Columnist Ralph Siraco: Skip Away, Gentlemen live up to hype at Hollywood

Ralph Siraco

Monday, June 29, 1998 | 10:31 a.m.

VERY SELDOM does a pre-hyped showdown in sports ever materialize into the actual showdown it was supposed to be. The hype is for the most part bigger, and more often better, than the showdowns ever are.

When the showdown really is a showdown it becomes one of those great moments in sports.

Affirmed-Alydar, Sunday Silence-Easy Goer and Ali-Frazier are examples of great showdowns in sports. All great, all memorable.

Sunday's Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park had the hype, and for a brief time more than its normal share of participants for the showdown. Throw in the good old standby of East vs. West and sprinkle the revenge factor for good measure.

The stage was set for another showdown in the "Race of the Year."

Skip Away, pride of the East Coast meets Gentlemen, best of the West.

Could Skip Away return to the site of his greatest triumph in the 1997 Breeders' Cup Classic to avenge an earlier Pimlico Special loss to Gentlemen?

Could Gentlemen defend his '97 Gold Cup victory after bombing in the Santa Anita Handicap with another win over Skip Away off of training alone?

Could Skip Away finally earn the respect as the best handicap horse in training, acknowledgement by the West Coast media that he deserves No. 1 ranking and a fair chance at Horse of the Year honors?

Could Gentlemen keep trainer Richard Mandella's incredible streak of $1 million stakes victories going to seven and counting?

Plenty of good hype, huh.

Well, Skip Away and Gentlemen joined Ali-Frazier and company with a great moment in sports that lived up to all the hype of their showdown. All who watched were left with that feeling they had just witnessed one of those great moments in sports. A showdown that everybody hopes will lead to a rivalry for the rest of the year.

The race lived up to its billing and the hype became fact by sunset Sunday.

While Silver Charm, who was a surprise late addition to the mix, was bowing out for the second time in as many bookings -- you remember his last-minute no-show in the Santa Anita Handicap showdown -- this time with a sudden fever, the original showdown participants lined up in the starting gate at 4:20 p.m. PDT in Inglewood, Calif., and put on a show that dignified the rich history of this great Grade I affair.

After Skip Away had won his sixth consecutive Graded stakes toting a hefty package of 130 pounds in the May 30 MassCap at Suffolk Downs, trainer Sonny Hine decided to take Skippy west to the sanctity of "weight-for-age" racing conditions on the road to a second consecutive Breeders' Cup Classic assault, the all-time money earnings record and the elusive Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.

Gentlemen, after smarting from the Santa Anita Handicap debacle, was training up a storm for a return to the races with designs for a bookend Gold Cup trophy. The eight-time Graded stakes winner was set to redeem himself and return to the top of the left coast pedestal that Silver Charm was eyeing.

The 59th running of the Hollywood Gold Cup was the crossroads and the perfect vehicle for the hype and showdown.

The anticipation was high as the starting gates flew open for the 1 1/4-mile classic to dispatch the eight runners on their journey. Skip Away and Gentlemen had drawn side-by-side post positions and, with each horse having a penchant for the lead, the first-blood drama unfolded immediately. Jockey Jerry Bailey wasted no time as he sent Skip Away rolling from post No. 2. Garry Stevens quickly settle Gentlemen outside the flank of his adversary as they thundered into the first of two turns.

Skip Away clicked the first quarter in 23 seconds flat with a length on his Gentlemen shadow. As Bailey tried to rate his gray partner down the backstretch, Stevens nudged Gentlemen closer through a half-mile in 46-2/5 seconds.

The mano-a-mano showdown that everyone had wanted was on, and as they past the three-quarters marker in 1:09:3, Gentlemen had looked Skippy in the eye as they swung into the last turn as one.

Inseparable as the two turned for home, the crowd on its feet, and the mile passed in 1:34 flat, Bailey urged Skip Away for another gear. Steven had thought he had Skippy measured when Gentlemen started to falter.

As the pair battled through the stretch it was evident that this was a new-and-improved Skip Away from the Pimlico Special and Gentlemen would taste defeat. But a belated and finishing challenge was coming in the form of Gentlemen's stablemate Puerto Madero, who was rolling on the rail. Too little, too late or simply not enough, Puerto Madero could only out-nod his stablemate for second.

Skip Away had the Gold Cup wrapped up and rewarded his faithful backers with a $2.80 win payoff that looked like money in the bank at the wire when Skippy stopped the clock in two minutes flat to complete a 1 3/4-length victory.