HOPING FOR SILVER LINING : DERBY ROAD HAS GIVEN TRAINER BAFFERT A WILD RIDE.Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer A year after Cavonnier won 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. and pushed Bob Baffert Bob Baffert (born January 13, 1953 in Nogales, Arizona) is an American horse owner and trainer. He graduated from the University of Arizona's Racetrack Management Program with a Bachelor of Science degree. into a two-month, psychological bungee plunge, the track's leading trainer is in emotional flight again. Today, Baffert sends 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 into the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby - just a week after watching his other 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. candidate, Inexcessivelygood, break down and die on the track at Turfway Park Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located in Florence, Kentucky, a part of Cincinnati, Ohio's Kentucky suburbs. It conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets per year, and offers year-round simulcast wagering from tracks across the continent. near Cincinnati. He fends off emotion as he tries to become the fifth man in the Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
``Inexcessivelygood was a neat horse. I loved that horse,'' Baffert, 44, recognizable by a mop of white hair and perpetual sunglasses, said at his barn on the morning Silver Charm was entered to face the filly Sharp Cat and nine other 3-year-olds. ``But when those things happen, you've got to go on to the next one. We've got one gunner left, you know?'' Last spring he had Derby Fever, but no longer, he said. Cavonnier delivered a stinging inoculation inoculation, in medicine, introduction of a preparation into the tissues or fluids of the body for the purpose of preventing or curing certain diseases. The preparation is usually a weakened culture of the agent causing the disease, as in vaccination against . The California-bred gelding gelding castrated male horse. was such an outsider in the Santa Anita Derby - 10-1 on the tote board - that Baffert told his wife, Sherry, she might as well stay home. ``I was just happy to be (in the race), to get the Derby goodybag,'' he said. Instead, with Chris McCarron riding, Cavonnier sent Baffert home with his biggest victory since the former Los Alamitos quarterhorse trainer switched to thoroughbreds in 1991. For the next nine weeks, Baffert felt the pull of the emotional G-forces. In the Kentucky Derby, Cavonnier and McCarron rallied to lead in the final furlong only to be caught by Grindstone grindstone or grind common metaphor for industriousness. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Industriousness and Jerry Bailey and lose by a nose. Baffert had been denied a place in history by the closest Derby finish in 38 years. The pain is still with him. When Baffert, an Arizona alumnus ALUMNUS, civil law. A child which one has nursed; a foster child. Dig. 40, 2, 14. whose kids attend the Lute Olson basketball camp, watched the NCAA basketball final go to overtime this week, he found a highly personal reason to root for his school. ``I didn't want Lute to go through what I went through last year with Cavonnier,'' he said. The bungee ride ended at the bottom when Cavonnier was pulled up in the Belmont Stakes with a bowed tendon. The injury put a stop to his promising career, although after an experimental treatment, he might be able to race again. Inexcessivelygood reminded Baffert of Cavonnier more than Silver Charm does. ``They were the kind of guys who go to work every day in suits,'' he said, meaning they had a certain class. ``Cavonnier was a long, streamlined horse, real light. This (Silver Charm) is a powerhouse. He's a faster horse. Cavonnier was an overachiever o·ver·a·chieve intr.v. o·ver·a·chieved, o·ver·a·chiev·ing, o·ver·a·chieves To perform better or achieve more success than expected. o .'' Silver Charm, a gray, Florida-bred son of Silver Buck who is owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis of Newport Beach, is not an overachiever. He won the Del Mar Futurity The Del Mar Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. Beginning in the racing season of 2007, this race has been upgraded by the American Graded Stakes Committee from a Grade II event to a Grade I. in his third start last September, and won the San Vicente Stakes The San Vicente Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses, age three, willing to race seven furlongs on the dirt and carries a purse of $150,000. The great racing filly, Busher, won this race against males in 1945. at Santa Anita in his '97 debut in February, but a minor illness kept him out of the San Rafael and limited his training for the San Felipe. In light of the setbacks - and the colt's natural laziness in workouts - Baffert thinks it's amazing he finished a fast-closing second to Free House in the San Felipe. Since then Silver Charm has recorded two sensational workouts. Monday, jockey Gary Stevens drove him to a 1:10 1/5 clocking for 6 furlongs. ``I loved what I felt,'' said Stevens, who got the mount when McCarron chose to stay with Ron McAnally-trained Hello in the Derby. Silver Charm is 5-2 on the morning line, second to 2-1 Sharp Cat. Though Baffert has had to play catch-up, and the colt will try 1-1/8 miles just three weeks after his first 1-1/16-mile race, the trainer thinks he's a good bet. ``I think he's going to run huge,'' Baffert said. ``He's going to give anyone who bets on him their money's worth. That's all you can ask for in this business. ``We're going to find out who's for real. When they go a mile and an eighth, that separates them.'' Silver Charm has three victories and two seconds in five starts. Today's 11-horse field includes Free House, who beat him, and Swiss Yodeler, who was beaten by him at Del Mar. If Silver Charm wins, he will go to the May 3 Kentucky Derby, where Baffert will not hope for a repeat. REPEATERS Bob Baffert, whose Cavonnier won the 1996 Santa Anita Derby and whose Silver Charm runs today, can join four trainers with back-to-back wins in the race: Trainer Horses Years Jimmy Jones Hill Gail, Chanlea 1952-53 Mesh Tenney Swaps, Terrang 1955-56 Bob Wheeler Silver Spoon, Tompion 1959-60 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. Muttering, Marfa 1982-83 ?13Source: Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, USA. It is known for offering some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the autumn and in winter. Racing at Santa Anita began in 1934. SANTA ANITA DERBY LINEUP The Santa Anita Derby, a 1-1/8-mile race with a $750,000 purse, is scheduled to be run at 2:43 p.m. today as the sixth race on a noon card. It will be shown on ``Wide World of Sports Wide World of Sports can refer to:
No. Horse Jockey Odds 2 Sharp Cat Corey Nakatani 2-1 3 Hello Chris McCarron 4-1 4 Silver Charm Gary Stevens 5-2 1 Free House Kent Desormeaux 6-1 5 Classic Credential Alex Solis 8-1 6 King Crimson Eddie Delahoussaye 15-1 7 P.T. Indy Robbie Davis 15-1 1A Bagshot Julio Garcia 6-1 8 Steel Ruhlr Brice Blanc 30-1 9 Swiss Yodeler Rene Douglas 30-1 10 Carmen's Baby Goncalino Almeida 30-1 Note: Morning-line odds were set by Santa Anita's Jeff Tufts; Free House and Bagshot, both owned by Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan, are coupled for wagering purposes. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box, Chart Photo: (color) A week after watching one of his top 3-year-olds die on the track, trainer Bob Baffert sends out Silver Charm today in an attempt to win a second straight Santa Anita Derby. Benoit Photo Box: REPEATERS (see text) Chart: SANTA ANITA DERBY LINEUP (see text) |
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