FIFTH YEAR MAY BE CHARM.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing

By merely breaking from the starting gate in Sunday's San Pasqual Handicap, Silver Charm will achieve something that every other Kentucky Derby winner since Ferdinand (1986) and every Derby-Preakness winner since Carry Back ('61) could not.

He'll race as a 5-year-old, having avoided the medical and economic demons that usually drive such valuable thoroughbreds into early retirement.

And if Silver Charm's season debut in the 1 1/16-mile San Pasqual goes well, his handlers will quickly turn their aim to greater distinctions, notably the Horse of the Year title and the career earnings record.

Trainer Bob Baffert has proposed a high-flying schedule for early 1999 that would take Silver Charm to Florida for the Jan. 30 Donn Handicap, back to California for the March 6 Santa Anita Handicap and then to the United Arab Emirates for the March 28 Dubai World Cup, in which the horse would try to become the first repeat winner. If he's still in one piece after all that, presumably he would concentrate on the inaugural ``NTRA Champions on Fox,'' the 11-race nationwide series for older horses that includes the June 27 Hollywood Gold Cup and ends with the Aug. 29 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

But owner Bob Lewis refuses to look that far ahead. He won't be goaded into copying Sonny and Carolyn Hine, who earned praise for plotting and sticking to an ambitious '98 schedule for Skip Away.

``It's ludicrous to sit here in the first week of January and attempt to schedule an entire campaign,'' said Lewis, who is co-owner with his wife Beverly. ``It's an animal we're dealing with.''

``Gosh, for most horses, (the early-season plan) is a season and a half in itself,'' Lewis said.

The $200,000 San Pasqual could offer some competition if Silver Charm, who has been sharp in recent workouts, isn't quite on his game for his first race since winning the Nov. 27 Clark Handicap at Churchill.

The expected field of six includes Malek, the '98 Big 'Cap winner who will run for the first time since a fourth-place finish in Dubai last March, and Dramatic Gold, himself again after a nine-month vacation. Silver Charm, ridden by Gary Stevens, was assigned 125 pounds, 6 more than Malek, ridden by Alex Solis.

With Skip Away and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again retired, Silver Charm is the clear leader of the nation's handicap division.

The Lewises and Baffert also have the consensus early favorite for the May 1 Kentucky Derby in Exploit.

And if his horses weren't reason enough for Bob Lewis to feel optimistic about 1999, he's also a vocal supporter of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the sport's new ``league office'' and its televised series of races.

``I think it gives (the sport) a great national and regional approach,'' Lewis said from his office at Foothill Beverage in Pomona. ``I think it's going to make great (news) copy.''

He doesn't join in the criticism of the series format, which requires a horse to finish in the top five of the Pacific Classic to earn any bonus money.

``Being a loyal Californian and a devotee of Del Mar - Beverly and I honeymooned at the Del Mar races - we're just thrilled,'' Lewis said.

Lewis has seen high hopes dashed before, even during a '98 season in which Silver Charm won the Strub Stakes, the Dubai race and four others, and led the nation's racehorses in earnings with more than $4.6 million. Lewis calculated that by finishing second in the '97 Santa Anita Derby and Belmont Stakes and the '98 Foster Handicap and Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, Silver Charm has ``lost'' more money than he's earned.

Nevertheless, his career earnings of $6,513,006 put him within range of the record established by Cigar ($9,998,815) from 1992-96 and threatened by Skip Away ($9,616,360) from 1995-98.

The Lewises, whose Serena's Song set the fillies-and-mares earnings record ($3,283,388), would love to have the leaders of both genders. That's more for the honor of it than for the money, since they could make more by retiring Silver Charm for breeding than by continuing to race him.

Lewis said he still plans to race Silver Charm at age 6 if he stays healthy. ``I feel very strongly that we need to keep our stars on the racetrack,'' he said.

If Silver Charm races at 6, he'll be the first Derby winner to do that since Gato del Sol ('82) and the first Derby-Preakness winner to do that since Citation ('48).

Bettors without borders: The early response to full-card simulcasting from out-of-state tracks has pleased Santa Anita executives, who frankly didn't know what to expect.

``Surprisingly, (it has done) as well as we'd guessed,'' said Cliff Goodrich, Santa Anita's executive vice president and general manager. ``It's just so hard to know when you've never done something before.''

Fans at Santa Anita and the harder-core players at the Southern California satellites have wagered an average of about $800,000 a day on races from Gulfstream Park in Florida and Aqueduct in New York.

The California law that expanded simulcasting went into effect Jan. 1. That day, more than $1.6 million was bet statewide on Gulfstream and Aqueduct even though those races started at 9:30 a.m. PST.

A WEEK AT THE RACES 

Santa Anita leaders: Jockeys (through Wednesday): Alex Solis, 10 wins; Kent Desormeaux and Chris McCarron, 9; Laffit Pincay and Gary Stevens, 7. Trainers: Ron McAnally, 6; Bob Baffert, 5; Neil Drysdale, Bobby Frankel and Richard Mandella, 3.

Handicapper helper: Updating the dominant trend in Santa Anita turf races: Through Sunday, 19 races on grass had produced only one wire-to-wire winner; four winners were running second and three were running third early in their races.

On the stakes schedule: At Santa Anita: today, $100,000 Survive Stakes, fillies and mares 4 and up, 5-1/2 furlongs; Saturday, $100,000 San Miguel, 3-year-olds, 6 furlongs, and $100,000 Santa Ysabel, 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles; Sunday, $200,000 San Pasqual Handicap, 4-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles. At Gulfstream Park: Saturday, $100,000 Broward Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles; Sunday, $100,000 Mac Miarmida Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, 1-3/8 miles; Wednesday, $75,000 The First Lady Handicap, fillies and mares 3 and up, 6 furlongs.

Mileposts: Texas Glitter's victory in the 6-furlong Spectacular Bid Stakes on the opening Sunday at Gulfstream Park earned a Beyer speed figure of 114, easily the best by a 1999 Kentucky Derby candidate. It marked the third win in four starts for Texas Glitter, a son of Glitterman who's trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez. The Spectacular Bid marked the start of the prep season for the May 1 Derby. Also for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream: the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull on Jan. 16, 7-furlong Hutcheson on Jan. 31, 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth on Feb. 20 and 1-1/8-mile Florida Derby on March 13. . . . Golden Eagle Farms' General Challenge was the week's big 3-year-old winner at Santa Anita. His California Breeders' Champion Stakes victory Friday keeps him ``in the top six (in the barn),'' said trainer Bob Baffert, who counts Exploit, Prime Timber, Finder's Gold, Straight Man and Forestry among his hopes to win a third straight Derby. General Challenge is a Cal-bred son of General Meeting. . . . Trainer Ted West was fined $750 by Santa Anita stewards because a post-race test on Cal Cup Classic winner Budroyale turned up Indomethacin, a prohibited anti-inflammatory drug. . . . Bruce Headley-trained sprinters now own two Santa Anita records: Kona Gold went 5-1/2 furlongs in 1:01.74 in Sunday's El Conejo; Son of a Pistol went 6-1/2 in 1:13.71 on April 4, 1998. Next for Kona Gold: the April 3 Potrero Grande. . . . Eddie Delahoussaye started the week at Santa Anita needing 11 wins to become the 14th jockey with 6,000. . . . Laffit Pincay's two winners Wednesday brought his total to 8,680. That's 153 from Bill Shoemaker's record. . . . Deputy Minister was the leading sire of 1998, when his offspring earned more than $8.5 million, according to Daily Racing Form stats. . . . Jockey Corey Black and trainer Howard Zucker teamed up to win the Santa Anita nightcaps last Friday (Flying Denouement, $26.20) and Saturday (Impressive Grades, $101.40). Black is the leading longshot rider of the new meet with three winners paying 10-1 or better. . . . Teruhiko Chida's win aboard Pride of Integrity on Wednesday was the Japanese jockey's first at Santa Anita. . . . Corey Nakatani's victory aboard Desert Lady in the Monrovia Handicap on Saturday was the rider's first in 24 tries at the meet. . . . Trainer Ron Ellis, a San Fernando Valley product, ended a rare losing streak at 17 races with a victory last week. . . . Heavy eastern weather forced Aqueduct and several other tracks to cancel its races last Sunday.

- Kevin Modesti

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BOX: A WEEK AT THE RACES (see text)