Easy Goer Might Make Hay While Sun Shines : If Sunday Silence Takes Summer Off, Belmont Champion Could Win Division

ELMONT, N.Y. — Thanks to that $1-million bonus he clinched by running second in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, Sunday Silence has earned about $700,000 more than Easy Goer.

But Easy Goer, the toast of New York after he atoned for his Kentucky Derby and Preakness sins with a smashing victory in the Belmont, could catch up quickly if he doesn’t have to hook up with Sunday Silence soon.

Easy Goer will continue to run in the East while Sunday Silence returns to trainer Charlie Whittingham’s barn at Hollywood Park for a rest. With Easy Goer and Sunday Silence dominating the 3-year-old division, both will be heavy favorites wherever they run, as long as they’re not in the same race.

Other than the Big Two, only Hawkster ran in all of the Triple Crown races, and his handlers should be considering other options after what is believed to be an unprecedented three consecutive fifth-place finishes. Hawkster was beaten by a total of 35 1/2 lengths in the Derby, Preakness and Belmont.

The only fresh horse to run against Easy Goer and Sunday Silence in the Belmont was Le Voyageur, a French-raced son of Seattle Slew who ran one of the fastest opening miles in stakes history, then hung on to finish third, a length behind Sunday Silence. Le Voyageur is headed back to France and probably won’t race in the United States until the Breeders’ Cup at Gulfstream Park in November.

Whittingham, whose colt beat Easy Goer by 2 1/2 lengths in the Derby and by a nose in the Preakness before losing the $5-million Triple Crown by eight lengths in the Belmont, plans to give his colt the equivalent of a month off before regrouping for the rest of the 1989 campaign.

Easy Goer is headed for the $1-million Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 19, with the $500,000 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 29 to serve as a prep.

The Travers is 1 1/4 miles, the same distance as the Derby, but Whittingham isn’t saying whether the Travers will be considered. After the Belmont, Arthur Hancock III, Sunday Silence’s principal owner, was talking more about the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 than he was the Travers. If Sunday Silence skips the Travers, he probably would prep for the Breeders’ Cup with a race during Santa Anita’s Oak Tree meeting in October.

There are no major races on dirt for 3-year-olds in California during the summer. A race that might tempt Whittingham is the $1-million Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 24.

In 1986, Whittingham finished third in the Belmont with Ferdinand after the colt won the Derby and ran second in the Preakness. Ferdinand, who had minor physical problems, was given the rest of the year off. The next year, as a 4-year-old, Ferdinand was raced extensively early in the year and got a two-month breather before he won a stake at Santa Anita in November, won the Breeders’ Cup Classic two weeks later and then was voted horse of the year.

Observers foresee the 76-year-old trainer doing the same thing this year with Sunday Silence--giving him time off until the fall and then running him in the Breeders’ Cup.

Horses who win the first two legs of the Triple Crown but lose the Belmont still usually win the 3-year-old championship. Of the 11 horses who lost the Belmont after winning the first two races, seven were voted the title. Two of the Triple Crown spoilers, Stage Door Johnny in 1968 and Arts and Letters in 1969, were voted top 3-year-old colt, and Arts and Letters also won horse of the year.

After Kauai King won the Derby and Preakness in 1966 and then ran fourth as Amberoid won the Belmont, Buckpasser won the division title and was also voted horse of the year. Buckpasser didn’t run in the Triple Crown, but won the Travers and also beat older horses in the Woodward and the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Buckpasser was raced by Ogden Phipps, the owner of Easy Goer, and the 80-year-old investment banker says that Easy Goer could be even better. Some horsemen say that he already is, having recovered from the disappointments in the Derby and Preakness to run one of the strongest Belmonts.

Nine horses won the Belmont by larger margins, but Easy Goer’s time of 2:26 ranks behind only Secretariat’s 2:24 when he won the Triple Crown in 1973.

Because of his tour de force Saturday, Easy Goer may be considered the nominal leader of the division until he and Sunday Silence meet again. If the rematch is in the Breeders’ Cup, the distance will be 1 1/4 miles.

“When we get back to 1 1/8 and 1 1/4 miles, the result might be the same as the Derby and the Preakness,” Whittingham said.

Horse Racing Notes

Here’s the breakdown on how the $1-million bonus was divided among Sunday Silence’s camp: Principal owner Arthur Hanock III received $385,000; partner Ernest Gaillard, $192,500; Charlie Whittingham, as minority owner and trainer, $292,500; jockey Pat Valenzuela, $100,000; and the barn help--exercise rider, groom, et al--$30,000 each. Imaginative minds painted the scenario that Calumet Farm, which owns Le Voyageur, brought the colt from France to run in the Belmont so he could burn out Sunday Silence with his speed and enable Easy Goer to win. Easy Goer is a son of Alydar, who stands at stud at Calumet in Lexington, Ky. But Patrick Biancone, Le Voyageur’s trainer, said that he had been planning to run in the Belmont since March. . . . The Valenzuela riding family has now failed to win the Triple Crown with three horses that failed in the Belmont. Milo Valenzuela couldn’t win the Belmont after taking the Derby and Preakness with Tim Tam (1958) and Forward Pass (1968). Pat Valenzuela is Milo’s nephew.