Silver Charm Is Out of Gold Cup

For the second time this year, Silver Charm has become a late withdrawal from a $1-million race. This time the colt’s defection will cost Hollywood Park the chance to showcase the three best older horses in the country in Sunday’s Hollywood Gold Cup.

Silver Charm has a fever, discovered Wednesday morning at the colt’s barn at Santa Anita, and that leaves Hollywood Park with Skip Away, last year’s champion older horse, and Gentlemen, the winner of last year’s Gold Cup. Four or five other horses might enter the 1 1/4-mile race when post positions are drawn this morning.

Silver Charm’s temperature, which is taken every day, reached 102 degrees Wednesday, more than a degree above normal. In between, the 1,219-pound gray, normally a voracious eater, stayed away from his grain. Later, trainer Bob Baffert was told that Silver Charm’s white-cell blood count was running about three points above normal.

“He should be all right in five days or so,” Baffert said, “but it would be risking a disaster--maybe pneumonia--to run him. We just couldn’t take a chance. Those that don’t know me will be saying that we really didn’t want to run. Those who do know me know that that wouldn’t be my style--saying I’m going to run and then backing off.”

It wasn’t until last Friday that Baffert indicated Silver Charm might run in the Gold Cup. Last year’s Kentucky Derby-Preakness winner worked brilliantly Tuesday, going five furlongs in 58 3/5 seconds, and had no problems until early Wednesday.

Gentlemen beat Skip Away 13 months ago in the Pimlico Special, but they’ve never had a rematch, and Silver Charm has never run against either of them.

“There must be a force out there that’s keeping these horses apart,” Baffert said. “This bug is something Silver Charm could have caught at Churchill Downs, where some of my horses had it, or he might have caught it at Santa Anita, where some of my 2-year-olds have been sick.”

After running second to Awesome Again in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill on June 13, Silver Charm was flown to California last Sunday. He was scheduled to run against Gentlemen in the Santa Anita Handicap in March, but bruised a foot the day before the race. Bleeding in the race, heavily favored Gentlemen finished last in a four-horse field as his stablemate, Malek, took the $600,000 winner’s share.

“It’s a setback, but at least it’s not physical,” Baffert said. “I’m disappointed more for Hollywood Park than myself, because having all three horses would have given them a great shot in the arm.”

Baffert wouldn’t speculate about Silver Charm’s schedule. The $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 15 is a possibility, but Baffert said that the colt would need a prep in order to run in that spot. There’s a race for older horses, the San Diego Handicap, at Del Mar on July 25. It can be warm at Del Mar and Silver Charm doesn’t respond well to hot weather.

“I’ll have to talk to [co-owner] Bob Lewis before we make any plans,” Baffert said.

Skip Away is due to arrive from New York late this morning. He has earned $8.3 million for owner Carolyn Hine, whose husband, Sonny, trains the 5-year-old. Last weekend, Skip Away became iffy for the Gold Cup when swelling developed in both forelegs, but he has recovered and worked six furlongs at Belmont Park in a sharp 1:11 1/5 Tuesday.

“It’s a shame,” Sonny Hine said of Silver Charm’s departure from the Gold Cup. “There goes the race of the century, doesn’t it? I’m glad it’s him instead of me, but I feel bad for the horse and all his connections.”

With Silver Charm out, Gary Stevens regains the mount on Gentlemen. Before Wednesday’s development, Stevens would have ridden Silver Charm on Sunday and Corey Nakatani would have been aboard Gentlemen.