Bailey Is Hoping Congaree Is as Good as Gold

More than 25,000 mounts ago, Jerry Bailey rode his first horse in the Hollywood Gold Cup. That ride is not cherished, nor even memorable.

“Who was the horse?” Bailey asked during a telephone interview from New York this week.

Told that he rode Legendario III in the 1977 Gold Cup, Bailey was still stumped.

“Who was the trainer?” Bailey asked.

Legendario III finished eighth for Charlie Whittingham, beaten by about 12 lengths at 54-1.

“That didn’t happen to Charlie very often in big races like that,” said Bailey, who was only 19, searching for a sticking point and in the midst of a brief, unsuccessful fling with California racing.

After winning with only 12 of 160 mounts at Hollywood Park that season, he backtracked to the East Coast, where he has carved a Hall of Fame career underscored by more than 5,469 victories and $251 million in purses.

After Legendario III, Bailey had no place to go but up in the Gold Cup, and during the 1990s, as a New York-based rider, he invaded the Inglewood track with some of the era’s best horses. He has won the stake four times and has a chance for a fifth on Sunday when he’s reunited with Congaree, the 8-5 morning-line favorite.

Bailey has won three stakes with Congaree, more than any of the six other jockeys who have ridden the 5-year-old for trainer Bob Baffert. Bailey, on his way to a third consecutive national money title with $10.5 million in purses, will be riding another Baffert trainee, During, in the $400,000 Swaps Stakes on Sunday and has the mount on the top-weighted You for trainer Bobby Frankel in the $250,000 A Gleam Invitational Handicap.

The Gold Cup is worth $750,000, with $450,000 going to the winner. All four times Bailey won the race -- with Sultry Song in 1992, Cigar in 1995, Skip Away in 1998 and Real Quiet in 1999 -- the 1 1/4-mile stake was worth $1 million. Cigar and Skip Away were voted horse of the year in the years they won.

Like Skip Away, Congaree has scored most of his 10 victories as the pace-setter. But there’s little in the way of a comparison between Skip Away and Congaree, according to Bailey.

“Skip Away was a horse with a high cruising speed,” Bailey said. “Congaree is a horse who, if you’d let him, would give you that high speed all the way around the track. If you’re running short with Congaree, you’ve got no worry, because he’s usually just faster than the other horses. But going long, you’ve got to try to turn off his engine a little bit. The more I’ve ridden him, the better he’s been at relaxing.”

Starting late last year, at Aqueduct, Bailey won three consecutive races with Congaree. When he won the Cigar Mile in November, it was the first time Bailey had ridden the horse since they had finished third together in the 2001 Preakness. Two weeks before the Preakness, when Victor Espinoza rode him, Congaree ran the opening mile in 1:35, second-fastest in Kentucky Derby history, and was around for third place, behind Monarchos and Invisible Ink, in the 1 1/4-mile race.

Bailey’s win streak aboard Congaree ended in March, when they led most of the way before losing by a head to Milwaukee Brew in the 1 1/4-mile Santa Anita Handicap. In April, Congaree was shortened to seven furlongs and won the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct, then in May, in the one-mile Metropolitan Handicap, he led into the stretch before finishing sixth as the 4-5 favorite over a sloppy track. That was an unlikely outcome for a horse who had finished in the money 15 times in 18 career starts.

Gary Stevens rode Congaree in his last two starts as Bailey switched to Frankel’s Aldebaran, who was second in the Carter and won the Metropolitan. Stevens, trying to catch up with Bailey, is seeking his fourth Gold Cup as he rides Piensa Sonando, the second-place finisher in the Californian on June 14.

“Going a mile and a quarter,” Bailey said, “you’re going to need to drop the bridle at some point on Congaree. Otherwise, he’s not going to go that far. As he’s gotten older, he’s not as keen as he used to be. He’s easier to rate now.”

Sky Jack’s gate-to-wire win last year was the 11th in Gold Cup history and the first since Bailey’s victory aboard Skip Away five years ago. In Sunday’s field, Western Pride and Golden Ticket may have designs on winning the same way.

“I would think that Congaree could get to a horse like Western Pride any time I want to pull the trigger,” Bailey said. “The thing I don’t want to do is pull that trigger too soon.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Bailey’s Record

Jerry Bailey’s record in the Hollywood Gold Cup:

*--* Year Horse Odds Fin 1977 Legendario III 54-1 8th 1990 Mi Selecto 26-1 6th 1992 Sultry Song 9-1 1st 1994 Arcangues 2-1 5th 1995 Cigar 9-10 1st 1996 Geri 17-10 2nd 1998 Skip Away 2-5 1st 1999 Real Quiet 9-10 1st

*--*

Sunday’s Race

When: 5:43 p.m.

TV: ESPN2 (Coverage starts at 5 p.m.)