Columnist Ralph Siraco: Hine-Baffert battle looks like Don King productio

NOW THAT THE GLAMOUR group of thoroughbred racing is taking its well-deserved rest after the Triple Crown finale won by Victory Gallop, the handicap division is anything but Real Quiet.

As the middleweight sophomores get ready to venture into the senior tour after summer yields to fall with the Breeders' Cup as the ultimate goal, the heavyweight division is gearing up to resemble a Don King production.

The main event could read: Hine vs. Baffert for title.

The barbs started brewing when Skip Away lost last year's Horse of the Year honors to the perfect juvenile Favorite Trick.

Trainer Sonny Hine, who tutors Skip Away for his wife and owner Carolyn, was vocal with his criticism of the voting bodies for not getting the gold Eclipse trophy of 1997. It seems Hine thought his case was served when Skip Away won the year-end Breeders' Cup Classic. But Favorite Trick also won his Breeders' Cup race with the Juvenile tally on that same fall day at Hollywood Park, and a record of four for 11 on the year didn't stack up to the perfect eight-for-eight run by the upstart in the eyes of the stub casters and Skippy had to settle for Handicap Horse of the Year.

So, Sonny decided he would continue an assault on the all-time money-won record in a sport where that watermark has risen as much as the stock market, take on Favorite Trick and the rest of the handicap division and capture the Breeders' Cup Classic for a second time (something no horse has done) to ensure the gold statue this year.

Sonny has all but put away Favorite Trick already without Skip Away ever facing his show stealer. But, Sonny now faces the 1998 trophy challenge from a man named Bobby. And he's got two Kentucky Derby winners charging for Sonny's other illusive bookend.

Trainer Bob Baffert came a nose short of freezing Sonny's trophy by mid-year if Real Quiet could have pulled off the Triple Crown at Belmont Park two Saturday's ago. The all-time money-won title, a second Breeders' Cup Classic victory and a string of Grade I's wouldn't have been enough to keep a Triple Crown winner from Horse of the Year honors.

Sonny knew Baffert would be his thorn in this year's rose early on with last year's Derby winner, Silver Charm, thought to be the major threat from the Baffert shed row.

Nevertheless, Hine started his star's campaign early with a couple of rocking-chair victories in Florida this winter at Gulfstream Park while Baffert was guiding Silver Charm through the Strub series at Santa Anita.

After a miscue in the Malibu Stakes, Silver Charm completed his Strubs wins and was heading for a possible showdown with Skippy and multiple Grade I winner Gentlemen in the Santa Anita Handicap. That confrontation quickly disintegrated when Skippy skipped, Silver Charm came up with a hoof bruise and Gentlemen pulled up in distress in a Big 'Cap to forget.

A quick audible from Baffert sent Silver Charm to the Arabian Desert to compete in the Dubai World Cup which he won after fighting off the best in the world for $4 million.

Sonny countered with a Pimlico Special romp, but critics were already pointing to the caliber of competition each gray had faced and beaten with Silver Charm out-gunning his rival.

Then the Don King antics began.

Sonny threw down the gauntlet by announcing that Skip Away would point toward the left coast for the Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park on June 28 and the Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August. Baffert revealed his plans for Silver Charm included last Saturday's Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs and an open schedule to the Breeders' Cup.

Sonny's comments of Baffert ducking Skip Away in the upcoming California races with Silver Charm prompted Baffert's reply that Sonny and Skippy could have joined him in Dubai.

Baffert's referral to Skip Away's most recent romp in the MassCap at Suffolk Downs on May 30 with the comment of, "He's going to Suffolk and I'm getting ready for the Triple crown with Real Quiet" didn't set well with Sonny.

Sonny's latest salvo was a proposed $2 million match race between Silver Charm and Skip Away at Hollywood Park in early July that Hollywood Park officials said they never discussed, prompted Baffert to inform Hine that Silver Charm will be cranked up and ready for the Breeders' Cup Classic in early November for fall fireworks and not on the Fourth of July.

The "Match Race" was of course if Silver Charm won the Stephen Foster and Skip Away takes the Hollywood Gold Cup.

The "Match" that never was is off.

Silver Charm lost Saturday's Stephen Foster Handicap to Awesome Again.

So, with the sophomores on the handicap division horizon, Gentlemen once again tearing up the track in California, and Touch Gold doing the same in Kentucky in preparation for his return to the races, the two grays may have plenty of company for the elusive gold Eclipse trophy.

And, isn't it ironic that trainer Pat Byrne, who stopped Sonny's horse last year while conditioning Favorite Trick, put a smile on Sonny's face, if only for the moment, as he stopped Silver Charm this time with his new trainee Awesome Again.

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