GOLDEN GLIMPSES #74

LITTLE TO CRY ABOUT AFTER THE 'CALIFORNIA' BELMONT

There were tears after the California Belmont. Tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

"I wanted to pull this off so bad for you guys," a sentimental Bob Baffert told a mass of media after his Silver Charm ran second to Touch Gold in the Belmont, thus becoming the 13th horse to miss winning the Triple Crown.

"But I think we got something done. I think we brought racing back." Then he took a moment to gather himself. "I'm too emotional," said the Henny Youngman of trainers. "I'm going to cry."

Earlier, after Touch Gold ran perhaps the most incredible race ever to win the Belmont under a brilliant ride by Chris McCarron, Grant Hofmans, the Hollywood-handsome and country singer son of trainer David Hofmans, was in tears as he hugged his father.

The 129th Belmont, in which three California-based horses -- Touch Gold, Silver Charm and Free House -- ran one, two, three, culminated the best Triple Crown series in memory. Exciting finishes in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont provided a welcome transfusion for an industry overwrought with excesses in racing dates but not where in counts, in fan base.

But if it's up to men like Baffert and Silver Charm's owners, Bob and Beverly Lewis, and Hofmans and Touch Gold's owner, Frank Stronach, the game will survive, perhaps even prosper. Baffert's blue-collar demeanor and rapid-fire patter made him an instant media celebrity, landing him air time on all the national TV networks, plus CNN. (Can you picture Saddam Hussein watching Bob Baffert?).

Hofmans doesn't have the national recognition of Wayne Lukas, Dick Mandella, Bill Mott and now Baffert, but he's every ounce as good a trainer. It shouldn't be long before ignorant writers and PR pundits stop spelling his name "Hoffmans" and "Hofman." David Hofmans is a top horseman, and anyone who doesn't think so couldn't tell the difference in voice quality between Pavorotti and Tiny Tim.

That's why I had to snicker when I saw on TV a national analyst pooh-pooh Touch Gold's chances to win the Belmont. He said the quarter crack suffered in the Preakness could compromise the colt's chances.

The guy might know something about horses, but he knew nothing of David Hofmans. This is about people, not horses, and Hofmans would never send out a horse if it weren't fit, sound and ready to run, especially in such a prestigious race as the Belmont Stakes, the oldest of the Triple Crown events. No one loves racing more than Hofmans, and no one cares more about his horses.

Hofmans, 54, was born in Los Angeles and grew up at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park, his current base of operations. In high school, he would cut classes and come to the races. That's when he decided to become a trainer.

Eddie Delahoussaye, a Hall of Fame rider who won two Belmonts, on Risen Star and A.P. Indy, watched the race on television in Hollywood Park's jockeys' room.

"Everything has to go right to win the Belmont." Delahoussaye said. "Speed and pace have to be right, but mainly, you have to have a horse with enough stamina.

"In this race, everybody broke clean from the gate. It looked like Stevens, Desormeaux and Bailey wanted to get a position, and Chris just fell right in behind them the first 16th of a mile. On the turn, Chris got the lead. I guess the other riders realized how slow they were going, so they picked it up. Chris just sat and sat, and when he dropped back, I think it was because Gary and the others picked up the pace. The pace increased and Chris figured he'd let them go, ease out and just come on on the outside, because he knows Belmont has a long stretch. And that's what he did.

"Instead of staying down on the inside, where as Gary said, it was very deep all day, Chris took the right position and got in the right place, on the outside where the track was good. From there, his horse just outran the rest of 'em. There was no excuse for Silver Charm. He ran his race, but Touch Gold was a better horse today."

GOLDEN PICKS

HARD TO COPY -- Steady mare trained by unsung George Williams closed resolutely on rail in second start in five months, seems set for win.

OWEN MEANY -- Northern California invader ran winning race in defeat, can land in winners' circle in turf sprint.

THE HOMESTRETCH: Hofmans has the Haskell at Monmouth Park on Aug. 3 and the Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 23 on Touch Gold's agenda. . . Captain Bodgit, retired due to a tendon injury after running second in the Derby and third in the Preakness, has been turned out in Old Westbury, Long Island, awaiting pending sale . . . Gary Stevens on missing the Triple Crown: "I knew I had Free House anytime I wanted him, and there was a feeling I had, a lump in my stomach that 'We're going to win the Triple Crown.' But then, out of the corner of my eye I caught a shadow, and I really believed it was Crypto Star. The last horse I thought it would be was Touch Gold. For a horse to run here in this race, go out on the lead, settle back and then come back again is amazing." . . . 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, Some Saint, $5.60.

Ed Golden didn't just predict victory by Touch Gold in the Belmont Stakes. He etched it in stone.

Gaming Today's racing columnist, in the June 3-9 editions, which hit the streets four days before the race, said right off: "Touch Gold will win the Belmont," adding later, "I refuse to get trapped in all the spin doctors' hullabaloo about bloodlines, track variants, speed ratings, fast workouts or weights and post positions. I know what I saw (in the Preakness)."

And there were these prophetic words from Touch Gold's jockey, Chris McCarron: "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 . . ." Alysheba finished fourth.

Touch Gold had a trip from hell in the Preakness, finishing fourth by 1 1/2 lengths after going to his nose at the start and twice after that encountering traffic problems. After Touch Gold won an allowance race at Santa Anita on March 14, Golden wrote in Gaming Today of March 18-22 that Touch Gold would go on to become a stakes winner. In his next start, he won the Lexington Stakes.

"I've been watching races since I was 12," said Golden, "and in more than three decades, I never saw a horse run like Touch Gold did in the Belmont and win. He was first at the half-mile pole, dropped to fourth after a mile, went from the rail to six-wide turning for home and won going away. The only time I saw a horse win like that was in a movie, and Barry Fitzgerald was the trainer. Maybe National Velvet won like that, too."

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