A Silver Charm Win No Lead-Pipe Cinch

Silver Charm might be the 8-5 morning-line favorite to win today’s $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park, but there are enough pre-race drawbacks to give trainer Bob Baffert some concern.

It’s always the way with a preeminent horse; the naysayers--and longshot players--line up to recite the ways he can get beaten. Here’s what the nays are saying about Silver Charm in Florida:

* He has flown cross-country to run over a track he has never tried before.

* He’s carrying 126 pounds, six to 16 pounds more than the 11 other horses in the field.

* He has drawn the outside post position.

* Other than last year’s Dubai World Cup, he hasn’t won a Grade I race since the Preakness in 1997.

The post position concerns Baffert the most. From the No. 12 hole, Silver Charm won’t be able to utilize the newly developed, far-back running style that netted him a win in the San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita three weeks ago.

“[Jockey Gary Stevens] is going to have to go,” Baffert said. “But Gary’s a great rider and he’ll figure something out. Great horses find a way to win, but this is going to make it more interesting.”

Only two high weights--Skip Away last year and Cigar in 1996--have won the last eight runnings of the 1 1/8-mile Donn. In 1997, Skip Away, the high weight at 123 pounds, was beaten by Formal Gold, carrying 113.

Sir Bear, carrying 120 pounds and winner of the Broward Handicap at Gulfstream on Jan. 9, is second on the morning line at 4-1. At 6-1, also carrying 120, is Puerto Madero, another California shipper, who’ll be ridden by Kent Desormeaux for trainer Richard Mandella. Mike Smith, sidelined since last August after suffering a broken back in a spill at Saratoga, returns to action at Gulfstream today and will ride longshot Truluck in the Donn.

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About five strides past the finish line after winning November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Answer Lively was being widely dismissed as the possible winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby.

For good reason. Since Chief’s Crown won the first Juvenile in 1984, none of the Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old winners have returned a year later to win the Derby. Answer Lively might win the Eclipse Award for best 2-year-old male--that announcement is scheduled for Feb. 16--but many Nevada future books have tabbed Exploit, the undefeated Santa Anita colt, as the early favorite for the Derby.

Jerry Bailey, who rode Answer Lively in the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, will not be aboard when the colt makes his 3-year-old debut today in the $100,000 LeComte Handicap at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Bailey is honoring a commitment to ride Sir Bear in the Donn.

Bobby Barnett, who trains Answer Lively for breeder-owner John Franks, probably would have gone to Pat Day next, but Day is also busy in the Donn, riding Frisk Me Now at 10-1. So the assignment on Answer Lively has gone to Robby Albarado, who won 269 races last year, ranking ninth nationally.

In a 14-horse field, Answer Lively is 6-5 on the morning line, followed by Mountain Range at 4-1.

Horse Racing Notes

There are more races on Sunday for developing 3-year-olds in California and Florida. At Santa Anita, General Challenge, undefeated in two starts, will try two turns for the first time in the 1/16-mile Santa Catalina Stakes. Others in the field are Mr. Broad Blade, Charismatic, Light Fingered, Brilliancy, Brave Gun, Buck Trout and Bright Valour. . . . At Gulfstream Park, Cat Thief, running for the first time since a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, faces Texas Glitter, undefeated Bet Me Best and five others in the seven-furlong Hutcheson. . . . Kona Gold, 2-5 in today’s Palos Verdes Handicap at Santa Anita, makes his first start since breaking the track record by running 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:01 3/5 in the El Conejo Handicap on Jan. 3. . . . Serena’s Song, whose $3.2 million in race earnings is the record for a female, foaled a filly by Storm Cat last Monday and will be mated with Deputy Minister this breeding season.