Favored Old Trieste Running Like New

Trainer Mike Puype’s barn needed to get out of Kentucky badly. Puype was a day away from the sky falling down.

This was late May at Churchill Downs, and not only was Puype not winning any races for Gary Biszantz’s Cobra Farm, he was also having trouble just getting the horses to the entry box. There was a full catalog of problems: chipped knees, bruised feet, broken legs, an ulcer (not Puype’s) and breathing disorders.

“We were brutally beat up, but it had nothing to do with the condition of the track,” Puype said. “So many different things happened, it could not have been related to the track. Some trainers like to blame the track, just to stay out of hot water with their owners, but I couldn’t do that. The barn went cold for all sorts of reasons.”

Now perhaps the barn is on the cusp of a second-half recovery. Old Trieste is back, the likely favorite Sunday in the $500,000 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. Lord Grillo, who beat Silver Charm at Santa Anita, could be a factor by the end of the year. Biszantz can’t wait. Cobra Farm’s horses earned more than $2 million last year but have won only a handful of races this year.

By itself, the Swaps would not be complete relief, but it would help. Old Trieste is not up to running the classic distances--he proved that in the Kentucky Derby--but the 1 1/8 miles of the Swaps should be within his range.

Both his sire (A.P. Indy) and his grandsire (Seattle Slew) won horse-of-the-year titles, and his dam (Lovlier Linda) won seven stakes. All that pedigree ought to count for something.

Puype’s hard luck started well before Churchill Downs. Last winter at Santa Anita, a virus snaked its way through the barn, stinging Lord Grillo and Old Trieste. By the time Puype got Old Trieste cranked up, it was Santa Anita Derby day, but the colt was ready only for a mile race on the undercard. He won by 10 lengths in 1:34 3/5, with jockey Chris McCarron not needing to his whip.

What then? Puype and Biszantz had a horse that was peaking. They thought about the 1 1/4-mile Derby or the shorter Preakness two weeks later, then settled on the Derby.

Six days before the race, Old Trieste worked six furlongs in a very quick 1:09.

He was 32-1 when the Derby gate opened, and despite a stumbling start, no one could touch him for six furlongs. The first half-mile was a very fast 45 3/5. Spend A Buck, in 1983, ran a half in 45 4/5 and still won, but few horses do that in the Derby.

“That was like running a half in 44 at Hollywood Park,” Puype said.

With the quarter pole in sight, Old Trieste cashed in his chips. Nine horses finished in front of him, and he was beaten by 24 lengths.

“He lost some weight, but actually he didn’t come back that worse for the wear,” Puype said. “The barn was beat up, but the real reason we left Churchill was to find some spots where Old Trieste could run. They had a mile race in Kentucky, the Northern Dancer, but that wasn’t a graded stake.”

Old Trieste’s first race since the Derby was Hollywood Park’s Affirmed Handicap, a Grade III a month ago, and Puype’s colt beat three rivals to win by 4 1/2 lengths at 1 1/16 miles. After Robby Albarado rode him in the Derby, McCarron was back aboard, and he has the mount again Sunday.

The division’s heavy hitters got better offers. The Swaps was won by Free House last year and by Thunder Gulch, after his Derby and Belmont wins, in 1995. But this time the 3-year-old leaders are being primed for Monmouth Park’s Haskell, or Saratoga, or both. The Swaps is $500,000 and a Grade II, while the Haskell, on Aug. 9, is $1 million and a Grade I. Not much choice for a trainer with a top horse.

Monmouth hopes to get Real Quiet, the Derby and Preakness winner; Victory Gallop, the Belmont winner; Coronado’s Quest, better-behaved and better of foot than he was at the time of the Triple Crown; and maybe even defending horse-of-the-year Favorite Trick, whose distance limitations are not unlike Old Trieste’s.

To win the Swaps, Old Trieste must beat Old Topper, who couldn’t outfinish him in the Affirmed; Shot Of Gold, who won the Northern Dancer race that Puype skipped; and Grand Slam, who has crossed the country for the third time in his star-crossed career. Others in the field are Availability and Lord Smith, a British-bred who has won seven of 12 starts, all on grass.

Horse Racing Notes

Today’s pick six comes with a guaranteed pool of $1.5 million. When Hollywood Park offered a guaranteed $1 million on June 14, the pool reached a track-record $3.3 million and the 35 perfect tickets were worth more than $53,000 apiece. Today Hollywood has signed on more betting outlets, including New York. . . . Besides Sunday’s Swaps, the Sunset Handicap and the Hollywood Juvenile, Hollywood has also named a race after singer Tony Martin and dancer Cyd Charisse, who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. . . . Favorite Trick runs Sunday in the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth. . . . Classic Cat and Hot Wells are running Sunday in the $300,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown.