THE HOT SEAT : McGaughey Has One More Chance to Silence Critics

The worst seat in a baseball stadium is the manager’s. It’s hard to see much from the dugout. And sometimes, the worst place for a trainer to watch a horse race is from an owner’s box seat.

That’s where Shug McGaughey was standing at Pimlico, in Ogden Phipps’ box, when their Easy Goer lost by a nose to Sunday Silence in the Preakness three weeks ago. Easy Goer also finished second in the Kentucky Derby, losing to Sunday Silence by 2 1/2 lengths, and Saturday, in the 121st Belmont Stakes, the New York-based horse will try to keep his California-based rival from sweeping the Triple Crown.

The box-seat area is not very elevated at Pimlico, unlike the high stands at Churchill Downs for the Derby. What’s more, McGaughey stands only 5 feet 5 inches, so he didn’t see all of the Preakness.

As the field neared the far turn, McGaughey still had his horse in view when Pat Day, the jockey, moved Easy Goer from third place past the second-place Sunday Silence. Houston was still trying to hold the lead.

Said McGaughey: “When I saw that, I said to myself, ‘How far are we going to win by?’ ”

Then McGaughey lost sight of the field for a few moments because the horses were blocked by the corporate tents in the infield.

“When the horses got past the tents, my horse hadn’t gone by Houston yet,” McGaughey said.

Pat Valenzuela, riding Sunday Silence, was surprised to see Easy Goer pass him when he did, but he resisted hustling his mount. There was still almost a half-mile to go.

Then near the top of the stretch, Sunday Silence edged back ahead of Easy Goer. McGaughey had a good view of that.

“That’s when I said to myself, ‘How far is Sunday Silence going to win by?’ ” the trainer said.

McGaughey said he has not seen a videotape of the entire Preakness, but he is certain about one thing: “It was a strange race.”

There were many observers who thought that Day, one of the best jockeys in the country and a three-time winner of the Eclipse Award, had given Easy Goer a strange ride. McGaughey does not disagree.

“When my horse passed Sunday Silence, Pat didn’t go on with him, and as a result we let Sunday Silence get back in the race,” McGaughey said. “(Valenzuela) could have hit the panic button, but he didn’t. But Pat (Day) gave him time to get his thoughts together.”

McGaughey might have been better off if the Pimlico tents had been in his way for the stretch run, because he didn’t like seeing Easy Goer on the inside, where Day had less room to maneuver while being crowded into the rail by Sunday Silence.

Day, who unsuccessfully claimed foul against Sunday Silence and Valenzuela, said that he put Easy Goer on the fence because he was afraid Sunday Silence would float his colt out into the center of the track if he chose to go around.

After the Preakness, Angel Cordero, who had ridden Houston to a sixth-place finish, was conspicuously present around Easy Goer’s barn, prompting speculation that McGaughey might make a jockey change for the Belmont.

McGaughey says now that he never even considered a switch. He and Day, who rides mainly in the Midwest, go back a number of years, to the days before McGaughey was hired by the Phipps family--days when he was a struggling claiming trainer.

“I’ve made up my mind that I’m not going to worry about jockeys anymore,” McGaughey said at his Belmont Park barn this week. “When I was in Kentucky, Day was so much better than the other riders that it was a daily battle trying to get him to ride as many of your horses as possible. But in New York--and in California--there are so many good ones that you don’t have to worry. And there are always new ones popping up, like Chris Antley has here recently. There will be a lot of things that will worry me more the rest of my life other than which jockeys are going to ride my horses.”

Day has had several second-place finishes in big races aboard Easy Goer and Seeking the Gold, another important Phipps horse trained by McGaughey. Easy Goer also ran second--to Is It True--in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and that outcome, combined with the runner-up finishes in the Derby and the Preakness, produced a difference of more than $1 million in purses.

Seeking the Gold ran second in the Metropolitan Handicap here nine days after the Preakness, and last year he was second under Day in three other major races, including the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Still, McGaughey remains Day’s staunchest supporter. The trainer cites all of the other close finishes by the jockey that have gone their way.

Sunday Silence probably will go to the lead Saturday because there’s no other legitimate front-runner in the Belmont.

“I don’t think my horse will be on the lead, unless Sunday Silence wants to give it to us,” McGaughey said. “I think we’ll be laying right off the pace. Then it will be up to Pat (Day) to force Valenzuela into a mistake. Maybe we can get Sunday Silence on the inside this time.”

Whatever happens, McGaughey will be able to see the entire race. The box seats are nicely elevated at Belmont, and there are no tall tents in the infield.