Victory Gallop Horse

Victory Gallop, the leading candidate for horse of the year, is scheduled to be flown to California today to begin preparation for the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 29. The 4-year-old son of Cryptoclearance will make his California debut in the Classic after beating Behrens by a nose in winning the Whitney Handicap last Sunday at Saratoga. The win was Victory Gallop's second in a row. He won the Stephen Foster Handicap in June in what turned out to be Silver Charm's final start.

Victory Gallop, the leading candidate for horse of the year, is scheduled to be flown to California today to begin preparation for the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 29. The 4-year-old son of Cryptoclearance will make his California debut in the Classic after beating Behrens by a nose in winning the Whitney Handicap last Sunday at Saratoga. The win was Victory Gallop's second in a row. He won the Stephen Foster Handicap in June in what turned out to be Silver Charm's final start.

For some reason, trainer Bob Baffert doesn't consider Victory Gallop-Real Quiet a rivalry. Skip Away-Silver Charm, says Baffert, will be the rivalry. Right much of the time, Baffert is off on this one. His Real Quiet and Victory Gallop just completed a Triple Crown series in which they were separated by less than three lengths in the three races, and if that's not a rivalry, pigs can fly.

For some reason, trainer Bob Baffert doesn't consider Victory Gallop-Real Quiet a rivalry. Skip Away-Silver Charm, says Baffert, will be the rivalry. Right much of the time, Baffert is off on this one. His Real Quiet and Victory Gallop just completed a Triple Crown series in which they were separated by less than three lengths in the three races, and if that's not a rivalry, pigs can fly.

No trainer has won the Del Mar Debutante, the track's biggest race for 2-year-old fillies, more often than Wayne Lukas. But Bob Baffert is closing fast. Lukas, whose presence has been all but nonexistent in California in 2003, has eight victories, spreading the wins over three decades. The Hall of Fame trainer got his first with Terlingua in 1978 and his most recent with Sharp Cat in 1996. The late Tommy Doyle is second with seven Debutante victories, the last with Raja's Delight in 1980.