Del Mar Has Been Perfect Spot for Skimming

Except for two star-crossed invasions of Belmont Park, Skimming has run well at every track trainer Bobby Frankel has taken him to since the horse arrived from Europe early last year. But Skimming has taken on a mystique of invincibility at Del Mar, an aura that will be severely tested today in the 11th running of the $1-million Pacific Classic.

Skimming has made no false steps in three starts at Del Mar. The first time he ran here, in August of last year, Garrett Gomez shot him to the front and he kept right on going for an eight-length win in the San Diego Handicap.

Three weeks later, carrying 124 pounds, 12 more than he was assigned for his Del Mar debut, Skimming won the Pacific Classic by two lengths over Tiznow, destined to become horse of the year.

This summer, Skimming came back to Del Mar to win the San Diego Handicap again, this time by only one length as Futural ran a solid second. They are the two favorites for today’s 11/4-mile test, Skimming listed at 8-5 by linemaker Jeff Tufts and Futural at 9-5.

The rest of the six-horse field includes Captain Steve, who has earned $6.7 million; Dixie Dot Com, with $1.1 million in the bank; Until Sundown, a stakes-winning 3-year-old trying older horses for the first time; and the underachieving old warrior Dig For It, whose camp acknowledges that a second-or third-place finish would be fine.

Trained by Andre Fabre and Barry Hills at the start of his career, Skimming kicked around France and England and won only one of six starts. His first four defeats were on grass, a surface he’s never run on again.

Sent to Frankel by Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, Skimming won his first race, at Santa Anita, in April of last year. Overall in the United States, he has six wins, three losses and one third in 12 outings. Last year in New York, he fired two blanks--beating only one rival in the four-horse Woodward and running last in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

He took 61/2 months off, then came back strong this year.

Futural has been in his face every race, with Skimming running second in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at Hollywood and third in the Hollywood Gold Cup besides his wins in the Californian at Hollywood and the San Diego Handicap here. In the Gold Cup, however, Futural interfered with Skimming and the stewards awarded the win to Aptitude, another Frankel trainee, who had finished second.

Neither Frankel nor Gomez, who has ridden Skimming seven times, winning four, can pinpoint why he has had a perfect record at Del Mar. In general, Del Mar, with a short, 919-foot stretch, favors a horse with Skimming’s front-running style.

“He obviously likes the footing at Del Mar, and maybe the salt air agrees with him too,” said Frankel, who’s five Pacific Classics. “He runs the turns real well, and then when he turns for home the wire’s practically right there.”

The way Skimming handles Del Mar’s main track, he reminds Frankel of Wickerr, a former claimer who twice won the Eddie Read Handicap, besides two other stakes, here in 1981-82.

“Wickerr loved it at Del Mar too,” Frankel said. “I don’t know what it is, but sometimes certain horses just thrive at certain tracks.”

Skimming gave Gomez, 29, his first win in a $1-million race.

“Skimming’s a surfer guy, I think that’s why he likes it down here,” Gomez joked. “Maybe he finds the air more relaxing. Whatever it is, he’s a different horse than he was last year. Early last year, he was very aggressive, but I think he’s learning how to run now. He responds to pressure better than he used to. Once he’s been exposed to the limelight, it’s made a better horse out of him.”

Skimming won’t be expected to coast to an easy early lead today. Just about every other horse in the race has the tactical speed to sit just off his lead and then try to outfoot him through the stretch.

Dixie Dot Com has won both of his shorter races this year on the lead, but his trainer, Bill Morey Jr., doesn’t want him to go to the front. At Prairie Meadows in Iowa last month, Dixie Dot Com couldn’t hold the lead and finished second to the Frankel-trained Euchre.

“I’m going to make sure that [jockey David Flores] understands what we want to do in this one,” Morey said. “I didn’t think he rode him that well in Iowa. Every time my horse has been beaten at a mile and an eighth, it’s been when he was on the lead or too close to the pace.”

Dixie Dot Com has never won at today’s distance. Craig Dollase, who trains Futural, isn’t worried about the 11/4 miles, not after his 5-year-old gelding’s short-lived win at Hollywood Park.

“The mile and a quarter will suit him,” Dollase said. “There should be enough pace to go with Skimming. I think Chris [McCarron] should put my horse in a good spot. If he gets a clean break, we’ll be OK.”

Frankel won the Pacific Classic four consecutive times, starting with Missionary Ridge in 1992. Bertrando gave him another win in 1993 and Tinners Way, who also raced for Juddmonte, won in 1994-95. A repeat by Skimming would fill Frankel’s six-pack.

“Winning a race like this five times is something you never expect to do,” he said. “I’m thrilled that I’ve been able to do as well in this race as I’ve done. Starting out, just one or two of these wins would have made me happy.”