With the three key prep steps for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on Saturday, April 9, it looks like you’re enjoying and a little distracted taking your time down Memory Lane. But anyway it will be the 25th anniversary of one of the most exciting 3-year-old races this reporter has ever witnessed, a skirmish between two ponies destined to make a mark. lasting imprint in the game’s lore. .
In a perfect world, Saturday’s results would mark the beginning of a fascinating showdown between Morelo and Mo Donegal out of Wood Memorial Stakes presented by Resorts World Casino (G2), or between Happy smile and Zandon when Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) are in the book, or between Forbidden Kingdom and Messier after the dust cleared off the 85th lap of the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1).
But it won’t happen. We know that won’t happen for all the reasons that go against the idea that it’s possible for two horses from the same herd of ponies to collide through a series of high profile races over a period of time. long. The careers of the top ponies are brief and designed to reap the greatest possible rewards with as little risk as possible. The management of the track evolved accordingly, easing competition with competitive events. Stallion offers lurking in the wings with their siren tracks.
Free House and Silver Charm are different, just like the racing world of 1997 is a far cry from what is happening today. Their clash in the Santa Anita (G1) Derby on 5 April that year was the third of their eight encounters in three seasons. In those eight matches, all stakes sorted, the two ponies finished 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 1-2 and 1- 3. Silver Charm finished 5-3, but as Sheriff John T. Chance (aka John Wayne) says in “Rio Bravo” when asked to compare the two gunmen’s deadly skills: “I hate living by being different.”
Silver Charm, a dog bred by Silver Buck in Florida, promises to make $85,000 as a 2-year-old in a private sale to Robert and Beverly Lewis. At the time, they were at their peak with The Song of Serena, their Eclipse Tournament champion, who retired in late 1996 as the all-time top woman win. Wayne Lukas coached Serena’s Song, but the Silver Charm went to Bob Baffert, who up to that point had enjoyed modest success with the Lewis horse.
Free home and coach Paco Gonzalez
Compared to Silver Charm, Free House is a dice roll. He came from the first California crop of Smokester, a sprinter, and Fountain Lake’s first pony, by Vigors winner Santa Anita Handicap (G1). The breeders and his owner were John Toffan, whose fortune came from precious minerals in Canada, and his partner, Trudy McCaffery, the gold and silver flying was done by people. won the major stakes Bien Bien, Pacific Squall and Del Mar Dennis. Juan “Paco” Gonzalez is their coach.
The scenario for the 1997 Santa Anita Derby was revealed the year before when Silver Charm beat Del Mar Futurity (G2) in the third game and were eliminated, leaving Free House to win against Norfolk Stakes (G2) in the third game. They first met at the seven-feathered San Vicente Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita on February 8, 1997, in which Silver Charm returned and Chris McCarron beat Free House and Eddie Delahoussaye by a quarter of the length. Five weeks later, at the San Felipe Stakes (G2), Free House and David Flores beat Silver Charm and McCarron by three-quarters of the time.
ABC’s “World Wide Sports” was on hand for the Santa Anita Derby, with Al Michaels, Charlsie Cantey and Dave Johnson in attendance. The sight of two gray ponies walking behind with Dirty Sharp Cat makes for a great TV, but it’s even better when it’s part of a crowd of 36,814. The Free House is light, almost cheerful, while the Silver Charm is a bit annoying, rarely awakened. As for Sharp Cat, she brought the emotions of Victory Colors to Lukas and was favored at 2v1.
Key switches are big news as the Santa Anita Derby approaches. Flores decided to ride Isitingood for Baffert in the Handicap Oaklawn (G1), bringing Kent Desormeaux, a regular Free House racer at age 2, back on board. Then, when McCarron chose to ride Hello for Ron McAnally, Gary Stevens found himself on the Silver Charm.
“Bob said to me, ‘No matter what you do, don’t let that trash get away from you,'” Stevens said this week. “He wanted me to give it to her. So I did, and we came up with some unbelievable fractions.”
Sharp Cat and Silver Charm sucked up half in: 45.15 and three quarters in 1:09.15, with Free House following suit.
“The thing is, the Silver Charm didn’t necessarily want to be ridden that way, which we found out later,” says Stevens. “I wasted a lot of energy in the Santa Anita Derby, when all I needed to do was wait until the real race started and then go with him. He’s very competitive, all in all. All he needs is a goal and a reason to beat someone else to that mirror on the rope.”
Free House (left) beat Silver Charm to win the 1997 Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park
Free House passed both leaders at the eighth pole and looked as if he were at home and dry. But used as he was when he finished Sharp Cat, the Silver Charm still gathered a final shove to regroup and appeared for a brief period of the Free House at the beginning of the road. As they gallop together, their relationship in a flourishing rivalry is clearly evident. These guys are the real deal.
“I was smiling after the race, even though we were beaten,” Stevens said. “I knew we were going to Kentucky with an unruly horse. I said to Bob, ‘We may have lost the battle, but we just won the war.”
As every young racing fan knows, Silver Charm won 1-1-2 in the Triple Crown in 1997, while the Free House was 3-2-3, losing to Preakness (G1) by a single head. When they were 4 years old, they only met once, when Silver Charm beat the Liberals in the Goodwood Breeders’ Cup (G2) handicap in Santa Anita, then at 5 years old they collided in a 1999 loss to Santa Anita, with Freedom House beating Silver Charm in third place. Of the 35,341 North American Thoroughbred ponies of 1994, only two of them were bet winners graded at odds of 2, 3, 4 and 5 — the House of Liberty and the Silver Charm.
Free House went to study at Vessels Stallion Ranch in Bonsall, California. He is happy to visit, just on the road, and brings back bright memories any day. On July 19, 2004, after completing its fifth breeding season, it panicked and flipped over on its washstand, shattering its skull. He cannot be saved.
The Silver Charm, on the other hand, is alive and well and has just celebrated its 28th birthday as a visitor attraction at the Old Friends Equine. He’s a member of the Hall of Fame and the oldest winner of the Kentucky Derby, and there’s no doubt that the 1997 Free House and Santa Anita Derby went a long way to making all the that becomes a reality.
