GOLDEN GLIMPSES #73 GOLDEN GLIMPSES #73 GO FOR THE GOLD, NOT SILVER, IN FINAL LEG OF TRIPLE CROWN
Touch Gold will win the Belmont. All he has to do is run back to his race in the Preakness -- minus falling to his face at the start and losing 10 lengths, being caught in traffic leaving the far turn, and getting nailed to the rail in the stretch.
It's not like I'm jumping on his bandwagon after his nightmarish trip in the Preakness. I heralded this colt's talent after he won an allowance race at Santa Anita on March 14 and before he won the Lexington Stakes by 8 1/2 lengths on April 20. So I'm no Eddie-Come-Lately.
I refuse to get entrapped in all the spin doctors' hullabaloo about bloodlines, track variants, speed ratings, fast workouts or weights and post positions. I know what I saw.
Touch Gold's Preakness performance and subsequent analyses remind me of the guy whose wife caught him in bed with another woman. After trying passionately but unsuccessfully to convince his spouse he was guilty of no wrongdoing, the master of denial finally challenged her with: "Who are you going to believe, me or your eyes?"
Me, I'm going to believe my eyes.
Touch Gold grabbed a quarter in the Preakness, but trainer David Hofmans is confident the problem with the Kentucky-bred's left front foot is behind him and the son of Deputy Minister can win Saturday's mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes, thus spoiling Silver Charm's bid to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
"I guess it's pretty much a moot point as to how much the best he was (in the Preakness)," said his rider, Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron. "I think he would have won if he didn't stumble, but if he didn't, he's not going to get the rest of trip the way he got it. But that's pure conjecture. It's anybody's guess, but it's a shame it had to happen.
"I like to look at the other side of it. I'm glad I hung on. I'm glad I didn't go all the way (to Baltimore) and then fall off the first stride out of the gate. He went down a long way. I've had horses stumble that badly too and been lucky enough to stay on."
While McCarron recognizes what a Triple Crown winner would mean for racing, his competitive juices would never prevent him from giving his all to prevent it.
"A Triple Crown winner would mean a ton," McCarron said. "It's going to create terrific publicity that the sport needs. I have mixed emotions about the horse winning the Triple Crown. Selfishly, I want to upset him, but for the sport, if I can't win it, I sure hope Silver Charm does, because we need a good shot in the arm right now.
"But winning the Triple Crown is tough to accomplish. I was lucky enough to be involved with Alysheba in 1987, and I found out how difficult it is. I thought Alysheba would win the Belmont for fun. The Preakness was the easiest win of his career, and coming off that, I thought he'd go ahead and win again, but it wasn't meant to be."
Said Hofmans: " I don't know if he ran a winning race, but he would have been right there with them. It was pretty awesome." And Hofmans has little concern his colt will get the taxing Belmont distance. "He's a half-brother to With Approval, who won all those races in Canada going a mile-and-a-half. He's bred for it."
And would Hofmans mind ending Baffert's dream of winning the Triple Crown? "Not at all. I'm looking forward to it."
GOLDEN PICKS
ALKI JOE -- Veteran win machine ran his eyeballs out to reach wire first, only to be DQd for rider's misjudgment. Tab versus $50,000 routers.
MISS FALSTAFF -- Lowly Cal-bred showed good speed before fading late in first race in three months. Should be much tighter for next effort.
THE HOMESTRETCH: Gary Stevens on Silver Charm: "I think this horse is destined for greatness. I think he'll take a big stride closer to that in the Belmont. I truly believe he's going to be our next Triple Crown winner. When I crossed the finish line at Churchill Downs, I knew I was on a horse that had a great chance to win the Triple Crown. I just liked the way he galloped out after the race. My prior two Derby wins, (Winning Colors and Thunder Gulch), I never had a horse gallop out after going a mile-and-a-quarter for the first time and pull up the way Silver Charm did. He took a deep breath and looked around the race track like he'd just been out for a morning gallop. Silver Charm really hasn't given me his all yet, and when he turns that corner, I think you're going to see a horse that's going to win races by seven, eight lengths instead of by a nose or a head. He gets his head in front, and while he won't let a horse by him, he seems to be saying, 'Well, that's enough. I don't need to do any more." Stevens on this year's 3-year-olds: "I haven't been around for the entire 19 years (since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978), but I have been around for 12 years, riding through the Triple Crown races, and this is by far -- not by a little bit, but by far -- the best crop of 3-year-olds I've seen in 12 years." Stevens said he could take time after the June 29 Hollywood Gold Cup to repair cartilage damage in his right knee . . . Alex Solis, who rode runner-up Captain Bodgit in the Derby, asked Stevens to autograph a picture of the exciting finish. "Alex gave me his best wishes, said he was rooting for me and would light a candle for me," Stevens said. "That feeling is pretty unanimous, except for probably Kent Desormeaux on Free House and Chris McCarron on Touch Gold, and the other riders (in the Belmont)." . . . Darrell Vienna, representing Patrick Valenzuela, who is attempting to regain his jockey's license which was denied by the California Horse Racing Board due to misdemeanor charges against the troubled rider, says Valenzuela is trying to get an exercise rider's license, "pending the outcome of his diversion program. He's engaged in that program right now," said Vienna, "and he's making rapid progress. How long he stays in it depends on the court." . . . Add Golden winners: Just Diet, $14.
By ED GOLDEN
Maybe President Clinton has had it with white.
If not the White House, certainly with Whitewater. But next up could be the White-Haired Trainer, Bob Baffert.
Every year, it seems, the White House invites the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA and Stanley Cup champions to be honored for their accomplishments. It's not a bad photo op, either.
If Silver Charm wins the Triple Crown, will the championship team -- Baffert, jockey Gary Stevens, and owners Bob and Beverly Lewis -- be honored at the White House? Seems they should, since Silver Charm would be only the 12th winner of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont, and the first in 19 years, since Affirmed swept all three races in 1978.
Stevens sees no reason why not.
"I read a quote (in the Racing Form) from the White House. When it was asked if Baffert would be invited if he won the Triple Crown," Stevens said, "they made kind of a ridiculous statement. Since horse racing has to do with gambling, the White House thought that looked bad (Stevens was referring to a Racing Form paragraph which read: "A source close to the White House said, 'It's an interesting question. He (Clinton) invited all the other sports teams that win championships. But then you have the gambling aspect, which isn't good.'"
Continued Stevens: "I said, 'Shoot, this is legalized gambling. It's not like people don't gamble on football and basketball through the illegal books (bookmakers). To me, it was a stupid comment, and I would like for the President to know my feelings on that and I need to tell him."
Just win, Gary.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com/)
