Skip Away Strides to Suburban Win

Skip Away, the best 3-year-old male in the country last year but a colt who began this year with four losses, has found his old form.

Since Eclipse awards voters seldom pay attention to what happens early in the year, this bodes well for Skip Away, who Friday disposed of the same horses he had beaten seven weeks ago at Suffolk Downs.

Skip Away shook off his losing streak in the Massachusetts Handicap by outrunning Formal Gold and Will’s Way, and they were in his dust again in the $350,000 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park. Will’s Way and Formal Gold were only a head apart with a quarter-mile left in the 1 1/4-mile race, but after Shane Sellers moved Skip Away off the rail, he wore down both of them for a 1 1/2-length victory.

Reversing their final positions at Suffolk, Will’s Way finished second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Formal Gold. It was 15 lengths back to the fourth-place horse, Natural Selection, in the six-horse field.

Skip Away, timed in 2:02 1/5, earned $210,000 for his ninth win in 24 starts. His career purses are now only a few dollars short of the $3.8-million mark.

Trainer Sonny Hine was puzzled by the placement of Skip Away early in the Suburban.

“I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Hine said. “I didn’t want him on the lead and I didn’t want him on the fence. But Shane knows how to ride him and Skippy is a game horse. I felt the rail wasn’t the place to be, and when he got clear I knew he would put in his run.”

Hine said that Skip Away’s next race would be the $350,000 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 2.

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Remembering that Isitingood had knocked off Skip Away in Texas Mile on April 20, bettors at Lone Star Park made trainer Bob Baffert’s 6-year-old a 1-2 favorite Friday in the $200,000 Lone Star Handicap.

But Isitingood hasn’t won since his upset of Skip Away, and Friday, after making the lead for a few strides at the top of the stretch, he finished third behind Connecting Terms at 8-1 and Humble Seven, a 30-1 shot. Connecting Terms, ridden by Larry Melancon, came back in the stretch after losing the lead for a few strides to Isitingood and David Flores. The time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:41 4/5.

Connecting Terms has won four of five starts this year after losing all 11 of his races in 1996.

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Trainer Jenine Sahadi thought El Angelo’s sixth-place finish in the Shoemaker Mile should be a throw-out race because of all the trouble he experienced. The 5-year-old import from France was clear of traffic Friday in winning the $160,600 American Handicap by one length at Hollywood Park.

With Alex Solis riding him for the first time, El Angelo rallied on the outside to pass the three leaders in the stretch. Naninja, who began his U.S. career in Sahadi’s barn even though she never saddled him in a race, ran second for trainer Mike Mitchell, finishing a length ahead of Wavy Run. Irish Wings, second choice behind El Angelo on the morning line, was scratched because of another allergy flare-up.

A foul claim against El Angelo and Naninja by Corey Black, rider of the fourth-place Tychonic, was disallowed by the stewards.

El Angelo, who races for C.N. and Carol Ray, has won four of seven starts under their ownership and Friday’s victory was worth $96,360. El Angelo, whose purchase price is believed to be in the $200,000 range, paid $4, running 1 1/8 miles on grass in 1:46 4/5.

El Angelo is eligible for the Breeders’ Cup, seven races that will be run at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8. Sahadi is reluctant to run him in the Mile, for fear of another cluttered field like he saw in the Shoemaker, and the other Breeders’ Cup grass race, the Turf, is 1 1/2 miles and might be too far for her horse. That could leave the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic on dirt. In his only dirt start, El Angelo won an allowance race last winter at Santa Anita.

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Although Touch Gold hasn’t had a workout since winning the Belmont Stakes on June 7, trainer David Hofmans is optimistic that his colt will be able to run in the $1-million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 3.

Touch Gold was scheduled to work this week at Hollywood Park, but the drill was called off because of the same hoof problem that he had before the Belmont. The crack on his left foreleg was patched before his victory in New York, which deprived Silver Charm of a Triple Crown sweep. Silver Charm is scheduled to run in the Haskell.

“My horse ran a mile and a half in the Belmont, so he doesn’t need much work to get ready for the Haskell,” Hofmans said. “I’d say three workouts would be about right, and then we’d ship in to Monmouth just before the race. I’m shooting for a work here next week, say Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Horse Racing Notes

Alex Solis, who hasn’t ridden Sharp Cat since she broke her maiden with a win in 1996 at Del Mar, will be aboard Sunday in the $200,000 Hollywood Oaks. Gary Stevens, who has been riding Sharp Cat, will be sidelined until mid-July after undergoing knee surgery Monday. . . . One of Sharp Cat’s rivals Sunday is Star Of Goshen, who was undefeated before stumbling out of the gate and finishing second at 1-20 odds in the Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 24. Star Of Goshen lost her right hind shoe leaving the gate. . . . Others entered in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks are Famous Digger, Majestical Moment, Tomorrows Sunshine, Freeport Flight and Really Happy. . . . Hollywood Park will participate in Jockeys Across America Day today, when tracks around the country help the Jockeys’ Guild raise funds for the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund for injured and disabled riders. . . . Apprentice Felipe Valdez scored his first victory Friday, aboard Liberty Town in the third race. Valdez, 19, is from Zacatecas, Mexico.