Online NewsHour: Silver Charm -- June 6, 1997

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM?

JUNE 6, 1997

TRANSCRIPT

Horse racing star Silver Charm tries for a third big win, and a ride into history, by taking the prize at the Belmont.

JIM LEHRER: Now, is the third win the Silver Charm? Paul Solman of WGBH-Boston explains.
PAUL SOLMAN: In horse racing it's the ultimate prize, the brass ring, the cat's meow. It's the triple crown. Winning it means victories in all three of horse racing's most prestigious races: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont, in a grueling span of just five weeks. Of the 40,000 or so equine specimens bred every year, thoroughbred for the purpose of winning horse races, the aptly named Silver Charm is one of a field that's down to seven, competing tomorrow for racing's equivalent of the Super Bowl or NBA championship, the Grand Slam in tennis or golf. For Silver Charm it began five weeks ago at Churchill Downs when he captured the Kentucky Derby by the proverbial head. Two weeks later in Baltimore, the second leg of the triple crown, the Preakness, he won by the proverbial nose. Those two victories earned close to $1.2 million. Tomorrow on Long Island Silver Charm goes for the triple crown at Belmont Park and another $5 million plus. The Belmont is not only the oldest horse race in the triple crown but--at 1 ½ miles--the longest. In going for a win at the Belmont, Silver Charm is chasing history. Only 11 horses have won the triple crown since its inception in 1919, among them such racing legends as Whirl Away, Citation, and the most recent wonder, Secretariat, who in 1973 won all three legs of the crown in record time and captured the Belmont by an astonishing 31 lengths.
ANNOUNCER: --an unbelievable, an amazing performance!
PAUL SOLMAN: This year the stakes are unusually high and not just for Silver Charm and his human entourage. They are shooting for the first triple crown in 19 years but horse racing is shooting for something more--a shot in the arm for an industry in decline. An entertainment that used to pack them in and was called the sport of kings, these days it's the sport that's short of fans. But why would one three-year-old colt suddenly emerge as racing's great gray hope? Well, partly it's his humble origins. Silver Charm was purchased as a yearling for only $16,500--chicken feed for horse flesh. His trainer, Bob Baffert, sounds as if he'd now be reluctant to take a kingdom for his horse.
BOB BAFFERT, Silver Charm's Trainer: I'm not one for putting value on horses, but he has to be at least worth what, you know, some ten, fifteen, twenty million dollars.
PAUL SOLMAN: The trainer pampers his steed accordingly. In racing circles Bob Baffert is another cause for optimism. His folksy style has garnered almost as much attention as his colt, including invitations to appear with Harold Stern and David Letterman. But the real drawing card is the drama of Silver Charm's wins--gritty, wire-to-wire victories that show old-timers and first-timers alike how exciting horse racing can be. That's what they're preparing for and hoping for tomorrow at Belmont Park.
PAUL SOLMAN: And to tell us more we're joined from Belmont Park by Tom Durkin, who will be calling the Belmont for fans at the track tomorrow afternoon. He's been calling races since 1971. He's also a racing commentator. And Jay Hovdey's with us, senior correspondent for The Blood Horse, a thoroughbred racing magazine. He's written several books on the sport. Gentlemen, welcome to you both. Mr. Durkin, for those who don't follow horse racing, how important is this race for the sport?
TOM DURKIN, Track Announcer: (Belmont Park, NY) Well, for the sport it's important even in the general sports consciousness. But as far as the sport goes, this is the Holy Grail. This is only 11 horses have ever been able to pull this off in a century. It can happen sometimes only once every 25 years, which was the case with Secretariat. So it is a real rarity. And you really have to be a very special athlete to win these three races.
PAUL SOLMAN: By athlete, you mean the horse?
TOM DURKIN: Absolutely. Yes.
PAUL SOLMAN: What's special about the horse as athlete?
TOM DURKIN: Well, they have to--first of all, no horse can be at its very best on these three days. It's just physically impossible to be at their very optimum level of competition. So on at least one of those three days they have to run a sub-power race. But their talent has to be so enormous, so far superior to their rivals, that even when they're not at their best they can still win.
PAUL SOLMAN: Mr. Hovdey, what are we talking about when we're talking about talent and athlete? I mean, what kind of talent does a horse have to have?
JAY HOVDEY, Horse Racing Writer: (Belmont Park, NY) Well, the thoroughbred race horse, of course, is selectively bred for speed and for endurance. And it's been that way for hundreds and hundreds of years. In the case of the three-year-olds that we're going to be seeing in the Belmont stakes that have been racing in the triple crown this year, these horses are being asked to compete at the very outer limits of what we ask thoroughbreds to do, which is run as fast as you can, as far as you can.
PAUL SOLMAN: These are long races.
JAY HOVDEY: Well, absolutely. The Kentucky Derby is a mile and a quarter. The Preakness is a mile and three-sixteenths. And the Belmont stakes tomorrow is a mile and a half.
PAUL SOLMAN: And compared to a normal race.
JAY HOVDEY: Most races are run between three-quarters of a mile and a mile and one-eighth in this country, yes. So these horses are asked to do things that most of their contemporaries are not, and that's what makes this group special.
PAUL SOLMAN: Mr. Durkin, why do people go to horse races? I mean, the gambling--
TOM DURKIN: I think probably when it comes down to it, I mean, the primary reason is to win money. If we had horse races and betting were not allowed, you'd probably get a few people in the grandstand. And there are a lot of people that certainly appreciate the animals, but, you know, of course, the primary reason is there, but it's fun. It's an afternoon of entertainment, and these days actually it's a pretty cheap way of entertainment if you don't go overboard on the betting. It's only $2 to get in this place tomorrow. And if you bet two bucks a race, well, the worst thing that can happen to you is you can come up, you know, $22 short.
PAUL SOLMAN: But it's just like a minute or two minutes that they run these things. My grandfather once went because he read "Anna Karenina," and he said, that's it, that's the whole story here?
TOM DURKIN: Yeah, but it takes a while, the participation, and horse racing is a participation sport, so it takes you a while to figure out this puzzle about who's going to win the race. If you're really into it, you go down to the paddock; you take a look at the horses, whether they look good to you, whether they look bad to you, or whatever. So it takes you about, you know, a good ten to fifteen minutes to figure it out. And then you see how your opinion unfolds.
PAUL SOLMAN: How much money is going to change hands tomorrow, Mr. Hovdey, roughly speaking?
JAY HOVDEY: Oh, my goodness. I would say--of course, there's nationwide betting on the--on the Belmont stakes, so if you're a race track or betting out in California or Washington State or anywhere in New England, Florida, you'll be able to go to a local outlet and bet on the Belmont stakes and have a piece of the action, watch the races right there. I would say upwards of probably 7 or 8 million here at the track alone and goodness, it could approach, you know, maybe 15/20 million nationwide.
PAUL SOLMAN: Mr. Durkin, how long do these horses last as racers? I mean, how long will Silver Charm run?
TOM DURKIN: Well, I think they're planning on running Silver Charm next year; however, you know, some horses, if they're not complete horses, as we say, if they're geldings, you know--
PAUL SOLMAN: Geldings--not sexually--
TOM DURKIN: Yes. A gelding cannot be a father.
PAUL SOLMAN: Sorry.
TOM DURKIN: Let's just put it that way.
PAUL SOLMAN: Not be a father.
TOM DURKIN: And Silver Charm can; and probably, I would think, be retired after his four-year-old season because there's so much money involved in the breeding end of it.
PAUL SOLMAN: Is he bound to be a good sire?
TOM DURKIN: Oh, we don't know if he's bound to be a good sire. Everybody thought Cigar was going to be a good sire, but it turns out that he's not very potent at all. He won't be a sire.
PAUL SOLMAN: All right.
TOM DURKIN: So who knows about Silver Charm.
PAUL SOLMAN: Well, let's get off of this. Mr. Hovdey--
TOM DURKIN: Good. Good idea.
PAUL SOLMAN: One of our reporters--the NewsHour wanted to know if racing hurts these horses. I mean, the fans enjoy it. Do the horses? I mean, they're being whipped. They're being run to a fare-the-well. Fans like it but do the horses enjoy it?
JAY HOVDEY: Well, the horses are well-conditioned athletes. They're bred to go through what they're put through. If people could come out here and observe just how well cared for they are, I think they might change their minds somewhat on that, but horse racing is under constant scrutiny from animal rights activists to make sure that their medication rules are fair and practical and humane. And as far as the whips, there has been a very strong movement toward the mitigation of use of the whips by jockeys started in England and has worked its way around the country. So there have been some changes made as horse racing has tried to kind of come in to the last part of the 20th century.
PAUL SOLMAN: Okay. Mr. Durkin, would you set the scene for us tomorrow? I mean, you're going to be calling the race. Put us there for a second, if you wouldn't mind.
TOM DURKIN: Well, okay. The horses come up to the starting gate, 60,000 screaming maniacs, waiting to be a part of history, to be able to say, yeah, I was there when Silver Charm won the triple crown. This is a pretty good thing to be a part of, and everybody's got a few bucks on the affair. And the excitement--you could feel the excitement today in the track among the people that were here--a lot of excitement--even on the Internet on Wednesday normally Belmont's Internet site gets about 10,000 hits. Yesterday it got 143,000; they're expecting about 1/4 of a million again today. So, you know, the excitement is obviously there. But when you're in the building at an event like this, it's--you know, it's just a great, great feeling, and loud.
PAUL SOLMAN: And loud. Mr. Hovdey--yeah, I'm sorry.
JAY HOVDEY: You alluded earlier to the brevity of the race, to just going to be just under 2 ½ minutes, but that's, I think, the uniqueness of horse racing, of big horse racing, because everybody knows when and what--where it's going to happen and when it's going to happen, but they have no idea what is going to happen. So it's more of a--it's more of a drama unfolding, as opposed to a kickoff for a football game, and then you've got, you know, 60 minutes of action after that, or a baseball game and it's nine innings, after the first pitch. The horse race is a day of anticipation, and over, you know, in a very compressed amount of time, and the excitement level is tremendous.
PAUL SOLMAN: Okay, well, thank you, gentlemen, very much, and maybe some of our viewers will tune in tomorrow.

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