LATE PUSH IS ENOUGH FOR SILVER CHARM; HE COMES BACK FOR IMPRESSIVE WIN IN SAN PASQUAL.Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer Trainer 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. recently added a layer to the 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 legend by calling him ``the most intelligent horse on the planet.'' Presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. , if racehorses unionize, the 1997 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. winner will be their leader. Until then, Silver Charm will settle for being their leader on the racetrack, a job for which he was confirmed Sunday in a sensational, stretch-running victory over a small, classy field in the $200,000 San Pasqual Handicap The San Pasqual Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses age three and up willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt. It offers a purse of $150,000. Winners
The win confirmed not only that his increasingly muscular body is a running machine. It showed he can win from far off the pace. It showed he's as bright as Baffert proclaimed. Also, it showed that Silver Charm is California's most popular horse - the crowd of 20,706 was nearly double last year's San Pasqual-day attendance. Silver Charm began his 5-year-old season already rated the nation's leading older thoroughbred following the retirements of likely '98 Horse of the Year Skip Away and 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. winner Awesome Again. And with no competition in sight, Silver Charm's owners are asking him to do a lot in '99: race four times at three tracks in two countries before the end of March; be the first thoroughbred to earn $10 million; and, while he's at it, bring home his first Horse of the Year trophy. But all of that looked a little ambitious halfway through the 1 1/16-mile San Pasqual, when Silver Charm failed to respond to jockey Gary Stevens' initial urging and dropped 8-1/2 lengths behind slow-moving leaders Crafty Friend and Dramatic Gold. Stevens, Baffert and owners Bob and Beverly Lewis admitted later they feared the worst, that Silver Charm was about to repeat his last-place finish in a race at Del Mar last summer, his only out-of-the-money finish in a 20-race career. As it turned out, Silver Charm was outsmarting 'em. ``I niggled at him (again) at the half-mile pole, and it was like he was saying, `You're finally figuring it out, jock,' '' Stevens said. `` `You don't have to move on me that early.' '' Farther behind than he'd been in any of his first 11 victories, Silver Charm launched his rally on the turn for home, collared the battling pacesetters in midstretch under a Stevens hand ride, opened a clear lead and held off a charging Malek by 1-1/4 lengths. Silver Charm was clocked in 1:41.78 on a fast track and paid $2.60. Malek, the '98 Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during winner, finished 3-1/2 ahead of third-place Crafty Friend as Dramatic Gold and Young at Heart completed the order. ``He inhaled those horses, and probably won as easily as he's ever won a race,'' said Stevens, who's been aboard for all of Silver Charm's major victories, including the Derby, Preakness and '98 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, . The $120,000 winner's purse Sunday raised the gray horse's earnings to $6,633,006, pushing him past John Henry and into fourth on the all-time list. Cigar's record $9,999,815 is in reach. ``There (can be) no doubt in anybody's mind this is a great horse,'' Baffert said. How great, we'll find out soon enough. Silver Charm's itinerary includes the Jan. 31 Donn Handicap in Florida, the March 6 Santa Anita Handicap and the March 28 Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. . That assumes he doesn't lead a strike for a lighter workload before then. Notes: Bob Baffert's sixth winner at Santa Anita put him in a tie with Bobby Frankel and Ron McAnally atop the trainer standings. . . . Silver Charm was Gary Stevens' third winner of the day. . . . In one of the hotter 3-year-old maiden races of the meet, The Thoroughbred Corporation's Treasure Hunt and Corey Nakatani survived a speed duel only to be disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. to third for interference, and 505 Farms' High Wire Act and Stevens got the victory at 9-1. Nakatani faces a suspension. . . . Next big race at Santa Anita is Saturday's San Fernando Stakes for 4-year-olds, including Malibu winner Run Man Run, Artax and Event of the Year. |
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