Silver Charm Manages to Brush Off Mud

Two men in dark-blue business suits stood on the track at Santa Anita, minutes after Saturday’s $215,200 San Fernando Stakes had been run.

Bob Lewis waited while his horse, the victorious Silver Charm, circled in front of the crowd with Gary Stevens still aboard. Lewis would lead the gray colt into the winner’s circle.

Not far away was trainer Ron McAnally, whose Mud Route, in only his sixth race, was not easily beaten. Only a length separated Silver Charm and Mud Route at the end of the 1 1/16 miles.

McAnally pointed to Silver Charm. “That colt’s put on a lot of weight,” he said. “He’s not a baby. Our horse is still a baby. He got hurt [sore shins] last year and had all that time off. Silver Charm’s a mature horse. Our horse is still learning.”

Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness last year, and had recently been voted top 3-year-old male for 1997, but he still had something to prove. Three weeks ago, after a blood disorder had sent him to the sidelines for more than six months, Silver Charm returned to action and was beaten by Lord Grillo in the Malibu Stakes. But that was only a seven-furlong dash, and Silver Charm’s trip was fraught with four-legged obstacles.

This time, three horses were scratched, the San Fernando was trimmed to four and Mud Route and Silver Charm were cat and mouse all the way.

“We were in the garden spot,” said Bob Baffert, who trains Silver Charm for Bob and Beverly Lewis. “At the three-eighths pole, we put pressure on Mud Route earlier than expected. I think [Chris McCarron] was trying to steal the race with Mud Route at the three-eighths. If Gary had waited any more with my horse, he might have had a tough time. But at the eighth pole, I felt pretty good. My horse gets within a half-length at the eighth pole and he’ll fight it out. He’s gutsy, he’s got heart. That’s what makes him a champion.”

A year ago, Santa Anita drew 13,000 fans, but Saturday’s crowd was 18,214. On opening day, for the Malibu, the count was 39,683. When Touch Gold beat Silver Charm in the Belmont Stakes, spoiling a sweep of the Triple Crown, the crowd was more than 70,000, third highest in the history of Belmont Park.

“Shows what a good horse can do,” said John Van de Kamp, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “What we’ve got to do is keep finding more good horses.”

Lord Grillo, a late runner who sat back in third place, six lengths or more behind, while the pace-setters ran half a mile in :48 2/5 and six furlongs in 1:12 1/5, finished third, beaten by four lengths. Kukulcan, also trained by McAnally, was last. Silver Charm, carrying 122 pounds, six more than Mud Route, paid $2.40 for his 1:41 4/5 clocking, earning $125,520. He has won six of 11 starts, with five seconds, and is less than $60,000 away from the $2-million mark.

The win made for giddy flashbacks in Bob Lewis’ subconscious. At Churchill Downs, Silver Charm had fought off Captain Bodgit in the stretch to win the Kentucky Derby. At Pimlico, Silver Charm outfinished Free House and Captain Bodgit in a tight three-horse battle.

“Didn’t he dig in today?” Lewis said. “It’s phenomenal how cool and calm he was in the saddling area. He’s so laid back, but when you put him out there, he’s really on his game. I don’t want to make any rash predictions, but there’s an exciting year in store.”

Silver Charm never allowed Mud Route to get more than a length and a half out of his sights, and he was on the outside, half a length from the front, at the quarter pole. Silver Charm edged ahead at the eighth pole.

“Any time he’s head and head with a horse, you have quite a bit of confidence he’s not going to get beat,” Stevens said. “He was all-out. Chris’ horse ran a real game race and they sprinted home. I couldn’t have asked my horse to do any more than he did. It was just an awesome performance from the three-eighths pole home, the way those fractions were so soft. We had to come after Mud Route a little early, and it turned into a long sustained drive. Both of our horses just kept picking it up.”

Mud Route was fourth in the Malibu, beaten by 5 1/2 lengths, but McCarron told a dejected McAnally that there would be better days.

“It was an awful good effort on his part,” McCarron said about Saturday’s race. “He did everything he was supposed to do. He had plenty left in the tank when Silver Charm hooked him, but he just got outrun from the eighth pole to the wire. He’s an awfully good horse, and I’ve very encouraged by his race.”

The slow fractions validated the worst fear of Mike Puype, who trains Lord Grillo.

“The pace was a joke,” Puype said. “We’re going to be very tough in the Strub. I’ll take my horse straight up. I won’t trade horses, I’ve got the better horse. I really believe that. [Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye] didn’t change our style, he stayed with the game plan, and it’s going to work for us when we go longer.”

The $500,000 Strub, at 1 1/8 miles, will be run Feb. 7. The first three finishers Saturday are expected to run, and their trainers also have the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap in mind on March 7.

“He was fast enough in this one to get the job done,” Baffert said, “but it didn’t take much out of him. He’s got to get ready to face the older horses, and he’s in the right tempo now.”

Horse Racing Notes

The Bob Baffert barn won two other races Saturday, and will be represented today with Real Quiet, the Hollywood Futurity winner, in the $200,000 Golden Gate Derby at Golden Gate Fields. . . . The Ron McAnally-Chris McCarron combo had better luck in Saturday’s $161,450 San Gorgonio Handicap, which was won by Golden Arches. A half-length back was Ecoute with Gary Stevens.

Horses with an eye on the Florida Derby ran in the $100,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park, where Cape Town and Jerry Bailey held off Comic Strip by half a length. Sweetsouthernsaint, unbeaten in three starts at Calder and the even-money favorite, came from last place to take third, beaten by 1 1/2 lengths. Cape Town, a distant fourth in the Hollywood Prevue in November, has won twice since then. He ran 1 1/16 miles in a slow 1:44 and paid $6.60. “I didn’t know if I had him tight enough to get that last eighth of a mile,” trainer Wayne Lukas said. “That was the encouraging part.”