FREE HOUSE FAVORITE FOR SWAPS.Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer Free House, who did something rare by losing every Triple Crown race and enhancing his reputation in the process, will have no such margin for error in the Swaps Stakes The Swaps Stakes is a race for Thoroughbred horses run at Hollywood Park Racetrack each year. The race is open to horses, age three. willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. A Grade II event, it carries a purse of $400,000. at Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
Free House should be the betting favorite - the first time he has enjoyed that much respect since January - in the six-horse race for $500,000. That means anything less than victory will be disappointing for owners Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan, trainer Paco Gonzalez and jockey Kent Desormeaux Kent J. Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970, in Maurice, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year. . The good news for Free House is that the Swaps is a 1-1/8-mile race. That's the distance of his biggest victory - as a 7-1 afterthought in 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. in April. The better news for the California-bred gray colt is the absence of 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 left him third in the 1-1/4-mile 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. and second in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, and Touch Gold, who left him third in the 1-1/2-mile Belmont Stakes the last time he raced. ``I think his best distance is a mile and an eighth,'' Gonzalez said at his Hollywood Park barn Thursday morning after Free House drew the outside starting stall and was made a 4-5 morning-line favorite. ``At a mile and an eighth, I don't think he's behind those horses (Silver Charm and Touch Gold) at all.'' Silver Charm and Touch Gold are taking extra-long rests and aiming for the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth (N.J.) Park on Aug. 3. That frustrates Hollywood Park officials, who offered huge bonuses if two or all three Triple Crown stars came to the Swaps. But it doesn't disappoint Free House's handlers, who will have enough to fear from the opponents on hand. The Swaps, the Inglewood track's biggest race for 3-year-olds, will include Deputy Commander and Hello, one-two in the recent Affirmed Handicap, and Wild Rush, a tired sixth in the Belmont after a spectacular Illinois Derby win. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if a mile and a half was too much for him,'' trainer Richard Mandella said of Wild Rush. ``We know he can get this distance.'' The last time Free House was the bettors' favorite he went off at 2-1 in the Golden Gate Derby The Golden Gate Derby is a race for thoroughbred horses run each year at Golden Gate Fields at a distance of one and one sixteenth of a mile and open to three-year-olds. A Grade III event, also known as the California Derby, it offers a purse of $100,000. on Jan. 18 and finished seventh. He has run six races since then, outrunning or at least living up to his odds each time. He was the 10-1 sixth choice in the Kentucky Derby, the 2.4-1 second choice in the Preakness and the 4-1 fourth choice in the Belmont. The Swaps is the richest of four stakes races scheduled for the noon card that Hollywood Park is billing as Super Sunday. Also featured: the $400,000 Sunset Handicap on turf (Marlin is favored, and Rainbow Dancer can help Jenine Sahadi become the first woman to win a Southern California thoroughbred training title); the $400,000 Vanity Handicap for fillies and mares (it's Twice the Vice vs. Jewel Princess); and the $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship for 2-year-olds (favored K.O. Punch has won by nine and 12 lengths for 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. ). The Hollywood Park season ends Monday. Del Mar opens Wednesday. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion