Rematch a Weighty Matter for Charlie Whittingham

Charlie Whittingham and Pat Valenzuela can’t wait for the rematch. Or weight for it.

Both trainer and jockey pointed to the five pounds Criminal Type, the front-runner for horse-of-the-year honors, received from 1989’s horse of the year as the difference in Sunday’s Hollywood Gold Cup.

“At equal weights, I think we would have beaten him,” said Whittingham after Sunday Silence fell a head short carrying 126 pounds.

“He (Criminal Type) picks up one pound after beating the best horses in New York.”

Whittingham also made reference to Criminal Type’s busier schedule. The Gold Cup was his ninth start of the year, seven more than Sunday Silence, who began his 4-year-old season three weeks earlier with a victory in the Californian.

“He wasn’t as seasoned as Criminal Type,” he said. “He ran a hell of a race and got beat by the hottest horse in the country.”

Like some others, Valenzuela had a hard time believing the weights when they were released last Tuesday.

“I can’t see how they gave Criminal Type 121 after he won the Metropolitan Mile and the Pimlico Special,” he said. “Look what he’s done this year. He beat Easy Goer and Housebuster in New York and he beat Ruhlmann in Maryland and Ruhlmann was carrying 124.

“I think that the five pounds made the difference. He broke well and I was sitting perfect the whole way. When I came up to him, (Criminal Type) accelerated, and when I went to the whip, my horse accelerated. He ran a super race. What can I say. We couldn’t get lucky.

“I never got in front of him. We got right next to him, but we never got the lead. I can’t take anything away from the winner. He ran a big race, but we’ll beat him next time, that’s all I can say.”

Both trainer and jockey will get their wish, provided the two horses get together in Chicago Aug. 4. Sunday Silence and Criminal Type would carry level weights in the Arlington Challenge Cup, which also figures to attract Easy Goer.

“Criminal Type’s an awful tough horse,” said Arthur Hancock, Sunday Silence’s principal owner. “But, like Charlie says, we’ll live to fight another day.”