CLASSIC MATCHUP PROMISED; SKIP AWAY TO FACE SILVER CHARM TODAY.Byline: Ed Schuyler Jr. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Sonny Hine's favorite television show is ``The Price Is Right,'' and the trainer must often be reminded of it when he looks at Skip Away Skip Away (born April 4, 1993), a gray thoroughbred race horse, was named America's Champion 3 Year Old Male in 1996 and twice (1997, 1998) named America's Champion Handicap Horse. . Hine bought the 5-year-old gray horse as a 2-year-old for his wife, Carolyn, for $22,500. The price was reduced from $30,000 because of a suspect ankle. Today, Skip Away will become the first racehorse racehorse refers usually to thoroughbred but may also include standardbred, trotter. to earn $10 million if he finishes third or better in the $5.12 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. at Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. , the main event of the seven-race program that will showcase 85 of the world's leading thoroughbreds and their jockeys. Skip Away, seeking a second straight Classic win, is more than a money machine for the Hines. He has become a pet - they call him Skippy - and they can get teary when asked about the Classic being the horse's last race before he is retired to stud. The Hines are dreading the day they say goodbye. ``It's going to be tough,'' Hine said. ``We'll have to bring a lot of Kleenex. He's never let us down.'' Skip Away certainly has provided the Hines with lots of thrills, including an unexpected one two days ago when he ran off during a training gallop. He outmuscled and tossed exercise rider Jose Clemente Sanchez. Neither the rider nor horse was hurt. ``Everything's OK Everything's O.K. is an EP by pop-punk band The Queers. Track listing
Hine returned to the barn and informed Skip Away's jockey, Jerry Bailey. ``Jerry, I told you he was ready to run through a brick wall,'' he said. Skip Away, who had a nine-race winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" snapped when he finished third in the Oct. 10 Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers at Belmont Park Noun 1. Belmont Park - a racetrack for thoroughbred racing in Elmont on Long Island; site of the Belmont Stakes Belmont Elmont - a town on Long Island in New York; site of Belmont Park 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 , has not been worse than third in 26 straight races. The last time that happened was a 12th-place finish in the 1996 Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. . That's why, track oddsmaker odds·mak·er n. One who calculates and sets betting odds based on the prediction of the result of a contest such as a horserace or an election. Mike Battaglia said, he made Skip Away the 9-5 early second pick behind 8-5 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 , who showed an affinity for Churchill Downs by winning the 1997 Derby. ``They're hoping he doesn't like the track,'' Hine said. ``I don't think the track will have any bearing on what he does.'' Nine horses The group called Nine Horses is a collaboration between David Sylvian, his brother and frequent collaborator Steve Jansen and electronic composer/remixer Burnt Friedman. will oppose Skip Away, and if he dispatches them he will earn $2,662,400 and boost his career bankroll bank·roll n. 1. A roll of paper money. 2. Informal One's ready cash. tr.v. bank·rolled, bank·roll·ing, bank·rolls Informal to $12,278,760. Second place will be worth $1,024,000 and third will be worth $614,000. Skip Away's earnings stand at $9,616,360. Adding to the hype for the Classic is an anticipated showdown between Skip Away and Silver Charm, who slumped and lost two races after winning the $4 million Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Horse Racing Authority (EHRA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in March. ``After the Del Mar Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
Silver Charm, however, rebounded to finish in a dead heat for first in the Sept. 26 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park near Cincinnati and then looked good in winning the Oct. 17 Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita. Hine and Bob Baffert have exchanged comments - some of them barbed - about their horses for some time. ``These horses are like our kids,'' Baffert said. ``If somebody knocks your kid, you snap back.'' ``He don't like me and I don't like him, but other than that we get along fine,'' Hine joked in Baffert's presence this week. Hine insists the Classic is anything but a two-horse race. Also running are Awesome Again, unbeaten in five starts this year; Touch Gold, who beat Silver Charm in the 1997 Belmont Stakes; Gentlemen, a winner of the Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. and Pacific Classic; Britain-based Swain, second to Silver Charm in the Dubai World Cup; and Britain-ased Running Stag, third the Woodward and fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont in two U.S. starts. In addition, there are 3-year-old Coronado's Quest, winner of Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and the Travers at Saratoga; Victory Gallop, this year's Belmont Stakes winner; and Arc, winner of the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. The 4-year-old Silver Charm, owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis, was not nominated to the Breeders' Cup and had to be supplemented for $480,000. Neither Gentlemen nor his sire was nominated and owner R.D. Hubbard had to supplement him for $800,000. Of those fees, $400,000 and $720,000 go into the purse. The rest goes toward nominator awards. Adding spice to the seven-race Breeders' Cup program will be Favorite Trick, the 1997 Horse of the Year, making only his second start on the grass in the $1 million Mile, and trainer D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. , saddling five horses as he tries to win the $1 million Juvenile for the sixth time. Also to be contested are the Juvenile Fillies and Sprint, each with a $1 million purse, and the Distaff and Turf, each worth $2 million. The prize money is big, but no bigger than the pot to be pursued by bettors in the Breeders' Cup pick-six, which challenges fans to pick the winners of every race except the Juvenile, which opens the card at 10:25 a.m. PST PST Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, see there . Breeders' Cup organizers are guaranteeing a $5 million pick-six pool, meaning they'll make up the difference if wagering falls short of that amount. BREEDERS CUP CAPSULES TV coverage from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., begins at 10 a.m. today on Channel 4. Santa Anita opens at 7:45 a.m. for wagering on the Breeders' Cup and seven live races; Santa Anita's first live race is at 9:25 a.m. JUVENILE Post time: 10:25 a.m. The race: 1 1/16 miles for 2-year-old colts and geldings, competing for a $1 million purse. The plot: Megatrainer D. Wayne Lukas entered five horses in the Juvenile, which he has won five times, a Breeders' Cup record. His horses are Cat Thief, Tactical Cat, Mountain Range, Yes It's True and Time Bandit bandit: see brigandage. . The main competition comes from Answer Lively and The Groom is Red; the latter is owned by Boston Celtics coach Rick Pitino. JUVENILE FILLIES Post time: 11 a.m. The race: 1 1/16 miles for 2-year-old fillies, competing for a $1 million purse. The plot: Southern California horses and jockeys could dominate this race. Bob Baffert-trained Silverbulletday (Gary Stevens), who captured a stakes at Del Mar before winning a prep in Kentucky, is the favorite. Baffert-trained Excellent Meeting (Kent Desormeaux) and Ben Cecil-trained Antahkarana (Chris McCarron), who ran 1-2 in the Oak Leaf at Santa Anita, are contenders. SPRINT Post time: 11:35 a.m. The race: 6 furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, competing for a $1 million purse. The plot: Not the most important but frequently the most thrilling Breeders' Cup race, featuring a dangerous charge to the turn and a history of photo finishes. Southern California is represented by five horses in the field of 14, but the favorite is New York-based Affirmed Success. MILE Post time: 12:10 p.m. The race: 1 mile on turf for 3-year-olds and up, competing for a $1 million purse. The plot: Half of the 14 runnings of the Mile have been won by horses from Europe, where turf racing and this distance in particular are more popular. And the Europeans are here in force again, with six horses in the field and Irish-owned Desert Prince a close second in the odds to lukewarm favorite Labeeb. DISTAFF Post time: 12:45 p.m. The race: 1-1/8 miles for fillies and mares aged 3 and up, competing for a $2 million purse, the richest of the year for female horses. The plot: The withdrawal of superior front-runner Sharp Cat creates the prospect of a tactical battle among Hall of Fame jockeys Jerry Bailey (Banshee banshee female specter, harbinger of death. [Irish and Welsh Myth.: Walsh Classical, 45] See : Death banshee spirit with one nostril, a large projecting front tooth, and webbed feet. Breeze), Gary Stevens (Escena) and Chris McCarron (Keeper Hill). Banshee Breeze is the heaviest morning-line favorite of the day at 6-5 and this has been the most predictable Breeders' Cup race through the years. But Escena can win if she controls the pace. TURF Post time: 1:25 p.m. The race: 1-1/2 miles on turf for 3-year-olds and up, competing for a $2 million purse. The plot: This 16is the most elegant Breeders' Cup race, and much like the Mile, it has a foreign accent. Royal Anthem and Daylami - both from across the Atlantic - are among the horses favored over East Coast-based Buck's Boy, the likely front-runner in a race that's never produced a wire-to-wire winner, and Canadian Chief Bearhart, who defeated a weaker field in the 1997 Turf at Hollywood Park. CLASSIC Post time: 2:05 p.m. The race: 1-1/4 miles for 3-year-olds and up, competing for a record $5.12 million purse (a $4 million base plus the supplemental entry fees paid by the owners of Gentlemen and Silver Charm). The plot: It's the race of the day, and probably the season, since fans have looked forward to the showdown between Skip Away and Silver Charm all year. Skippy is the top candidate for Horse of the Year and can become the first $10 million earner by finishing third or better. The Charm has been hot and cold since winning the 1997 Kentucky Derby, but his handlers think he can steal Horse of the Year with a victory today. - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: Silver Charm, taking a run with exercise rider Larry Damore, stands to be Skip Away's chief challenger in today's Breeders' Cup Classic. Ed Reinke/Associated Press Box: BREEDERS CUP CAPSULES (See Text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion