Chicago Tribune du lieu suivant : Chicago, Illinois • Page 42

4 Section 4 Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, October 6, 1998 HORSE RACING Awesome Again to run here, battle Skip Away later the Hawthorne Gold Cup," Byrne said. "We're sticking with our plans. "The Hawthorne Gold Cup always is a good race, and it's a mile and a quarter just like the Jockey Club Gold Cup. "Skip Away is very, very tough at Belmont Park, but he's a question mark at Churchill. Awesome Again really likes Churchill, and it's home for him.

I'd rather wait until Skip Away comes to Churchill for the Breeders' Cup for a showdown between what I'm hoping will still be two undefeated horses." Last year, when Byrne had a public stable, he was the trainer of Favorite Trick, who edged Skip Away in the balloting to become Horse of the Year. But at year's end Byrne decided to give up Favorite Trick and several other accom By Neil Milbert Tribune Staff Writer Wot since Cigar- showed up in the summer of 1996 to run in the Arlington Citation Challenge has a thoroughbred visited Chicago With a profile as high as that which Awesome Again will bring hm-e. Awesome Again will go into Saturday's Grade III $400,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup as the No. 2-ranked runner in North America in both the National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll and the Daily Racing Form ratings. -''Awesome Again is undefeated in his four starts this year for owner-breeder Frank Stronach and trainer Patrick Byrne.

His victims include Silver Charm, who last year won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and this year won the Dubai World Cup. While Awesome Again is making the scene at Hawthorne, top-ranked Skip Away will be at Belmont Park in pursuit of the eighth consecutive victory of his unbeaten campaign in Saturday's Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup. Although the $1 million purse of the New York race is more than double the booty at stake in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, Byrne said he wasn't tempted to take a shot at Skip Away. He believes it's prudent to be patient and wait until Nov. 8 for a showdown in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

"This spring we mapped out a schedule for Awesome Again that had him running in the Stephen Foster at Churchill in which he forced Silver Charm to settle for second, the Whitney at Saratoga, the Saratoga Breeders' Cup and plished horses in his powerful public stable to accept a megabucks offer to become Stronach's private trainer. It wasn't a tough decision. Last year, Stronach's horses ranked fourth in North America with earnings of more than $4.2 million. Among the horses he was offering Byrne were three outstanding 3-year-olds of the class of '97 Awesome Again, winner of the Queen's Plate and Jim Dandy; Belmont winner Touch Gold; and Illinois Derby winner Wild Rush. "Our ultimate goal was to get these horses to the Breeders' Cup, and they seem to be peaking at the right time," Byrne said.

Wild Rush, who late last month dead-heated for victory with Silver Charm in the Kentucky Cup Classic, will run in either the Sprint or on the grass in the Mile on Breeders' Cup day. Touch Gold is scheduled to join Awesome Again in the attempt to topple Skip Away in the Classic. According to Byrne, Touch Gold has completely recovered from the foot problems that plagued him last year, when he was trained by David Hofmans. His next start, which will be only his third outing of the year, will come Sunday at Keeneland in the Fayette. "Touch Gold didn't run his race last time out when he finished fifth in the Pacific Classic, but he was a better horse than Awesome Again last year, and he still might be," Byrne said.

"With Awesome Again, I feel the best is yet to come." Finish lines: Awesome Again has been assigned the high weight of 123 pounds for Saturday's race. He will be conceding nine pounds to Florida-based Unruled, runner-up to Skip Away in two Grade I races in February at Gulfstream. Among the other anticipated starters are local horses Come On Flip (111 pounds) and Beboppin Baby (113). Come On Flip won the Gold Cup two years ago, and Beboppin Baby took last year's Washington Park Handicap and this summer's Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap. The weekend agenda also includes another of the Chicago circuit's major races, Sunday's Grade III $250,000 Hawthorne Derby on the grass.

Owner Thomas Carey (no relation to Hawthorne's president of the same name) and trainer Peter Vestal, who won last year's Hawthorne Derby with River Squall, hope to be back in the winner's circle with Reformer Rally. Another noteworthy name on the list of probable starters is Success and Glory. Once logy, race now in Chicago Marathon's success snowballs thanks ft v. i RUNNING marathons, only the fourth time in history a field can make that boast Only if the snow had obscured the final two miles of the 1993 race would a runner have posted that time. In other words, the talent level is just a touch better.

"You want to shake Carey and go, 'Enough, enough. You have enough says Frank Shorter, the 1972 Olympic marathon gold medalist "This field is as good as you're going to get on both sides. It really reads like an Olympic-level race." Such words were inconceivable for Pinkowski to dream of hearing when he took over as executive race director in 1990. He inherited a race that was, in his words, "significantly in debt" Flair Communications Inc. owned the marathon from 1977 to 1993 and enjoyed boom years with Beatrice Foods as its title sponsor until 1986.

But perhaps as a response to the embarrassing cancellation of 1987, the race came in well over budget with Old Style as its sponsor in 1988 and 1989. By 1991, the year after Old Style pulled out, officials merely tried to keep the race afloat. Prize money got trimmed from a high of $350,000 to $50,000, the amount that previously had been awarded to winners. First-place finishers then took home just $7,500. "It was about as bare bones as you can get," Pinkowski says.

"I remember waiting for entry fees to come in so we could buy advertising or do anything." The lack of money showed in the elite talent pool as well as the number of participants. The 1992 men's champion, Brazilian Jose Cesar de Souza, finished in 2 hours 16 minutes 14 seconds, the slowest time since the race's third running in 1979. When the snow hit the fan in 1993, only 6,941 runners registered and 5,491 of those finished the FROM PAGE 1 the Bears as if they were the Byes. Their coach screams. They curse.

They flex and flaunt their talent in the third quarter. Your Bears get outclassed and outscored but not outfought. They narrowly lost games they should have won against Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Minnesota because they needed one star to make one deal-closing play. They have no Randy Moss. Detroit's mistake was believing these Bears would concede the fourth quarter, as they did last Thanksgiving when the Lions feasted 55-20.

That day, the Bears led 20-17 at halftime. As former Lion and new Bear Mike Wells says, "The coach's halftime speech was, 'You are losing to the Chicago Bears. Now, a devastated Detroit has lost to the Bears, who celebrated as if a Transylvanian curse had been broken. This is a weirdly admirable bunch. It's as if these Bears have no memory or contact with the outside world.

It's as if they have no idea they're not very good. It's as if this Cult of Dave has been blissfully brainwashed. Without Bryan Cox or Alonzo Spellman, this team battles little if any finger-pointing or back-stabbing. This team believes It has been losing mostly because of bad luck and breaks. You say, "Why doesn't Wannstedt get mad and break clipboards and cut players when they lose?" Because Wannstedt still believes he has a pretty good team getting better by the quarter.

Today, he could pass a lie-detector test with the assertion that his team still has an outside playoff shot These Bears are becoming as AP photo The Fire's Chris Armas keeps the ball away from the Rapids' Jason Bent as he looks to pass Monday. FIRE 1, RAPIDS 0 Thornton's stops help Fire advance SOCCER Like Thursday's match against Colorado, the Fire's lone goal came off a Lubos Kubik penalty kick. Also like Thursday, the play was set up when Colorado's Steve Trittschuh pulled down Peter Nowak in the penalty area. Again, like Game 1, the Rapids put on a furious assault to close out the match. The Fire was able to withstand the attack this time, with goalie Zach Thornton coming up big in the final 10 minutes and showing why coach Bob Bradley entrusted him with the starting job over departed Jorge Campos.

"They threw everything at us," Thornton said. "We had to fight hard to the end." "It's Colorado's final game of the series, their urgency is even greater," Bradley said. "Zach has tremendous physical qualities. When they throw balls into the Wilt also added that the MLS championship game is being played in the Rose Bowl this season and it's very conceivable that the Los Angeles Galaxy would be competing on its own field. "If the Crew advance to the final and meet the Galaxy, will they vote not to play?" Wilt asked.

The Columbus players were scheduled to vote Tuesday to decide whether to play the match. Rootes said Saturday that he informed the U.S. federation not to count on the Crew participating in the match. Wilt, however, found it very unlikely that either players or team brass would opt out Another reason the match probably will be played: The winning team receives $150,000. Room to grow.

Earlier in the season, the Fire had an 11-game winning streak. It's now coming off a 5 a sprint to director, sponsor race, the lowest totals in 10 years. Still, Pinkowski stuck to his plan. "I knew if we kept grinding away and kept having a race and identifying with Chicago and interacting with the community, sooner or later people would take notice," he says. That someone? LaSalle Banks.

Pinkowski had made solid inroads with the community, trying to get local high school programs, running clubs and businesses involved in the race. This approach had solidified the race's reputation as a solid citizen's event, one that paid as much attention to the 12-minute miler as the elite runner. But without resources, the race's elite runners weren't that elite. Conveniently, the bank had been searching for an event to promote its community relations. "We had seen the race in its heyday and knew the problems it was having," says Mark Nystuen, LaSalle Banks chief administrative officer.

"We felt with our financial support, we could help revive it." Bank officials won't disclose its financial contributions, but the race's budget is near $3 million. This allows Pinkowski to travel to marathons worldwide, essential for attracting top elite runners. Previous skimpy budgets barely allowed him to call London, much less travel there. LaSalle Banks Group purchased the race in 1996. The race has come full circle.

It is back on TV, back in prominence, back in popularity. "Chicago deserves this race," says Benoit Samuelson, whose 1985 performance here still stands as the American women's record and who made her master's debut here in 1997. "There is such a great running community there, and the race is truly special." This year should be no different barring a snowstorm. 3 J' Tribune photo oy Jim Pnscning The Bears' struggles certainly haven't been for a lack of effort from Dave Wannstedt's team. lovably resilient as this season's Cubs.

Erik Kramer is Kevin Tapani. If only these Bears had a Sosa or Wood. What if they out-roller-coaster Arizona? What if they catch a fading Cowboys team by surprise? At 3-4, the Bears would no longer be taken lightly. They would start getting a superior foe's best shot in the first quarter. The first could become the third.

By Week 8, as opponents shift into piayoff drive, the Bears could get run over. Will they eventually wave the white flag and quit on Wannstedt? For now, all I know is that I wouldn't want to be coaching against them. By K.C. Johnson Tribune Staff Writer The true test for Carey -Pinkowski's nothing-but-sunshine optimism came in 1993 when, with meager first-place prize of $20,000 and a freak October snowstorm, the 16th Chicago Marathon 'was staged. was a wonderful experience," says Pinkowski, the race's executive director, "To see the city work to plow the course's and all the runners still "show up to battle the elements 'it 'was impressive." Minkowski's spirit not to mention the deep pockets and personal commitment of the title Sponsor, help explain why the "LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon is' enjoying a resurgence that is equally impressive.

race's well-chronicled past fricludes international prominence "with record-setting performances by Steve Jones and Joan Benoit Samuelson in the mid-'80s; the Scar of a cancellation for lack of a tie sponsor in 1987; lean years in ie early '90s; and finally a steady Upward progression since LaSalle signed on in 1994. '-That progression continues with this year's running on Sunday. Pinkowski is the kind of person who instead of decrying an snowstorm focuses on the positives of perseverance. But a rose a rose any way one looks at it, vand this year's field in light of like 1993 is staggering in its talent, depth and number of participants. 7, More than 18,000 runners are expected to participate, up 11,000 the famed snowstorm race.

The $350,000 purse more than triples the total from 1993. This year's men's field features runners, including defending -champion Khalid Khannouchi, iwho have run sub-2-hour-8-minute Bayless Continued from Page 1 all their criticism, Wannst-'edt and staff continue to do a solid job of preparing this under-' talented team to compete. This 'team still buys into Wannstedt's game plans, still respects him, still fights for him from start to often painful finish. If nothing else, this team will bloody your nose. Without play-njakers, it will at least throw some haymakers.

Unlike previous Wannstedt teams, this one Will hit you as if every game's the Rose Bowl. Especially on defense, guys like Ricardo McDonald, Sean Harris, Barry "Minter, Mark Thomas and rookie Tony Parrish will at. least leave you with some black-and-'btue souvenirs. So far, this team has shown endless grit, zero quit. ''In Washington, the Redskins have quit on another chip off Jimmy Johnson's coif, Norv Turner.

In losing to rival Dallas 31-10, the Redskins basically 'announced, "We don't want to play for this guy anymore." In Philadelphia, the Eagles 'have turned into Beagles, rolling oVer and playing dead on fire-breathing Ray Rhodes. But in Chicago, Wanny's won-' ders have yet to say die. Their quarterback, Erik Kramer, just keeps getting up, spitting out 'grass and throwing another ass. If he finds his rhythm, 'playoff-strong teams find them-; selves stumbling dazed and trail--lhg into the halftime locker room. They realize they approached By Bob FoKman Tribune Staff Writer DENVER They were put on a collision course back in May, when the Fire handed the Los Angeles Galaxy its first two losses of the season.

Now they'll meet head-on for the MLS Western Conference championship after the Fire put forth an efficient road effort Monday night to come away with a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids and sweep the two-game semifinal series. Game 1 of the Western finals against Los Angeles is Saturday night at the Rose Bowl. Game 2 will be Oct. 16 at Soldier Field with a third game, if necessary, in Los Angeles Oct. 21.

The two teams split their four regular-season games, with each team winning on the road. INSIDE THE FIRE box, he takes control" Thornton's finest moment came Jn the 72nd minute. Paul Bravo unleashed a shot from left of the penalty area that skipped before reaching the goat Thornton dove to his left to get a piece of it, but the ball deflected behind him. Thornton lunged to the goal and grabbed the ball before it was able to trickle across the line. Colorado also gave the Fire a scare in the 62nd minute when Adrian Paz sent a low, hard cross through the penalty area.

Neither Chris Henderson nor Bravo could get a touch on it however. Now the Fire will have a little rest before facing the Galaxy. "Los Angeles has been the top team in the league all season," Bradley said. "We've had some good games against them. It should be an exciting series." two-game sweep in its first-ever playoff series.

Fire defender C.J. Brown believes the team was playing better during the 11-game streak than it is now. "There definitely is room for improvement," he said. "I know myself, I've been a little sluggish." Surprise, surprise: Someone could Have won some money betting Brown in February that the Fire would be playing this deep in the playoffs. "If you would have seen us in the preseason, you wouldn't have expected us to be here," he said.

Kudos: "Hats off to Chicago," Colorado coach Glenn Myernick said. "In six games they clearly demonstrated they are better than us in several areas. They are a good representative of this series to go oa" The Fire won five of the six meetings between the teams this seasoa Crew unhappy about U.S. Cup final moving here By Bob Fottman Tribune Staff Writer DENVER Fire General Manager Peter Wilt doesn't have much sympathy for the complaints of Columbus Crew PresidentGeneral Manager Jamey Rootes. Rootes is upset that U.S.

Soccer scheduled the final for the U.S. Open Cup between the Fire and Crew for Oct. 30 at Soldier Field. The match originally was scheduled to be played at the end of August in Virginia Beach, Va but was postponed because of Hurricane Bonnie. "It's ironic Jamey is concerned about the game being played in the home city of one of the participants since he was pressing to have it played in Dublin, Ohio," Wilt said.

"Apparently he's not displeased with the principle, just the execution.".