NOTES : WEST IS BEST AT BELMONT; CALIFORNIA HORSES WILL BE FAVORITES IN CROWN'S LAST LEG.Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer In the East-West battle for Triple Crown bragging rights, it seems like all the players are on one team this year. 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 is based on the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, circuit. So is Free House, who ran third in the 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 Preakness Stakes Preakness Stakes One of the three classic U.S. horse races making up the Triple Crown. It is held annually in mid-May at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course. The course distance is 1³⁄₁₆ mi (1.9 km). The field is limited to 3-year-old Thoroughbreds. . So are Touch Gold and Wild Rush, the promising Belmont Stakes Belmont Stakes Oldest of the three U.S. horse races that constitute the Triple Crown. The Belmont originated in 1867 and is named after August Belmont (see Belmont family). The stakes is held in early June at Belmont Park, near Garden City, Long Island; the course is 1.5 mi (2,400 m). entry. The three Eastern horses in Saturday's race will be longshots. Even Eastern-based Captain Bodgit, second in the Derby and third in the Preakness before his career-ending injury, had Californian owners and a Californian rider. ``There's never really been a rivalry (with Free House),'' said 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. , who trains Silver Charm. ``It sort of feels like we come from the same camp.'' Free House co-owner John Toffan said the domination ``does my heart good as a Southern Californian. Maybe our racing has fallen off a little bit - or people think it has - but I still think this is the toughest circuit in the country.'' Does it mean Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
``I don't want to start any East Coast wars, because we all need to work together in this business. I'm not sure we have the best horses,'' said Gary Stevens, Silver Charm's jockey. ``But I think the racing in Southern California is so competitive that we're forced to train our horses a little bit harder. ``If they hold up to the rigors of our training, they're exceptional horses. Again, I'm not knocking the East Coast. Actually, I prefer the style of racing on the East Coast because I see a longevity in the horses that I don't see (at home).'' In recent Triple Crown races, injury or illness compromised the Triple Crown chances of Santa Anita Derby winners Mister Frisky ('90), Dinard ('91), A.P. Indy ('92) and Larry the Legend ('94). Clean trip: Silver Charm walked off his van and onto Belmont Park soil at 9:43 a.m. Wednesday, and Baffert said the colt showed no ill effects from the nearly two-hour flight from Louisville, Ky., or his light collision with another horse at Churchill Downs Tuesday. The Belmont Stakes favorite is stabled near the track's clubhouse turn. He is scheduled to jog each morning before the race. Field day: Morning-line odds will be set today after post positions are drawn. Seven horses are expected to be entered. No rain is forecast before the race. It was cool and windy Wednesday. Footwork: A specialist worked for more than an hour Wednesday morning to replace a fiberglass patch on Touch Gold's cracked left front hoof hoof, horny epidermal casing at the end of the digits of an ungulate (hoofed) mammal. In the even-toed ungulates, such as swine, deer, and cattle, the hoof is cloven; in the odd-toed ungulates, such as the horse and the rhinoceros, it is solid. Trainer David Hofmans said the injury ``should have no effect at all'' in the Belmont. Hofmans said he was pleased that no infection developed in the foot, which Touch Gold hurt by stepping on himself at the start of the Preakness. Touch Gold had many lengths worth of trouble in that race but finished just 1-1/2 lengths behind Silver Charm in fourth. The Lexington Stakes winner will have had only one workout in the interim - 7 furlongs at Belmont on Friday - but Hofmans said that's not because of the foot. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Free House, held by trainer Paco Gonzalez, is one of four Southern California-based horses in the Belmont Stakes. Associated Press |
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