Columnist Ralph Siraco: Silver Charm is impressive in 1999 debut

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Jan. 11, 1999 | 10:43 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears on Monday and his Southern California seletions run Tuesday through Friday on the scoreboard page. Write to him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 800 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89107.

On Sunday, Silver Charm began an ambitious campaign in quest of the all-time North American earnings record, a Horse of the Year trophy and a place alongside the decade's great grays.

And, if the Grade II San Pasqual Handicap is any indiacation of what is to come from America's most popular gray, then shine up the gold trophy, sign the check and move over Holy Bull and Skip Away for the third Charm.

Although Silver Charm will not have the opportunity to be a two-time Horse of the Year winner this decade like Cigar, who captured the honor back-to-back in 1995 and 1996, he has dead aim on that champion's all-time North American career earnings mark of $9,999,815.

Unlikely to amass a consecutive 16-race win streak as Cigar did through his reign as the sport's marquee attraction over a two-year domination, Silver Charm is on course to do something Cigar did not, or for that matter any other horse to date, a repeat victory in the Dubai World Cup.

Silver Charm may not have been America's most productive gray last year, as Skip Away kept racking up victories expected to yield a well overdue Horse of the Year Eclipse Award for 1998, he still managed to bank $4,696,506 while winning 6 of 9 starts.

And, as impressive as 1994 Horse of the Year Holy Bull was in the mid-decade before his untimely exit from the racing wars, Silver Charm has already accomplished something that strapping gray could not -- victories in his Kentucky Derby and Preakness outings.

To the credit of Silver Charm's owners, Bob and Beverly Lewis, the 5-year-old son of Silver Buck is getting the chance to carve out his destiny in the sport's record book rather than being swept off to the breeding shed after highly successful sophomore and 4-year-old seasons.

Silver Charm is the first Kentucky Derby winner since 1986 victor Ferdinand to compete as a 5-year-old and he hopes to follow in that one's footsteps by winning the sport's year-end showdown in the Breeders' Cup Classic as Ferdinand did in 1987. Silver Charm finished second, by less than a length, to Awesome Again in last year's Classic and is scheduled to make a repeat attempt in that finale this year.

Bob Baffert, himself up for an Eclipse Award for 1998 trainer of the year, has mapped out a demanding schedule for his stable star, and the San Pasqual was the first in an expected whirlwind itinerary.

Next on the schedule comes the Grade I Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 30. That race is the first in the newly created 'NTRA Champions on FOX' racing series.

The series, a joint presentation of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the FOX Television group, will link five Grade I handicap races throughout the year televised on the network to highlight the handicap division. The March 6 Santa Anita Handicap, June 27 Hollywood Gold Cup, Aug. 1 Whitney Handicap and the Aug. 29 Pacific Classic complete the mantle. As an incentive to attract the top divisional contenders for the run, NTRA has guaranteed a $5 million bonus to any horse that can sweep the series.

Although very challenging, a sweep and the bonus would assure the earnings record for Silver Charm and is certainly under high consideration by the Charm camp.

But, plans after the Donn will be tight, as the main early season goal for the Charm remains a defense of the $4 million Dubai World Cup halfway around the world on March 28th.

And, remember, Silver Charm does not have the constitution of an iron horse.

Last year he spiked a fever just days before the Santa Anita Handicap to negate a showdown with the disappointing Gentlemen. Then after a successful Dubai World Cup invasion he bounced in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs followed by a 27-length drubbing in a career-worse performance in the San Diego Handicap late summer.

But, a runaway deadheat Kentucky Cup Classic victory with Wild Rush followed by a Goodwood score at Oak Tree tightened Silver Charm for his gutty Breeders' Cup Classic runner up effort before ending the year on a high note hard-faught win in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs late November.

Silver Charm may have developed durability with age, and he certainly served ample warning on Sunday at Santa Anita.

The Charm was on his game and ready for the challenge in the Grade II San Pasqual Handicap.

Toting high weight of 125 pounds, most of it in the form of jockey Gary Stevens, Silver Charm quickly settled in third as the field passed the stands for the first time in the 1 1/16th mile main track affair. Dramatic Gold and Crafty Friend provided a cat-and-mouse pace that had them sailing along some dozen lengths ahead of Silver Charm going down the backstretch.

Rounding the far turn after hitting the 3/4 mile marker in 1:10:4, Stevens turned his partner loose. Sliver Charm systematically cut the leader's margin to vapor by the time the real running started at the head of the homestretch, and after that it was a matter of how far. At the end Silver Charm won by a measured span of over a length to last year's Santa Anita Handicap winner Malek and the $2.60 win mutuel looked better than the stock market.

It was just what the doctor ordered for the next stop on the Silver Charm bandwagon.

A word to Sir Bear, who won the Broward Handicap -- a Donn Handicap prep -- at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, Silver Charm is coming to town loaded for Bear or anything else they have waiting for him in Florida.