Return Has Only a Silver Lining

In the elevator at Santa Anita, minutes before Friday’s $200,000 Malibu Stakes, Betty Biszantz turned to her husband and said, “If you win this one, you’ll be the most hated man at the track.”

“That’s all right,” Gary Biszantz answered. “I’d love to beat Bob Baffert. I love the guy, but I’d still like to beat him. He’s beaten me a lot of times.”

The 85-day Santa Anita meeting is only a day old, and already the upset of the season has been determined. Biszantz’s Lord Grillo, trained by Mike Puype and ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, swept to a half-length victory as Silver Charm, running for the first time in almost seven months, settled for second place before a crowd of 39,480. The Baffert-trained winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, who had been second to Touch Gold in the Belmont in his last start, had a troubled trip as the 3-10 favorite.

“He had every right to finish sixth,” said his jockey, Gary Stevens, who rode four winners on the card. “Everything was going perfectly until the five-sixteenths pole, and then we got surrounded by the cavalry. I was all dressed up with no place to go.”

Lord Grillo, an Argentine-bred colt who cost Biszantz about $350,000, was making only his second start in the U.S. and fifth overall. In his first start for Puype, Lord Grillo finished second Nov. 22 at Hollywood Park. The winner of that race, Flaming West, was scratched from the Malibu.

Lord Grillo paid $20.60 to win, running seven furlongs in 1:21 2/5. Finishing third, three lengths behind Silver Charm, was Swiss Yodeler, and after him came Mud Route, who was ridden by Chris McCarron, the jockey who had ridden Lord Grillo at Hollywood.

“I didn’t like the way my horse ran, but Chris thought differently,” said Mud Route’s trainer, Ron McAnally. “He thought he did all right. I mentioned that he got off the winner to ride my horse, and Chris said that he still thought he’s on the right horse.”

So does Stevens.

“The plus to this is that [Silver Charm] went into the race 110% and he came out 110%,” Stevens said. “I’m happy as I can be in defeat. I’m not happy about the outcome, but it’s a long year and we’ve got a lot of races left. I couldn’t be more optimistic.”

Baffert said to Stevens in the prerace walking ring that Silver Charm, because of his long layoff, might be “a tad short.” After the race, Stevens disagreed.

In fourth place on the inside, Silver Charm was immediately behind Swiss Yodeler and Mud Route. Stevens’ colt went around Swiss Yodeler, but on the far outside came Lord Grillo, who was next to last early, nine lengths behind the pace-setting Apalachee Ridge.

“McCarron knew I was there,” Stevens said. “The two horses in front were riding tight. I was going to have to get very, very lucky to get through. I couldn’t get through until too late. The winner’s momentum was built up. We should have won by five lengths. This was a winning effort as far as I was concerned.”

Biszantz credits John Fulton, the former California trainer, with finding Lord Grillo in South America. Fulton, who now lives in Florida, works for Cobra Golf, the Carlsbad equipment manufacturer that was sold by Biszantz for an estimated $700 million in 1996, but continues to scout horses.

Lord Grillo won two of three starts early this year, including a $190,000 Breeders’ Cup-like stake, but the race that impressed Biszantz the most on the videotapes was a second-place finish behind Handsome Halo in May.

“That race was the tip-off,” Biszantz said. “Handsome Halo was probably the best horse down there.”

Delahoussaye was introduced to Lord Grillo when he worked half a mile in a swift :46 4/5 last Monday.

“I saw the tape of his race at Hollywood and liked the horse,” Delahoussaye said. “He ran green [Friday], but when he got to the outside he really took off. He’s got a lot of class, this little horse. He doesn’t worry about anything.”

Delahoussaye said he never saw Silver Charm during the race.

“The sun hits [the track] at the three-eighths pole and it’s hard to see just who is where,” Delahoussaye said. “I was five wide, and lost a lot of ground. I heard Silver Charm when [announcer] Trevor Denman said he was trying to come back on, but I just kept focused on my horse.”

Delahoussaye, 46, is in the Racing Hall of Fame and is approaching 6,000 winners, some of which have been just as surprising as Lord Grillo. He won the 1982 Kentucky Derby with a sweeping move astride Gato Del Sol at 21-1. He rode Mighty Adversary, who was 32-1, to victory in the 1984 Santa Anita Derby. And Mr Purple was 18-1 when he won the 1996 Santa Anita Handicap under Delahoussaye. In 1992, for a trainer named Bob Baffert, Delahoussaye won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with Thirty Slews at 18-1.

“[Lord Grillo] hasn’t had many races, but in many ways he reminds me of an older horse,” Delahoussaye said. “This was great, beating Silver Charm. It was exciting. It keeps me young. Who knows? Maybe I’ll keep going another 10 years.”

Because the Southern Hemisphere breeding season occurs late in the year, Lord Grillo is months younger than many of the U.S. horses from the same generation. Lord Grillo was foaled in September 1994, about five months after Silver Charm.

“I was worried that seven furlongs wasn’t going to be far enough [for Lord Grillo],” Biszantz said. “I think going longer he’ll be better.”

Longer will come for Lord Grillo in the middle race of the Strub series, the $300,000 San Fernando Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 17.

Silver Charm will be there too.

“All the other jockeys were riding Silver Charm this time,” Baffert said. “McCarron had him pinched in and they were all looking at him and saying, ‘We got him.’ Then came Delahoussaye, circling the wagons. Once my horse goes two turns, it’s a different story. It’ll be Silver Charm and Lord Grillo next time.”