Byrne’s Possibilities Looking Awesome After Whitney Win

A week before they try to win Del Mar’s richest race, bicoastal trainer Patrick Byrne and his jockey, Pat Day, made easy pickings of Saturday’s $400,000 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, where Awesome Again romped to a three-length victory.

The assignment for the two Pats next Saturday--the $1-million Pacific Classic--figures to be more daunting, even though Byrne’s starter will be Touch Gold, a 4-year-old colt whose foot problems seem to be behind him. When Touch Gold didn’t have bad hoofs last year, he was one of the best around, and he is on the cusp of that form now. Gentlemen, winner of the Pacific Classic last year, will test Touch Gold here, along with Free House, Puerto Madero and several others.

Frank Stronach, the Austrian-born, Canadian-based industrialist who races Awesome Again and Touch Gold, could be loaded by Breeders’ Cup time in November if Byrne can keep both colts rolling. Awesome Again is considered the second-stringer in the stable, but what a bench. His victory in the Whitney, Saratoga’s showcase race for older horses, came on the heels of a win at the expense of Silver Charm at Churchill Downs.

“This was a marvelous performance by a very good horse,” Day said.

He never used his whip Saturday, putting away Tale Of The Cat, who finished second, three lengths ahead of Crypto Star. Awesome Again, carrying 117 pounds, two less than the top-weighted Frisk Me Now, paid $4.80 as the favorite, running 1 1/8 miles in 1:49 3/5.

Awesome Again, second most of the way, edged ahead of Tale Of The Cat and Julie Krone with an eighth of a mile left, and up in the box seats Byrne turned to Stronach and said they were in.

“That’s a bad habit of mine,” Byrne said later, “but this time it worked out.”

After Awesome Again made the lead, Tale Of The Cat came on near the three-eighths pole to edge in front briefly.

“I wasn’t sure at that point what my horse had left in the tank,” Day said. “But as it turned out, it was pretty easy. He won with something in reserve.”

Awesome Again’s career began in California, where he was trained by David Hofmans, who also handled Touch Gold until Stronach hired Byrne as his private trainer this year. In his second start, Awesome Again broke his maiden with a six-length victory at Hollywood Park in June of last year. From there, the Canadian-bred went on to win the Queens Plate at Woodbine and the Jim Dandy at Saratoga. The Whitney was Awesome Again’s sixth victory in nine starts and the $240,000 purse pushed his earnings to almost $1.3 million.

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Before he left Del Mar, Byrne worked Touch Gold on Thursday in a sharp 1:12 4/5 for six furlongs.

“He’s right on schedule,” Byrne said. “I won’t have to do much with him between now and the race. The track is deep and cuppy here, and I wanted to get him familiar with it.”

Because of a disagreement that Stronach had with Saratoga officials over stall space, Byrne’s horses have remained at Churchill Downs, a track that’s not running, and the trainer ships them to their races.

“Last year, I left Churchill with the horses and went to Hollywood Park early for the Breeders’ Cup,” Byrne said. “That was because it was getting cold in Kentucky and it might have been hard to train there. This time, with Touch Gold, I’m in California early partly because of the heat in Kentucky.”

With Favorite Trick and Countess Diana, Byrne won both juvenile Breeders’ Cup races at Hollywood. Favorite Trick was later voted horse of the year, but after that Byrne gave up the colt and his other outside horses to sign on with Stronach.

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A year ago, trainer Bob Baffert won races right and left with 2-year-olds at Del Mar. When the seven-week meet ended, they tallied up 13 juvenile winners for Baffert, and that was without any wins from Real Quiet, who turned into this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner.

This season, however, Baffert’s 2-year-olds had been disappointing. He raced nine of them without winning until his fillies, Silverbulletday and Excellent Meeting, ran 1-2 Saturday in the $108,300 Sorrento Stakes.

Silverbulletday, who beat her stablemate by two lengths, is owned by Mike Pegram, who also races Real Quiet. The 6 1/2-furlong Sorrento was Silverbulletday’s third straight victory, and her first in California. She has already won one Debutante this year, at Churchill Downs, and she’s now expected to try the similarly named Del Mar stake on Aug. 29.

Silverbulletday and Gary Stevens hit the wire in 1:17 2/5, paying $3.40 as the heavy favorite.

Horse Racing Notes

Gary Stevens, who has won seven stakes at Del Mar, will be at Monmouth Park today to ride Victory Gallop, the even-money favorite and 125-pound high weight, in the $1-million Haskell Invitational. . . . Stevens will ride Lazy Lode, an Argentine-bred who has run only once in the U.S., in the Pacific Classic, with the mount on Gentlemen going to Corey Nakatani. Stevens has been the rider for 10 of Gentlemen’s last 11 races, including the win in last year’s Pacific Classic, but because of his allegiances to Silver Charm this year, Nakatani gets the call on Gentlemen for the first time since they won the Bay Meadows Handicap in September of 1996. . . . Goncalino Almeida’s win in the ninth race was his first since March at Santa Anita. He was winless with 60 mounts at the recent Hollywood Park meet. . . . Chris McCarron, who rides 2-1 favorite Advancing Star today, will try to win the Rancho Bernardo Handicap for the fourth consecutive year and the eighth time overall. McCarron’s last three Rancho Rancho Bernardo wins were with Track Gal.