A Little Bruise Leaves Big Hole in the Big ‘Cap

On the other end of the phone, Bob Lewis’ voice lacked its usual buoyant tone.

“I’m devastated,” the Newport Beach beer distributor said late Friday morning. “[Trainer] Bob Baffert called not too long ago, and it was so bad for him that he handed the phone to somebody else.”

Accepting Baffert’s recommendation, Lewis agreed to scratch Silver Charm from today’s $1-million Santa Anita Handicap after their 4-year-old colt returned from a routine gallop with a bruised hoof.

Without Silver Charm, the race goes from the year’s most ballyhooed to a most lackluster Big ‘Cap. It now has heavily favored Gentlemen and three other horses in cameo roles.

The injury, to the inside of Silver Charm’s right front hoof, is minor and not career threatening, but coming on the eve of the 1 1/4-mile race, Baffert had no choice.

“It’s the kind of thing that might go away with a little time,” Baffert said. “But since we don’t know that for sure, we had to scratch.”

Silver Charm, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness last year and winner of two of three starts this season at Santa Anita, had been installed as the 4-5 favorite for today’s race, with Gentlemen listed at even money. Now the morning line on Gentlemen drops to 1-9, the lowest preliminary odds for a horse at Santa Anita in 15 years. Trainer Richard Mandella’s Argentine-bred will carry 125 pounds, spotting his three opponents 10-15 pounds.

Mandella saw Silver Charm galloping Friday. Gentlemen had already finished his gallop, having run an eighth of a mile “eye-opener” through the stretch and was back at his barn.

“I saw him, but I didn’t hear about the injury until much later,” Mandella said. “I feel terrible for the Lewises [Bob and his wife Beverly] and Bob Baffert. This eliminates all of our great fears that we might not have the better horse. It helps my situation, but it’s sad for the sport.”

Mandella will wind up saddling half the field, starting Malek as well as Gentlemen. The other entrants are Bagshot and Don’t Blame Rio. Only one other Santa Anita Handicap has had only four runners. In 1988, Alysheba edged out Ferdinand while Super Diamond and Judge Angelucci trailed.

The purse distribution for today’s first four finishers is $600,000, $200,000, $120,000 and $60,000, with fifth money of $20,000 going back to Santa Anita.

Silver Charm’s defection was a bleak birthday greeting for Gary Stevens, who turned 35 Friday. The Hall of Fame jockey, who has been riding Silver Charm and Gentlemen, last week chose the younger horse in what he said was the toughest decision he has ever been asked to make. Mandella said that Pat Day, en route Friday from Florida, where he rides at Gulfstream Park, would still ride Gentlemen.

Baffert would not speculate when Silver Charm might run next.

Silver Charm lost to Touch Gold by three-quarters of a length in last year’s Belmont Stakes, costing his handlers a $5-million bonus and the first Triple Crown sweep in 19 years.

“This is a tragedy,” Bob Lewis said. “We lost the Triple Crown, and we withstood that, so I’m sure we’ll come through this in great fashion too. But we’re not happy. We could have given him some Bute [an anti-inflammatory agent] and run him, and I’m sure he would have run his heart out, like he always does. But that wouldn’t have been fair to anyone, especially the horse. We don’t want to do anything that would compromise the horse’s future.”

Cliff Goodrich, president of Santa Anita, estimated that the absence of a Silver Charm-Gentlemen battle will reduce today’s crowd by 5,000-10,000 fans. The track had hoped to reach the 40,000 mark.

In recent years, the Santa Anita Handicap has been snake-bitten in its attempts to run the best horses. In 1995, Holy Bull, the horse of the year in 1994, was headed for California but suffered a career-ending injury at Gulfstream Park. In 1996, Cigar, another horse of the year, missed the Big ‘Cap because of a foot injury similar to Silver Charm’s. Last year, Alphabet Soup, who had won the Breeders’ Cup Classic, was sidelined.

Some trainers had rerouted their horses this week because the Big ‘Cap looked to be too tough. There’s a California contingent that includes Deputy Commander, Refinado Tom, Lord Cromby and Da Bull running Sunday in the $500,000 New Orleans Handicap at the Fair Grounds.

Mandella, who trains Refinado Tom, had another horse, Tru Story, eligible for the Santa Anita Handicap.

“About a week ago, Gary [Mandella’s son and assistant] asked if we might run Tru Story at Santa Anita,” Mandella said. “He said that if anybody scratched, the horse might have a shot at part of the purse. I said no. It’s an old story isn’t it? Sometimes the young ones know more than we do.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

SANTA ANITA HANDICAP

* When: Post 4:15 p.m. today.

* Where: Santa Anita Park

* Television: 5:30 p.m., Fox Sports West.

THE FIELD

The Santa Anita Handicap field, in post position order: *--*

Horse Jockey Wt. Odds Malek Solis 115 8-1 Gentlemen Day 125 1-9 Don’t Blame Rio Desormeaux 110 20-1 Bagshot Nakatani 112 10-1

*--*