Baffert Must Settle for $1-Million Win

Trainer Bob Baffert had won a $1-million Breeders’ Cup race, but the $4.6-million race got away.

Baffert’s Silverbulletday won the Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on Saturday, but at the end of the day, Silver Charm ran second in the Classic. With the defeat went Silver Charm’s chances for horse of the year.

“Silver Charm ran out of gas in the stretch,” Baffert said. “We were on a roller-coaster to get here, and second in the Classic still isn’t bad. Horses beat horses. The horse that won, Awesome Again, just loves this track.”

Silver Charm won the 1997 Derby at Churchill Downs, but has now been beaten by Awesome again twice here this year.

“Silver Charm had to do some serious running early, and he got tired at the end,” Baffert said. “At the eighth pole, after we put Swain away, I thought we might be in good shape. Still, I thought we had a chance until about 50 yards to go. My horse still did some heavy-duty running.

Gentlemen, supplemented into the race for $800,000, finished last in the 10-horse field and was eased by jockey Corey Nakatani through the stretch.

“He was doing great, but as we hit the far turn, he started trying to [lug] out,” Nakatani said. “He just wasn’t getting hold of the track. I tried to get him back into the race. I hit him a few times, and he didn’t respond.”

Trainer Richard Mandella said Gentlemen suffered pulmonary bleeding, even though he was running with Lasix, a diuretic that frequently helps bleeders.

“He’s not in desperate shape,” Mandella said, “but he bled significantly. He was smart enough to protect himself.”

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Swain twice dumped his jockey, Frankie Dettori, in the Classic post parade. . . . Daylami was scratched from the Turf because of a fever and Bag Lady Jane, owned by Frank Stronach, was knocked out of the Juvenile Fillies because of a bruised foot.