THOROUGHBRED RACING : There Seems No Limit to Success of Juvenile Favorite Gilded Time

Last February, trainer Darrell Vienna had to leave a Florida auction for unraced 2-year-olds early, before the colt he sought was going to be led into the ring. He asked Dennis Lynch, a veteran sales agent, to do the bidding for him.

“My limit’s $80,000,” Vienna said.

As it turned out, the bidding stopped at exactly $80,000, and Lynch bought the horse on behalf of Vienna and his clients.

“I don’t know what would have happened if other bidders had gone higher,” Vienna said. “Lynch knew I liked the horse a lot, and maybe he would have continued, and then I would have had to see if my clients wanted to go for the extra money.”

The only thing that matters to Vienna now, though, is that he’s training that horse, Gilded Time. And, based on only three races, Gilded Time will be the favorite in the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Gulfstream Park Oct. 31.

Even Jerry Bailey, who rides Sea Hero, concedes that Gilded Time should be favored in the Juvenile, the race that usually determines the champion 2-year-old and the future-book favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Sea Hero, a winner at a mile on grass at Belmont Park in his two previous races, won the Champagne Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths there last Saturday.

“Can Gilded Time win going around two turns?” Bailey said. “This could work to Sea Hero’s advantage (since the Juvenile is a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile race). It’s still a question-mark for Gilded Time.”

Gilded Time, who runs for the partnership of David Milch and Jack Silverman and his son, Mark, is a son of Timeless Moment, a minor stakes winner in the early 1970s, and Gilded Lilly, a daughter of What a Pleasure.

Two-thirds of his owners live in California as does his trainer, but Gilded Time has run only once on state soil. He broke his maiden, winning by four lengths despite a poor start, at Hollywood Park on July 15. The race substantiated Vienna’s confidence in the colt, which stemmed from a string of solid workouts against older horses.

In the mornings, Vienna introduced Gilded Time to opponents such as Phone Roberto, Deputy Meister and Sunny Blossom and the 2-year-old didn’t flinch. He kept up with Sunny Blossom, a 7-year-old whose 1:07 1/5 clocking in 1989 is still the track record for six furlongs at Santa Anita.

Since his Hollywood Park debut, Gilded Time’s career has been a road show. Only three horses tested him at Monmouth Park in August, when he won the Sapling Stakes in 1:07 4/5, the fastest three-quarter-mile time at the New Jersey track since Icecapade, as a 4-year-old, registered a 1:08 in 1973.

Monmouth was like asphalt the day of Gilded Time’s race--a $35,000 claiming horse was timed in 1:08 2/5 earlier on the card--but Vienna’s green colt also broke the record despite lugging in under Chris McCarron and eyeballing the crowd through much of the stretch.

Six weeks later, Gilded Time was in Chicago for the Arlington-Washington Futurity. Wild Zone, unbeaten before his half-length defeat by Gilded Time at Monmouth, was there for revenge. Rain left the track sloppy, though, and Vienna debated early in the day about scratching his colt.

“If we hadn’t run, we would have gone back home and run in the Norfolk (at Santa Anita last Sunday),” Vienna said. “But there was more sand in that track than you’re used to seeing in California and the surface drained enough for us to run.”

In the one-turn mile, Wild Zone stayed on top for six furlongs, with Gilded Time and McCarron shadowing him all the way. Just past the quarter pole, Gilded Time took command, and “won in handy fashion,” according to the Daily Racing Form chart. With Wild Zone finishing fifth, the winning margin was 5 1/2 lengths.

Vienna unsuccessfully tries to restrain himself in singing Gilded Time’s hosannas. Extraordinary is the word that keeps bobbing up.

Breeders’ Cup day will be five weeks after Gilded Time’s last race. Only one of the first eight Juvenile winners--Capote, in 1986--has won the race after only three starts, so naturally questions about seasoning are being asked.

“We are spacing his races out because we want to make sure we have him around for his 3-year-old career,” Vienna said. “I shouldn’t be saying this, but I will. If he gets beat, I won’t stand on the track at Gulfstream and say it’s because he was a short (inadequately conditioned) horse. This horse is so good, I think he could be short and still have the ability to get the job done.”

Vienna has had eight starters in Breeders’ Cup races, all of them long shots. His best finishes have been a pair of thirds, by Robyn Dancer in last year’s Sprint, and by Raami, who was beaten by less than a length in the 1984 Turf.

This time, he will be running an entry in the Juvenile, and Gilded Time’s stablemate is no slouch. Sudden Hush, a $10,000 California-bred yearling, ran four times at Del Mar within 36 days, winning twice and running second to River Special in the Del Mar Futurity. River Special came back to win the Norfolk by six lengths and will be another of the contenders at Gulfstream.

Horse Racing Notes

Jolie’s Halo is the 7-5 favorite tonight against 10 rivals in the $500,000 Meadowlands Cup. Next on the morning line at 3-1 is trainer Ron McAnally’s entry of Sea Cadet and Silver Ending. Sea Cadet, who hasn’t run since April, is the high weight at 120 pounds, one more than Jolie’s Halo, whose last start was a disaster when he stumbled leaving the gate and tossed his jockey, Edgar Prado, in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. McAnally said that a win by Sea Cadet could lead to the horse’s being supplemented, at a cost of $360,000, to the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Golden Pheasant, with 122 pounds, is the high weight Saturday in the $100,000 Koester Handicap at Santa Anita. The field, in post-position order, for the one-mile grass race: Golden Pheasant, Leger Cat, Luthier Enchanteur, Twilight Agenda, Bourgogone, Gervazy, As Que To and Desert Dirham. Twilight Agenda, who has been assigned 120 pounds, hasn’t run since finishing last in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 27. His last start on grass was a second-place finish in a minor stake at Hollywood Park in June of last year. Golden Pheasant, who next month will probably try to win the Japan Cup for the second straight time, ran third in the Arlington Million in his last start.

The next time Bertrando runs, he will be saddled by Bobby Frankel, who has replaced Bruce Headley as the 3-year-old’s trainer. Bertrando ran second to A.P. Indy in the Santa Anita Derby, missed the Kentucky Derby because of a virus and hasn’t run again because of other ailments. . . . Santa Anita horses who didn’t win recently are still headed for the Breeders’ Cup. Daros is scheduled to run in the Turf and Marquetry in the Classic. . . . New York-based November Snow, one of the favorites for the Distaff, will miss the race because of a bruised foot.

Avoid Penalty, winner at 101-1 at Santa Anita on Oct. 7, is entered in the first race today. . . . Gary Stevens scored his third victory of the day Thursday aboard Fantastic Ways, who finished first in the feature, ending a seven-race losing streak and winning for the first time in 18 months.