and up, and offers a purse of $250,000. . . . . The Daily Racing Form named the Triple Crown the ``best'' thing in racing in 1997 and the closing of Arlington International Racecourse in Illinois the ``worst.'' . . . Listening has been retired for breeding in Kentucky. - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Box Box: A WEEK AT THE RACES (See Text) |
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