Columnist Ralph Siraco: Skip Away a vote away from horse of year honors

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Dec. 7, 1998 | 2:41 a.m.

As I was driving to the radio station to do the Race Day Las Vegas show on Sunday morning I was reminded by Mother Nature that nothing is a sure thing. That is something race players are reminded of each racing day while trying to search out their next winner.

But, snow in Las Vegas? Betting against snow in Las Vegas is as close to a sure thing as the sun setting in the west.

So, I am reminded, Skip Away is as sure a thing to skip away with Horse of the Year honors for 1998 as, well, snow in Las Vegas.

It would be a huge injustice for this durable equine racing star to slip into history without being recognized for his accomplishments and contributions to the Sport of Kings.

Many of the sport's observers believe that Skippy is owed the hardware after being passed over last year and many believe Skippy didn't do enough for the 1997 honor that he so hardily earned this year.

But for Favorite Trick last year, what about Silver Charm or Awesome Again this year?

Well, the consensus reasoning for last year's denial should be the very criteria for the top spot this year.

Last year, Favorite Trick rolled through his freshman year with straight A's. The first year racer capped off a perfect record on the track with an exclamation point victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile to end the season at 8-for-8.

Skip Away finished the year with a florish that also included a Breeders' Cup victory, but unlike Favorite Trick, his solid Classic win was not enough in the eyes of the voters to over shadow a 4-for-11 performance on the year.

Noticeably disappointed by the voter's decision, trainer Sonny Hine commited his gray running machine to another year of competition with the all-time North American money-earnings record---held by Cigar at just under $10 million---and the elusive Horse of the Year honor as the ultimate goal of 1998.

Knowing that Skip Away needed a more productive record than last year to garner the centerpiece, Sonny mapped out a caculated and year-long campaign to keep Skippy in the headlines and on the minds of the voters with a Breeders' Cup Classic repeat as the crowning finale.

Carolyn Hines' pride and joy would start a total of nine times over seven different months and seven different tracks, amass 7 victories----5 Grade I's in a row----to debate his claim for Horse of the Year.

The five-year-old son of Skip Trial started his quest in south Florida at Gulfstream Park and used the same race as he did the previous year to start his campaign. The Grade I Donn Handicap on February 7th was unlike the 1997 renewal, where Skippy finished second to Formal Gold, as the dappled gray secured a victory with a workman-like effort.

A command perfornance in the Grade I Gulfstream Park Handicap, again besting his runner up effort the previous year, had Skippy earning the Horse of the Meet at the Sunshine state's major winter season.

Talk of a Silver Charm - Skip Away meeting in the Arabian desert for the $4 million Dubai World Cup turned out to be just that---talk. Most of the gestures were coming from the Baffert camp to neutralize the Skippy ground swell, but, Sonny had a plan and he was sticking to it. Baffert said come on down and Sonny countered with come on up.

Silver Charm went on to win the Dubai engagement and Skip Away waited until early May to wire a lackluster field in the Grade I Pimlico Special at Old Hilltop in Maryland.

Sonny kept his promise to return his popular runner to Suffolk Downs in defense of the Grade III MassCap over the Memorial Day holiday. Skippy brought out the crowd at the Boston track and disposed of another so-so field before heading west in quest of Silver Charm and company.

After a training mishap at Belmont Park that had Skippy running riderless and lose for almost twenty minutes, the star suffered from a slight filling in a foreleg. But, Sonny kept another promise and headed for Hollywood in search of the western stars. Silver Charm was a no-show and the house hot shot called Gentlemen was ready to beat Skippy again. The Argentine superhorse had taken the measure of Skip Away in the 1997 Pimlico Special. But, Skippy turned the tables on Gentlemen in his own back yard to capture the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup with blistered feet and speed to spare.

A needed respite from the June invasion had Skippy scheduled for a stop at Monmouth Park in August. The Grade II Iselin Handicap was supposed to be an afternoon muscle flexing at the Jersey shore. A gutty hard fought photo-finish victory prompted Sonny to admit after the race that he didn't have his stable star as fit as he should have for the engagement.

A near-miss behind him, the fall stretch run started on September 19th in the Grade I Woodward at Belmont Park. This would be a summit with left coast invaders Gentlemen and Free House. Skip Away was tuned to the minute by Sonny and the handicap star ran possibly his finest race of the year as he turned back all challenges to win the fixture by daylight.

A sloppy race track and a suicidal duel by nemisis Gentlemen led to the first Skippy defeat of the year in the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup. The New York Breeders' Cup Classic steppingstone saw a soundly beaten Skip Away who managed a 3rd place finish over 10 lengths behind trip winner Wagon Limit.

A kink in the Skip Away armor set up a classic Breeders' Cup Classic showdown for a fitting career finale. Skip Away would return to the surface of his worst career finish----a 12th place showing in the 1996 Kentucky Derby----at Chruchill Downs with the richest purse offering in North American history.

The $5.15 million Breeders' Cup Classic saw a blanket finish that did not include Skip Away. Uncomfortable from the start, Skippy tried to fight through his dislike for the track surface but could not manage his usual tenacity during the crunch-time finish that saw Awesome Again out-finish Silver Charm for the second time this year.

In finishing 6th, Skip Away also fell short of his Cigar-breaking earnings goal and failed to become the first repeat winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The immeasurable impact that the popular gray gave the sport, the whirlwind ride that owner Carolyn Hine with her husband Sonny---who masterfully kept Skippy at a championship competitive level for over two years---and Skip Away's extensive record of excellence should be enough of a sure thing to secure a much deserved Eclipse Award and Horse of the Year honors this year.

That's of course, if it doesn't snow on their parade.

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