Silver Charm Last in Five-Horse Field

DEL MAR —  In one of the most stunning developments in the 59 seasons at Del Mar, Silver Charm ran last Saturday in the five-horse San Diego Handicap, leaving his trainer, Bob Baffert, puzzled about the outcome and the horse’s condition.

Mud Route won the $250,500 race with a front-running ride by Chris McCarron. Silver Charm, bet down to 3-10, was beaten by 27 lengths in the worst finish of his 15-race career. The 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner had eight wins and six seconds in his previous starts.

After Saturday’s race, jockey Gary Stevens said Silver Charm acted as if he had bled heavily. But a post-race examination showed only minor pulmonary bleeding, Baffert said, and the trainer added that he couldn’t use the bleeding as a reason for the poor performance.

“He’s bled before,” Baffert said. “But now there must be something wrong internally. We’ll have to check his motor. We’ll check him out from stem to stern.”

Silver Charm, running in second place behind Mud Route, was in contention until the horses neared the quarter pole. Then Silver Charm began to drop back as the entire field passed him.

“He felt great under me early,” Stevens said. “Then he started wobbling under me. It was like he was drunk. You could hear him gulping. He lost his equilibrium. He was exhausted.”

Back at the barn, Baffert was puzzled.

“He wasn’t pulled up,” he said. “He eased himself up when something went wrong.”

Silver Charm has been running on Lasix, the diuretic that discourages bleeding, since his second start--and first win--at Del Mar in August 1996. Baffert said Silver Charm has bled “sometimes” before, but was not specific. The 4-year-old colt did not run on Lasix in the United Arab Emirates, where the medication is not permitted, when he won the $4-million Dubai World Cup in March.

Since Dubai, a long trip that has a way of knocking out U.S. horses, Silver Charm ran second in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs and missed the Hollywood Gold Cup because of a fever.

“This was not Silver Charm,” Baffert said.

More than $200,000 was bet on Silver Charm to win. There was about $51,000 in the place pool and more than $145,000 bet to show, plus thousands more in other pools.

The San Diego was to be Silver Charm’s prep for the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 15.

“When they run like this, you just don’t know,” Baffert said. “The next race isn’t on my mind right now. We don’t know what’s ahead of us.”

Mud Route, a promising 3-year-old last year before a shin injury prevented him from running in any of the Triple Crown races, won the Californian, his first stake victory, only seven weeks ago at Hollywood Park. Trained by Ron McAnally, he carried 117 pounds, eight less than the top-weighted Silver Charm. Mud Route paid $8.40 as the second choice, running 1 1/16 miles in 1:41. Hal’s Pal finished second, beaten by six lengths, and it was another 5 1/2 lengths to Benchmark in third place.

After the Californian, Mud Route finished fourth as Skip Away won the Hollywood Gold Cup.

“I was afraid he might have lost some speed after running a mile and a quarter last time,” McAnally said. “But he didn’t. He certainly won impressively. He’s nominated to the Pacific Classic and we’ll certainly be looking at that.”

On a day when his father saddled three winners, trainer Nick Canani won his first stakes race when Sicy d’Alsace, just off the plane from France, survived a foul claim to win the $112,500 San Clemente Handicap for 3-year-old fillies.

Sicy d’Alsace, victorious in only two of 14 starts abroad and winless in six races this year, paid $84.80 to win after nipping Miss Hot Salsa at the wire. With Corey Nakatani aboard, Sicy d’Alsace ran the mile on grass in 1:34 4/5, tying the stakes record set by Flawlessly in 1991 and matched by Hollywood Wildcat two years later. The San Clemente was run at a longer distance before 1988.

Sicy d’Alsace carried 115 pounds, two less than Miss Hot Salsa and seven less than the top-weighted Country Garden.

Kent Desormeaux, who rode Country Garden, claimed foul against Sicy d’Alsace and Nakatani as they ran by his filly in deep stretch.

Julio Canani won races with Mc Fig, T.V. Of Hemet and Ree Saspri. The elder Canana also won a division of Del Mar’s opening-day Oceanside Stakes Wednesday with Ladies Din. Canani said that Mc Fig’s win was the 500th of his training career.

Nick Canani, 24, has been training for less than two years. Sicy d’Alsace races in the navy-blue colors of the San Diego Chargers, with lightning-bolt emblems decorating the silks. Jeff DeHaven, who owns one-third of the filly, was wearing a Chargers’ necktie.

“She just came off the plane two days ago,” Canani said. “All I knew about her was that she was a chestnut and had a good mind.”

Hubert Guy, the French bloodstock agent who has brought a number of good horses to the U.S, including Lit De Justice and Elmhurst, arranged the purchase of Sicy d’Alsace.

Horse Racing Notes

Two horses--Don’t Blame Rio and Grajagan--were scratched out of the San Diego Handicap. . . . Son Of A Pistol is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for today’s Bing Crosby Breeders’ Cup Handicap. . . . Sharp Cat, idle since Dec. 7, will face only two horses--A.P. Assay and Housa Dancer--in Monday’s $90,000 Bayakoa Handicap. . . . Keeper Hill, trained by Bobby Frankel and ridden by David Flores, ran second to Banshee Breeze in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park.