GOLDEN GLIMPSES #141

November 17, 1998

By ED GOLDEN

Did Sonny Hine blow Horse of the Year honors for Skip Away?

In the opinion of one of Southern California�s leading trainers, Mike Mitchell, Hine might have done just that when he raced his wife�s beloved hard-hitting gray 5-year-old twice in 21 days prior to the most important race of the year, the Breeders� Cup Classic, in which Skippy finished sixth behind Awesome Again, who was winning for the sixth time in an unbeaten campaign.

What seemed like a landslide Horse of the Year victory for Skip Away now may be too close to call.

"First off," said Mitchell, a winner of more than a dozen Southern California training titles, "Hine did an unbelievable job with Skip Away overall, and I�ve praised him for it, but I could not understand why he ran him in the mud (Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 10) three weeks after the Woodward (Sept. 19). That�s something you would do with a claiming horse and I couldn�t understand that.

"Now, after the horse loses the Breeders� Cup Classic, Hine tells the press, �I hope everybody respects this horse.� But before that race, he was saying, �Nobody�s gonna beat him.� So I think maybe the horse just wasn�t right.

"I�ve always said whoever wins the Breeders� Cup Classic should be Horse of the Year," Mitchell said. "Awesome Again�s record has been awesome (no pun intended), but Skip Away thrilled me all year long and I think he got cheated out of being Horse of the Year last year. Not taking anything away from Favorite Trick (the 2-year-old who was undefeated in eight starts in 1997 when he was named Horse of the Year), but what Skip Away did last year was just awesome."

Mitchell thinks Skip Away deserves to be 1998 Horse of the Year.

"I�d vote for him," Mitchell said, "because all year long he danced every dance, he shipped all over and he�s been doing it for four years. Normally, I�d vote for whoever won the Classic. Sure, Awesome Again beat Silver Charm (twice), but I don�t think Silver Charm on his best day could have beaten Skip Away on his best day.

"So I�d vote for Skippy."

FALL RIVER--Ran too good to lose when outbobbed on speed-favoring track. Tab again versus $25,000 maidens.

MORGAN J.--Plenty left in turf sprint win for hot McAnally barn. Ready for tougher.

SILIC--Lost shoe at start, pulled too hard early in U.S. debut, then was forced to take up to avoid traffic in stretch. Should make amends on turf, but don�t expect more than even-money again.

ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN--Showed good courage in debut for underrated Ed Moger Jr., but couldn�t overcome speed-biased track. Won�t be a maiden long.

THE HOMESTRETCH: Trevor Denman, before leaving for a vacation on his Minnesota farm, said the vote for Horse of the Year will be controversial. "I�d go with Skip Away," says the best race caller in the business, "but whoa, that�s a tough call between him and Awesome Again. Whoever you choose, there�s going to be criticism." Denman�s most memorable moment in this year�s Breeders� Cup, in which he imparted his vast wisdom through a window that was all too narrow on NBC�s telecast: "Da Hoss coming again 30 yards from the wire to win the Mile. I could not BELIEVE Da Hoss came again. Hawksley Hill was home. I started to write his number in my program. Another great moment for California was finishing in the first five positions in the Sprint." . . . If you don�t think there wasn�t a speed bias at Hollywood on opening day, you weren�t paying attention. Every horse that led at the quarter pole on the main track, including a 16-1 shot and a 10-1 shot, went on to win, six of them by daylight. In fact, there was only one photo finish for win. No horse who was behind and outside the leader at the quarter pole went on to win. The leaders just stayed on the path closest to the rail and rolled to victory . . . Hollywood Park, which took credit for introducing the guaranteed Pick Six in June, six months after I proposed the idea in Gaming Today, will not offer the wager during this meet. "We�re encouraged by the success of the Breeders� Cup Pick Six," track chairman R.D. Hubbard said. "(But) when we started this, it was not our intention for it to become a common wager. We hope other tracks will follow our lead to ensure the guaranteed Pick Six remains a special event. We look forward to its return at the 1999 spring/summer meeting. We�ll work to make it a special occasion for the fans." . . . An on-track crowd of 6,775 was announced on opening day, but it dwindled to 4,972 on day two. "There�s not two souls downstairs," lamented one employee. "And it�s only gonna get worse as we get closer to Christmas," chimed in another . . . Add Golden winners: Mary Cruz. The win price in a field of five was a hefty $32. It was the middle leg of a generous $308.80 Pick 3, sandwiched between two favorites, one 3-1, the other, 11-10 . . . Favorite Trick has been retired and will stand in Kentucky for a $30,000 stud fee . . . Loquacious Corey Black and inscrutable Matt Garcia were each fined $300 for fighting in the jockeys� room on the final day at Santa Anita. Black won a decision.

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