Victory Gallop Set for Classic

Victory Gallop, the leading candidate for horse of the year, is scheduled to be flown to California today to begin preparation for the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 29.

The 4-year-old son of Cryptoclearance will make his California debut in the Classic after beating Behrens by a nose in winning the Whitney Handicap last Sunday at Saratoga.

The win was Victory Gallop’s second in a row. He won the Stephen Foster Handicap in June in what turned out to be Silver Charm’s final start.

Real Quiet, who defeated Victory Gallop in two of the three Triple Crown races in 1998, is also being trained for the Pacific Classic.

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Tuzla, a multiple stakes-winning mare, has been sold by David Milch to Robert and Janice McNair’s Stonerside Stable for a price reported to be more than $1 million.

A winner of 11 of 18 races and with earnings of more than $734,000, Tuzla--a 5-year-old mare--has been transferred from trainer Julio Canani’s barn to that of Bob Baffert.

Tuzla could run in next Wednesday’s $125,000 Palomar Handicap, a race she won last year. The long-term objective would be the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Horse Racing Notes

Budroyale tops a field of four in Saturday’s $250,000 San Diego Handicap, a prep for the Pacific Classic. In his last start, Budroyale was second to Real Quiet in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Also entered in the San Diego Handicap are Mazel Trick and two horses trained by Baffert--River Keen and Tibado. Mazel Trick won the Triple Bend Breeders’ Cup Handicap and River Keen was victorious in the Bel Air Handicap, both races at Hollywood Park. . . . Four races after the San Diego Handicap, Chilukki, a 2-year-old filly who is unbeaten in three starts--makes her California debut against five others in the $150,000 Sorrento Stakes. . . . Trainer Walter Greenman is scheduled today to have brain surgery for a tumor. Bulls And Bears, a horse trained by Greenman, won the eighth race at Del Mar Thursday.