By ED GOLDEN

Gary Stevens was between a rock and a hard place, or, more specifically, between two Horse of the Year candidates, when he elected to ride Silver Charm instead of Gentlemen in Saturday’s $1 million Santa Anita Handicap. It was more than just good business judgement. Like a scene out of National Velvet, emotion also played a hand.

"I’m very sentimental about both horses," Stevens said, "so I’d be lying if I said it didn’t come down to sentiment on both sides. You could also say it came down to a professional decision about the future. Silver Charm is a 4-year-old, Gentlemen is a 6-year-old. It’s very difficult to separate them on talent, because they’re both very gifted.

"As for dealing with Bob Baffert and Richard Mandella, they’re two of the best trainers I’ve ever ridden for, very, very professional. That was the hardest thing for me, telling Mandella and Mr. (R.D.) Hubbard (owner of Gentlemen) that I was going to ride the other horse. It wouldn’t have mattered if it were vice-versa, and I had to tell Baffert and (Silver Charm owners) Bob and Beverly Lewis the same thing.

"There were no hard feelings from the Mandella camp. Ron (Stevens’ agent, Ron Anderson, a Las Vegas native) was the one who talked to him, and Mandella told Ron to tell me there are no hard feelings and we look to do business in the future. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be fortunate enough to get back on the red horse some day."

Baffert, meanwhile, has advantages in the race on two fronts, riding a jockey who is well-acquanted with both his horse and that of his major rival.

"It’s like a good marriage," Baffert said of Stevens and Silver Charm. "He knows the horse’s every move. Gary knows how to warm him up, and he knows he’s lazy, so he won’t panic when he’s yawning going to the gate. And the horse knows him. He knows when Gary gives him the signal to pick it up and go, so I’d say a jockey being familiar with his horse has a lot to do with their success."

Conversely, there is an edge in sleeping with the enemy. Stevens was the regular rider of Gentlemen.

"Yeah," Baffert admitted, "but older horses probably are easier to ride because they know their way around. When you put a top rider like Pat Day on a good horse like Gentlemen, all he has to do is keep him from getting beat."

All that said, Gentlemen wins it.

CHURCHLAND -- Hindered by slow pace while rallying late, can get up on turf now that Lasix has been added.

DUNBAR HILL -- Dead short in allowance sprint. Will only benefit from first start in more than a year.

GO FOR THE GREEN -- Erratic trip from rail compromised Cal-bred’s chances, just needs trouble-free journey to handle $32,000 maidens.

GOLDEN ARCHES -- Lost all chance in Buena Vista when carried out to parking lot on first turn. Resumes winning streak next out.

KEEPSCRATCHING -- Ran tenaciously while finishing third against high-priced sprinters, but don’t expect 15-1 next time.

LEGEND OF RUSSIA -- French invader was best in U.S. debut when beaten a head, but traffic cost him. Tab on turf at a mile or longer.

POMONA -- English-bred mare had plenty left while winning U.S. debut, should pay way versus tougher on turf for shrewd importer Darrell Vienna.

THE HOMESTRETCH: Baffert had hoped to get a three-pound weight advantage from Gentlemen, but predicted it "probably will be one or two." He was right. Gentlemen carries 125, Silver Charm 124 . . . Only four horses are firm: Silver Charm, Gentlemen, Malek (115) and Bagshot (112). Da Bull (113) would have to pay another $17,500 in supplements, plus the usual fees to enter and start, if he goes . . . Smallest Big ‘Cap field was four in 1988, and if statistics mean anything, throw out the horse who breaks from the No. 1 hole. Of 60 previous Big ‘Cap horses who started from the rail, there has been only one winner, Mr. Right in 1968. Post time for the race is around 3:45 p.m. . . . Mandella says if Gentlemen comes out of the Big ‘Cap in good shape, the $4 million Dubai World Cup on March 28 and the $750,000 Oaklawn Park Handicap on April 4 would be under consideration for his next start. "But we’d be lucky to do one, not two," Mandella said. "I’d love to take him to Dubai, but I’m worried whether he’d ship well enough going that far (8,845 air miles)." Gentlemen worked six furlongs in a bullet 1:10 3/5 Saturday at Hollywood . . . Baffert on how he learned of Stevens’ decision to ride Silver Charm: "I heard it through the paparazzi. They were calling me at home." . . . When Sonny Hine calls Skip Away "the best horse I’ve ever seen," I guess he’s never laid his lids on Citation, Secretariat, Affirmed, Buckpasser, Dr. Fager or Spectacular Bid . . . Steve Wood, the most dedicated and compassionate track superintendent in the business, says last month was the wettest February in his 28 years at Santa Anita, and that almost 25 inches of rain has been measured this season. "I’ve never seen anything like it," said Wood of the 4 3/4 inches of El Nino-spawned downpour that fell on Feb. 23. "That’s the most we’ve ever had in one day here." . . . San Vicente winner Sea of Secrets, unbeaten in three starts, will miss Sunday’s San Rafael Stakes due to a minor viral infection. "His white count is a little too high," said trainer Neil Drysdale. "We don’t want to run him when he’s not 100 percent right and risk getting him sick again. He’s only lost a day of training." Next stop: the March 14 San Felipe Stakes . . . Jerry Ingordo, friend and former agent of Patrick Valenzuela, said the jockey who is under indefinite suspension was a recent visitor to his home. "He wants to be reinstated and start galloping horses," Ingordo said . . . Racing official Kevin Burns has been suspended 30 days "for conduct detrimental to horse racing," i.e., gambling. If that rule applied to the press box, there’d be a major dip in the handle . . . Add news you can bet on: In the Feb. 17-23 editions of Gaming Today, a full week before Stevens announced he would ride Silver Charm, we wrote: "Bet on it! Stevens will ride Silver Charm." . . . The jockey colony has decreased by two. Garrett Gomez, who has battled drug abuse in the past, went AWOL last week, and J.G. Matos has pulled up stakes and shipped to his native Puerto Rico. The 20-year-old rider loses his apprentice weight allowance on March 9 . . . Baffert gave his Eclipse Award as top trainer to his father, Bill. "He’s the one who got me in this business," Baffert said. "If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t know what a racehorse was."