Columnist Ralph Siraco: Silver Charm on track to joining legendary horses

Ralph Siraco

Monday, June 2, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

WHAT DO MODEL Christy Brinkley and thoroughbred Silver Charm have in common?

They are both photogenic and take beautiful pictures.

And, if SIlver Charm wins the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, he'll look like the Mona Lisa to his trainer Bob Baffert, owners Bob and Beverly Lewis and jockey Gary Stevens.

While Christy does most of her work primping and posing at her leisure with the lighting just right, Silver Charm is straining to hold off challengers from right and left in a frantic high-speed photo that would only allow a more orderly pose in the winner's circle for the second shot.

For you see, Silver Charm sits on the brink of racing immortality off a pair of track mug shots spanning from Kentucky to Maryland and, if a third is necessitated in New York, the trio of photos would be more attractive than Christy's entire swimsuit portfolio -- at least to racing fans.

New challengers

But, just like Christy, Silver Charm has plenty of fresh competition waiting to catch the lens of the their public, and they're coming toned up, oiled down and ready to knock off the champ.

As you remember, Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May by a head, holding off a furious stretch charge by Captain Bodgit. Then two weeks later, a repeat cliffhanger resulted when Silver Charm held off Free House and Captain Bodgit to prevail again by a head in the Preakness Stakes, thus giving the gray son of Silver Buck two jewels in thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.

Now the only things that stand in the way of Silver Charm gaining a coveted place in thoroughbred racing history as the 12th American Triple Crown winner is 1 1/2 miles of finely manicured Long Island real estate, Lady Luck and six talented sophomores waiting to start their own portfolios in the Big Apple.

Since horses can't psych out their rivals with verbal soundbites for the 11 o'clock news like their more famous counterparts, the equines "talk their talk" on the race track as they train for the "big game."

Excellent workouts

Free House, third in the Derby and second in the Preakness, started the turf trash talk on Tuesday as he fired the first workout salvo. The gray son of California's newest hot sire Smokester rolled five furlongs over the Belmont Park strip in :58:3. The following day at Churchill Downs, Silver Charm answered with a seven-eighth's work in 1:27:3. Attention returned to New York on Friday when Touch Gold, the trouble-plagued miracle fourth in the Preakness, smoked seven furlongs at Belmont Park in 1:23:4, signaling a satisfying recovery from a left front-quarter injury suffered in the eventful Preakness run.

But it was the Saturday drill by Illinois Derby-winner Wild Rush that may have the normally witty Baffert searching for something to say. The Richard Mandella trainee blazed six furlongs at Hollywood Park in 1:10:4 and prompted Charm pilot Gary Stevens to comment, "He'll be the horse we'll have to keep our eye out for."

Stevens should know, as he rode Wild Rush before switching to Silver Charm for the Santa Anita Derby. As you recall, it was also Stevens who won the 1995 Santa Anita Derby on Larry The Legend and picked up the mount on eventual Derby winner Thunder Gulch after Larry was sidelined with injury.

He could be great

Stevens has ridden many great horses in the past but feels Silver Charm is well on his way to becoming a legend himself.

"I believe this horse is destined for greatness," said racing's newest Hall-of-Famer, adding, "I believe he is going to take a big stride closer to greatness in the Belmont. I knew I had a legitimate Triple Crown horse when I was crossing the finish line after the Kentucky Derby. The reason I say that is because of the way he galloped out after the race.

"My prior two Kentucky Derby wins, I never had a horse gallop out after going a mile-and-a-quarter the first time and pull up the way he pulled up. He took a deep breath, looked around the racetrack just like he'd been out for a morning gallop. Winning Colors and Thunder Gulch -- you could tell they had just run a mile-and-a-quarter for the first time. They got really knocked out by it.

"I've never quite seen an equine athlete like I'm with right now. He's a horse that's been able to recover, not only from these two races (Derby and Preakness), but the Santa Anita Derby (second in a photo finish) as well. That was a tough race, too."

Recalling 1978

Stevens draws a parallel between this year's exciting Crown stretch duels and that of the classic battles during the 1978 Triple Crown: "To watch the races this year with the exciting finishes, it's almost like the Alydar-Affirmed duels in '78."

The Caldwell, Idaho, native said he has been experiencing a feeling that there are a lot of people rooting for Silver Charm to win the Triple Crown.

"It's a great feeling," Stevens said. "I had Alex Solis walk up to me in the jockeys room the other day. He had a picture of Captain Bodgit and Silver Charm in the Derby and asked me to autograph it. He gave me best wishes and said he was rooting for me."

So will many millions of others on Saturday.

And maybe, if Silver Charm wins the Belmont, Christy Brinkley can join him in the winner's circle at Belmont Park. It will make a beautiful picture.