GOLDEN GLIMPSES #144

December 8, 1998

By ED GOLDEN

When Bob Baffert bid bon voyage two months ago to then-Future Book Kentucky Derby favorite Worldly Manner, he said he’d have to go his bullpen.

He didn’t expect to find Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens.

Baffert, who but for a nose loss by Cavonnier in 1996 would be the only trainer in history to have three straight Derby victories, had Worldly Manner as his ace until Sheik Maktoum bought him for his Godolphin Stable from Golden Eagle Farm for a reported $5 million. The Riverman colt skipped the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 7 and is in Dubai readying for the 125th Run for the Roses on May 1.

But with the spectacular emergence of the undefeated colts Exploit and Premier Property, Baffert now has two genuine Derby prospects and he wouldn’t swap either for Worldly Manner.

"Worldly Manner showed a lot early and was very precocious," Baffert said. "But with the squad I’ve got now, he’s not missed. It would take more than $5 million to buy Exploit. He’s much more valuable (than Worldly Manner). He’s a Storm Cat, man."

Kentucky-bred Exploit, by Storm Cat-My Turbulent Miss, is perfect in four starts, his latest victory coming by 1 3/4 lengths in the Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 29. Baffert said Exploit will not run again this year.

"Worldly Manner was a good 2-year-old, but I never look back," Baffert said. "Exploit is as good or better than Worldly Manner, so I’m not worried about that. I wouldn’t trade Exploit for Worldly Manner, let’s put it that way."

Premier Property, a Florida-bred colt with a white, cloudy left eye, has won all three starts with consummate ease. The son of Out of Place has never been headed and has a long, powerful stride that suggests he can get a distance, despite criticism to the contrary. Premier Property’s most recent victory was a 3 1/2-length triumph in the seven-furlong Hollywood Prevue on Nov. 21.

Premier Property is pointing to Saturday’s Hollywood Futurity at 1 1/16 miles, along with stablemates National Saint and Prime Timber.

"Premier Property is another one I wouldn’t trade for Worldly Manner," Baffert said. "Worldly Manner was The Man, and I think Godolphin made a huge mistake by not running in the Breeders’ Cup (at Churchill Downs). I think it would have helped them, since they plan to run him in the Kentucky Derby. It would have given him a race over the track. But it’s their horse and they can do whatever they want. He’s a very good horse, don’t get me wrong. But once I sell them, I don’t think about them anymore."

As far as Premier Property going a distance of ground, Baffert said: "You don’t know. Just like nobody knows about Worldly Manner. Nobody knows how far he’s going to go until you send him. He never went two turns (his five-length victory in the Del Mar Futurity came at seven furlongs, his longest race). I’m sure he would have done it, but you don’t know until he does."

THE HOMESTRETCH: Baffert’s choice for Horse of the Year? Surprise, it’s Silver Charm. "Bad luck cost him Horse of the Year two years in a row," Baffert said. "The three-quarters of a length he lost the (1997) Belmont by cost him, and Frankie Dettori (who rode third-place Classic finisher Swain) cost me the Breeders’ Cup this year. Dettori didn’t ride a bad race. He wanted to get away from Silver Charm because he knew he wasn’t going to get by him. And by going to the outside fence, he just overdid it. Gary (Stevens) followed him out there, that’s why Dettori kept going. Dettori’s a great rider, but he knew he wasn’t going to beat Silver Charm unless my horse didn’t see him." Silver Charm’s long-range goals are the Santa Anita Handicap on March 6 and the Dubai World Cup three weeks later. Baffert says Pleasant Drive, a perfunctory winner of his first race in 10 months on Dec. 3, will make his next start against undefeated Event of the Year in the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes. Saying Baffert’s barn is loaded is like saying Clinton has a roving eye. Among Baffert’s other stars are Kentucky Derby winner Real Quiet and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Silverbulletday. Each will win an Eclipse Award as 3-year-old colt champion and 2-year-old filly champion, respectively . . . Cliff Sise Jr., one of the sharpest trainers on the circuit, ran only six horses at Hollywood Park and it was by design. He saved his stock for the lucrative purses at Santa Anita, the first track to benefit from Senate Bill 27, the state legislation which provides tax relief for California’s horse racing industry and which will boost purses by more than $2 million, the largest increase in track history. "I don’t think it will bring any new stables in this meet," Sise said, "but by next year, with Frank Stronach buying Santa Anita, I think I’ll be lucky to get stalls there." Sise had to be joking, but he seemed serious. "I think this guy’s going to kick butt," Sise said of international horseman Stronach. "If he puts in a good race track (surface), with the purses the way they are and probably going even higher next year, you’ll see some new faces." Total overnight purses for the upcoming 84-day meet are conservatively projected to be in excess of $25 million, an increase of about nine percent over last year. Here’s a sample of purse increases for various non-claiming overnight races: maiden special (short), $45,000 (compared to $38,000 in 1998); maiden special (long), $47,000 (compared to $40,000 in 1998); two-other-than (short), $54,000 (compared to $47,000 in 1998); and two-other-than (long), $58,000 (compared to $50,000 in 1998). Purses for non-claiming races will be increased between $5,000 and $8,000, a jump of seven to 18 percent. Purses for nearly all claiming races will be increased between three and nine percent. I remember when Garden State ran a New Jersey-bred stakes for state-breds with a $15,000 purse. Today, a $15,000 pot won’t draw $20,000 claimers . . . Wayne Lukas recently dismissed his New York assistant, Jerry Barton, for keeping one of his own horses in Lukas’ barn and not paying the $90 daily training fee. It wasn’t the first time Barton had done that, according to an inside source. The honest course of action for Barton would have been to gain Lukas’ approval up front. On the other hand, Lukas could have discreetly dispatched the matter rather than being quoted by a reporter in the Daily Racing Form, which splashed the story on page one in what surely must have been a slow news day.

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