BY GEORGE RORRER
Enquirer contributor
![[silver charm]](/editions/1998/09/26/charm_180x114.jpg)
Silver Charm works out Friday.
(Glenn hartong photo)
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FLORENCE -- For a big-time winner such as Silver Charm, the $500,000 Kentucky Cup Classic wouldn't figure to be much of a challenge. But for the winner of the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and the 1998 Dubai World Cup, there's a lot riding on today's race at Turfway Park.
Silver Charm will try to take a first step back to superhorse status and end a two-race losing streak. Should he recapture his form of last spring, his future could include a Nov. 7 showdown with Skip Away in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.
Silver Charm is a 3-5 favorite, but trainer Bob Baffert says he expects Patrick Byrne's Wild Rush and Bill Mott's Acceptable to make today's race a fair test.
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IF YOU GO
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What: $1.15 million Kentucky Cup Day of Champions
Where: Turfway Park, Florence, Ky.
When: Today; gates open at 10 a.m., first post 12:30 p.m.
Admission: Grandstand $3, clubhouse $5, reserved seats $4 to $8. Parking is $5.
TV: Tape delay, ESPN2 (12:30 a.m.)
Directions: I-75 to Turfway Road exit; follow the signs.
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"I've seen Wild Rush run some big races," Baffert said.
Handicapper Mike Battaglia said he doesn't expect Silver Charm to "just show up and pick up the purse. Wild Rush can be very, very tough, and knowing Pat Byrne he'll have him ready."
In May, Wild Rush won the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct and the Metropolitan Mile at Belmont, but on July 25 at Del Mar he was fifth in the San Diego Handicap.
Acceptable, from George Steinbrenner's Kinsman Stable, has won three stakes races including the Kentucky Cup Classic Preview here Sept. 12. Rounding out the field are Ian's Thunder at 15-1 and Magnify at 20-1.
The Classic is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. It's the 10th of 12 races, including five other stakes.
![[silver charm]](/editions/1998/09/26/charm_550x347.jpg)