BELMONT HORSES COULD MEET AGAIN; SILVER CHARM, TOUCH GOLD AT HOLLYWOOD PARK?Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer The best Triple Crown series in years is over. The three-way rivalry it created has just begun. Belmont Stakes Belmont Stakes Oldest of the three U.S. horse races that constitute the Triple Crown. The Belmont originated in 1867 and is named after August Belmont (see Belmont family). The stakes is held in early June at Belmont Park, near Garden City, Long Island; the course is 1.5 mi (2,400 m). winner Touch Gold, runnerup Silver Charm Silver Charm (born February 22 1994) is an American Champion Thoroughbred race horse. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Gary Stevens, Silver Charm won the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes before falling short of the Triple Crown by placing second in the Belmont and competitive Free House flew out of 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 on the same plane Sunday morning Sunday Morning may refer to:
Their next showdown could come at Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
``I'd like to run against those two horses again,'' said Touch Gold trainer David Hofmans David Hofmans (born January 27, 1943, in Los Angeles, California) is an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. Born and raised in Los Angeles, as a boy his father brought him to watch horse racing at area tracks. , whose colt finished a troubled fourth to Silver Charm in the Preakness and beat him by three-quarters of a length in the Belmont to prevent the first Triple Crown sweep in 19 years. ``We have a good thing going in the sport. There's interest. They had 70,000 people here (Saturday).'' Hofmans said he would even take the unusual step of asking Silver Charm's and Free House's trainers where they're heading, and then entering the same races. Hofmans would do that not just because he wants to promote the attention-grabbing rivalry but also because he's so confident in Touch Gold. He said Sunday that in trouble-free races, his colt ``would beat Silver Charm every time.'' ``I think Silver Charm may have gotten to a point and plateaued a little bit,'' Hofmans continued. ``I think Touch Gold is still improving. You might not see him peak until the Breeders' Cup (Classic at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8).'' Told about Hofmans' remarks, Silver Charm trainer Bob Baffert said the Belmont result didn't prove which horse is best, that Touch Gold had two advantages: He was fresher, having skipped the Kentucky Derby; and he and jockey Chris McCarron were able to sneak up on the outside while Silver Charm and Gary Stevens were being leaned on by Free House and Kent Desormeaux in the stretch. ``I think people are going to follow (the three horses),'' Baffert said. Silver Charm was to be dropped off at his temporary headquarters in Louisville, Ky., before the plane went on to California with Touch Gold and Free House. Baffert indicated the Aug. 3 Haskell Invitational for 3-year-olds at Monmouth was a likely next stop. He would also like to try the Aug. 9 Pacific Classic at Del Mar if the best older horses aren't running. The Aug. 23 Travers Stakes at Saratoga is the summer's other big 3-year-old race on the East Coast. But Hollywood Park executives hope to make a pitch to the three horses' connections, to take advantage of having so many well-matched 3-year-olds based on the Southern California circuit. ``Obviously, there's an opportunity here to get people out to the racetrack,'' Hollywood racing secretary Martin Panza said Sunday. Thoroughbred Owners of California must approve changes in the Swaps Stakes' $500,000 purse or July 13 date before any offer can be made. In any case, the trainers will want to assess their horses' conditions after the grueling spring. The Swaps, named for the 1955 Kentucky Derby winner, is a 1-1/8-mile race, shorter than any of the Triple Crown events. That could help Free House, who was outrun out·run tr.v. out·ran , out·run, out·run·ning, out·runs 1. a. To run faster than. b. To escape from: outrun one's creditors. 2. in the final furlong to finish third in the Derby and the Belmont and second in the Preakness. ``The only bad thing,'' said Free House trainer Paco Gonzalez, ``is that all three horses are from California, so I'm never going to have an easy race.'' Notes: The winning margins - a head, a head and three-quarters of a length - made this the most competitive Triple Crown series since 1965. That year, Lucky Debonair deb·o·nair also deb·o·naire adj. 1. Suave; urbane. 2. Affable; genial. 3. Carefree and gay; jaunty. beat Dapper Dapper lawyer’s clerk; swindled into believing himself perfect gambler. [Br. Lit.: The Alchemist] See : Dupery Dan by a neck in the Derby, Tom Rolfe beat Dapper Dan by a neck in the Preakness and Hail to All Hail To All (foaled 1962 at Styles Colwill's Halcyon Farm in Maryland) was an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by Hail To Reason, out of the mare, Ellen's Best, who was in turn sired by War Relic, son of the great Man o' War. beat Tom Rolfe by a neck in the Belmont. . . . The Belmont caught L.A. fans' attention: Attendance was 20,217 at Hollywood Park (up 61 percent from last year), 51,626 on- and off-track (up 51 percent), and they wagered more than $3.8 million on the race (more than double the previous Belmont record). . . . The fiberglass patch that protected Touch Gold's cracked left front hoof hoof, horny epidermal casing at the end of the digits of an ungulate (hoofed) mammal. In the even-toed ungulates, such as swine, deer, and cattle, the hoof is cloven; in the odd-toed ungulates, such as the horse and the rhinoceros, it is solid. was removed Sunday, taking a little of the hoof wall with it. The horse is scheduled for a week off from training, anyway. David Hofmans said Touch Gold will race with patches the rest of the year. . . . Hofmans' other 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. candidate, defending champion Alphabet Soup, is due to resume training soon after an ankle injury. COLLISION COURSE? A look at when and where Triple Crown rivals Silver Charm, Touch Gold and Free House might be racing next: Hollywood Park: July 13 in the $500,000 Swaps Stakes. Purse could be increased to help lure the three stars. Monmouth Park (N.J.): Aug. 3 in the $1 million Haskell Invitational. Saratoga (N.Y.): Aug. 23 in the $750,000 Travers Stakes. CAPTION(S): Box Box: COLLISION COURSE (see text) |
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