CBS SportsLine wire reports
June 25, 1998

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Skip Away brought his six-race winning streak to California on Thursday, returning to the track where he won last year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

"Skippy," as trainer Sonny Hine and his wife, Carolyn, call their beloved 5-year-old, settled into the same stall that housed him in November on the Hollywood Park backstretch.

Skip Away puts his streak on the line in Sunday's $1 million Hollywood Gold Cup against Gentlemen, who beat him by a half-length in last year's Pimlico Special in their only other meeting.

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"To me, this is the race of the year," Sonny Hine said. ``These are two great horses. Skip Away is No. 1 and Gentlemen is No. 2."

They'll get a good look at each other

Gentlemen will line up at the third post in the Hollywood Gold Cup, right next to Skip Away. (AP)

in the gate. Skip Away and Jerry Bailey drew the No. 2 post in the field of eight, with Gentlemen next door in the third hole. Floriselli will break from the rail in the 1\-mile race. All starters will carry 124 pounds.

SKIP AWAY WAS INSTALLED as the even-money morning line favorite, with the entry of Gentlemen and Puerto Madero, trained by Richard Mandella, the second choice at 7-5.

Mandella has a victory streak of his own to rival Skip Away. He's won six straight million-dollar races for older horses in Southern California, dating to Siphon's victory in the 1996 Gold Cup.

"I think about it a lot," he said. ``When it goes away, I'm going to be really sad."

Gentlemen comes to the Gold Cup on workouts alone, having been away from the races since finishing last in the Santa Anita Handicap on March 7. The 6-year-old Argentine-bred was treated for a skin rash, and then bled in the race.

Mandella is confident Gentlemen, under Gary Stevens, will revert to form Sunday.

"Other than we haven't had a prep race, he couldn't be better," he said. "I think he's up to his best race, and he'll need to be. Skip Away is surely in his prime, just doing things automatically. I think there's a great race coming."

Mandella saw Skip Away's dominance up close in the Massachusetts Handicap on May 30. He set a Suffolk Downs record, going 1[ miles in 1:47 1-5 while carrying 130 pounds. Puerto Madero, making his U.S. stakes debut, finished 4½ lengths back in second.

"HE'LL BE LAYING BACK in the weeds, making a late run at it," Mandella said of Puerto Madero. "If they let them all get carried away, hooked up together and fighting, he might come a long way and pick up the pieces. Who knows, this might be his day."

The winner earns $600,000, which would go a long way toward helping Skip Away reach $10 million in winnings. He has $8.3 million from 33 starts, second only to Cigar's $9.9 million.

"I set up a schedule where he could get the $10 million," Hine said.

Silver Charm, last year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, dropped out Wednesday because of a fever, spoiling a rare joint appearance by three of racing's biggest stars.

"It would've been a lot of fun," Hine said. ``We'll miss him.''

Silver Charm could possibly meet up with Skip Away in August in the Pacific Classic, in which Gentlemen also might run.

Others in the Gold Cup field are Bagshot, Budroyale, Don't Blame Rio and Mud Route.