Whittingham Says It’s All Systems Go for ‘Silence

Sunday Silence, rowdy and irascible, had just finished galloping on a muddy track at Pimlico Wednesday morning, and trainer Charlie Whittingham seemed more at ease than he had been all week.

Things are going so well with the treatment of the Kentucky Derby winner’s ailing right-front hoof that Whittingham joked about changing his dinner menu from crab cakes to champagne and caviar Wednesday night. That would seem more appropriate, considering his assessment of the colt’s chances in the Preakness.

The racing strip still was too water-logged for a fast workout to prep for Saturday’s race, so Whittingham opted for a gallop for the colt from California, who will get a workout Thursday. The track was muddy again after rain hit Baltimore for the 13th consecutive day. It was the second day in a row Sunday Silence had galloped.

Sunday Silence’s hoof appears to have healed, and the colt’s antics on the track after missing training Sunday and Monday indicated he wanted to run. He leaped, bucked and charged while galloping. After 1 1/2 miles, when exercise rider Pam Mabes tried to pull him up, he resisted by shaking his head frequently, then reared up.

Then, when a pony and rider came to escort them back, Sunday Silence went after the pony. He reared up several times and pounded back down on his two front feet.

The pony and rider had to follow the colt and Mabes much of the way back to the Preakness barn.

“I ought to order champagne and caviar the way this horse is going,” Whittingham said. “I’d say he’s 100 percent. Unless something unforseen comes up, he’ll run.”

That means, in Whittingham’s assessment, Sunday Silence has moved up from lameness on Sunday morning to 80 percent Monday. Now, he’s prepared for the 114th Preakness, at 1 3-16 miles.

Whittingham talked confidently about the colt’s chances in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

When the Derby champion galloped by, Whittingham, standing on the concourse, joked, “He’s probably saying, ‘Where in the hell is Easy Goer?’ He’s looking for him and saying ‘Oh, he’s probably behind me.’ ”

Whittingham, quite naturally, refers to Easy Goer, trained by Shug McGaughey, when discussing the Preakness chances for Sunday Silence.

“When he (Sunday Silence) ran in Kentucky, of course, he didn’t miss any days (of training),” he said. “But I worked him the same way, on a Thursday, and he went the half in 46 3-5 (seconds), and Shug’s horse (Easy Goer) went in 47. I’ll let him run along a little bit in the work (today). It just depends on how the track is.”

Mabes, who gallops Sunday Silence regularly, said that the colt’s exuberance during the gallop made her nervous.

“When he started in on the backside, I just hoped no one could see it,” she said. “He’s done this before. He did it as a 2-year-old. When he reared up this time, though, I was comfortable enough knowing that he wouldn’t fall over backward.”

When they returned past the grandstand, Mabes waved and grinned, acknowledging the difficult time, to Dr. Ernest Gaillard, part-owner of the colt.

“She has a way with him,” Gaillard said. “When she takes him to the paddock, she has to lean into him and push on him. She says of this colt, ‘He does what I want him to do, exactly the way he wants to do it.’ ”

In one of perhaps two dozen radio-television interviews Wednesday, Whittingham, 76, joked about his age and the Triple Crown.

“He (Sunday Silence) is the perfect type to win a Triple Crown, and he’s the only one eligible for it this year, isn’t he?” the trainer said. “I’ve never won one, but I probably will in the next 40 to 50 years.”

Ron McAnally, trainer of Hawkster, the Derby’s fifth-place finisher, also switched from a scheduled workout to a gallop Wednesday.

Hawkster has a problem with his left-front hoof, and he also missed two days of training.

Whittingham has suggested that the lost days of training will not hurt Sunday Silence, but McAnally said he felt just the opposite about Hawkster.

“The only thing I can say is that it is not good to miss two days of training,” he said. “It’s just not good, regardless of (whether it’s) Charlie’s horse, our horse, any horse. It is not a good sign. I think the race will be to the advantage of Easy Goer.”