Classic Purse Is Not Gentle

Not long after Wednesday’s decision had been made, R.D. Hubbard was standing in front of his trainer’s barn at Churchill Downs when his cellular phone rang.

“We’re going in the Classic,” the chairman of Hollywood Park said. “Yeah, we’ve decided to take a shot.”

After Hubbard put the phone away, he said that he was talking to Johnny Jones, the owner of Walmac International, the Lexington, Ky., farm where Gentlemen will stand at stud next year.

Minutes before, Hubbard, the principal owner of Gentlemen, and trainer Richard Mandella had announced they had put up a supplementary fee of $800,000--a Breeders’ Cup record--for the chance to beat Skip Away and Silver Charm in Saturday’s Classic, which will be run for a world-record purse of $5.12 million.

Hubbard and Mandella made up their mind two hours before entry time, the option being to pay only a $200,000 supplement to run in the Mile on grass for a $1-million purse. The Classic, widely considered to be the deepest field ever, is 1 1/4 miles on dirt.

Hubbard had been leaning all along toward running in the Classic, a race Gentlemen missed last year at Hollywood Park because he contracted a virus about two weeks before. This time Mandella seemed to be leaning toward the Mile, conscientiously considering the owners’ outlay of $800,000 for a horse who has a five-race losing streak and hasn’t won in nine months. A month ago, however, Gentlemen was run down by Wagon Limit in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at a sloppy Belmont Park, but still salvaged second, a notch ahead of Skip Away.

Wagon Limit came out of the Classic on Monday after a training injury at Belmont. After Gentlemen was entered Wednesday, joining nine other horses, Mike Battaglia, the Churchill Downs oddsmaker, made Silver Charm an 8-5 favorite on the morning line, with Skip Away at 9-5. Gentlemen, who would have been a slightly shorter opening price in the Mile, is the fourth choice for the Classic at 6-1. Ahead of him at 9-2 are Awesome Again, Touch Gold and Coronado’s Quest, who will run as one betting interest because of crossover ownership. The others entered are Swain, Victory Gallop, Arch and Running Stag.

“This is a daunting task,” Mandella said. “But it’ll be exciting. I just wish we didn’t have to do it to the tune of $800,000. This is a great group of horses. A race like this might not happen again.”

The previous record for a race purse was last year’s $4,030,000 Classic. Skip Away, whose owner, Carolyn Hine, paid a record supplement of $480,000 to run, earned $2,288,000 for his six-length win. That supplement also covered Skip Away this year, but Silver Charm, the 1997 Kentucky Derby winner, is coming in Saturday at a penalty of $480,000 to his owners, Bob and Beverly Lewis.

Most of the supplementary money is added to the purse. The winner is guaranteed at least $2,662,400, which would be higher for Skip Away, Silver Charm and Gentlemen because of their supplementary status. The earnings record for one day belongs to Spend A Buck, who totaled $2.6 million in 1985 when he won $600,000 for winning the Jersey Derby and also banked a $2-million, four-race bonus from Garden State Park.

Mandella has said that Gentlemen, now a 6-year-old, might have lost a step, but Hubbard disagrees.

“I think he’s as good as he was a year ago, before he got sick,” Hubbard said. “The horse deserves the chance. He’s run extremely well the last 2 1/2 years, and if we didn’t go, there’d always be the question of whether he could have won. I told Mandella to use his own best judgment in deciding [which race], as long as he agreed with me.”

By finishing at least third, Skip Away will go over the $10-million mark and break Cigar’s record for earnings in a career. Cigar was retired in 1996, $185 short of $10 million.

Silver Charm’s camp is glad Gentlemen is running in the Classic, but for Sonny Hine, outwardly at least, Mandella’s horse doesn’t make any difference. Hine trains Skip Away and is married to the horse’s owner.

“It’s great that Gentlemen’s in,” said Bob Baffert, Silver Charm’s trainer. “I wanted to see him in there, to assure a steady, honest pace. Skip Away needs somebody to go with him early. Otherwise, he’s so fast that he lulls horses to sleep.”

Skip Away and Gentlemen have met four times, Skip Away winning two of the races and Gentlemen one, with Gentlemen outfinishing Skip Away in the race that neither of them won.

“Mr. Hubbard is a real sportsman for running,” Hine said. “He’s racing for racing. But it doesn’t bother me that he decided to run. If he tries to run with me, he’ll lose his $800,000.”

Horse Racing Notes

Saturday’s other Breeders’ Cup favorites are Royal Anthem, 3-1 in the Turf; Labeeb, 4-1 in the Mile; the entry of Cat Thief, Mountain Range and Tactical Cat, 3-1 in the Juvenile; Silverbulletday, 8-5 in the Juvenile Fillies; Banshee Breeze, 6-5 in the Distaff; and Affirmed Success, 2-1 in the Sprint. . . . Try this one on for size: Labeeb, favored in the Mile, hasn’t been favored in any of his last six starts and has been favored in only three of his 11 starts in North America. . . . If bettors pay attention to his European form, Desert Prince will be the Mile favorite by post time. . . . If that doesn’t fit, try this one: Da Hoss, who barely squeezed into the field, is 6-1 in the Mile. By committee, he was on the also-eligible list until there was a defection, even though he won the race in 1996. . . . Frapper Le Or, 99-1 in the Turf, is believed to be the first Breeders’ Cup starter who has prepped at the leaky-roofed Mountaineer Park in Chester, W.Va. Frapper Le Or was running against $35,000 maiden claimers a year ago and has started his last three races under different trainers. . . . Second place in the Classic is worth $1,024,000.

* SKY IS FALLING

747 parts land on barn with Skip Away and Gentlemen, but no one is hurt. Page 8

* THE DRAW

Post positions for the seven Breeders’ Cup races. Page 8

* HANDICAP

A look at the $2-million Distaff. Page 8