10/30/05
Last updated: 10/29/05 6:10 PM
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Silver Train powered home to take the Sprint
by a head
(Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com) |
Buckram Oak Farm’s SILVER TRAIN (Old Trieste) proved the best sprinter in the
land Saturday when he took on 10 rivals in the $972,020
Breeders’ Cup Sprint
(G1) at Belmont Park. Attila’s Storm (Forest Wildcat) broke to the front early,
leading through a quarter in :22, but relinquished his position to the heavy 3-5
favorite Lost in the Fog (Lost Soldier), who was attempting to keep his record
perfect in 11 starts. That one tired, however, opening the way for the Richard
Dutrow Jr.-trained Silver Train, who advanced four wide into the stretch under
jockey Edgar Prado and managed to hold off Taste of Paradise (Conquistador Cielo)
at the wire by a head, completing six furlongs over the fast track in 1:08 4/5 .
“We had nothing to lose and everything to gain in this race,” said Dutrow,
who earned his first Breeders’ Cup score in three tries.
“This horse ran in 1:07 and change before (July 2 at Belmont), and he just loves
this track. We gave him plenty of time after the Jerome. He was cutting back from
a mile, but we figured we could take a chance on a race like this.”
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The winning dark bay pay rewarded his backers with payouts of $25.80, $10.40 and
$8.10 at nearly 12-1 after surviving a claim of foul from Taste of Paradise’s
jockey, Garrett Gomez. He led the exotics of $215.50 (exacta), $1,593 (trifecta) and
$35,358 for the 3-1-5-2 superfecta. Taste of Paradise was a head back on the
outside to pay $10.60 and $7.20 at 12-1 while Lion Tamer (Will’s Way) rallied
late to gain part, returning $7.60 for the show at 12-1.
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Silver Train entered the Sprint off a win in the Jerome
(Uli Seit/Horsephotos.com) |
Attila’s Storm held on to
round out the superfecta. Elusive Jazz (Elusive Quality), Lifestyle (Indian
Charlie), Lost in the Fog, Imperialism (Langfuhr), Gygistar (Prospector’s
Music), Wildcat Heir (Forest Wildcat) and Battle Won (Honour and Glory)
completed the order of finish. Shortly after he crossed the wire, Wildcat Heir
stumbled. fell and was vanned off the track, but Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith of the AAEP
reported the five-year-old just suffered some superficial lacerations and was
fine.
Bred in Kentucky by Joe Mullholland Sr., Joe Mullholland Jr., et al., Silver
Train is out of the multiple-stakes placed mare Ridden in Thestars (Cormorant)
and counts himself as a half-brother to an unnamed yearling colt by Yankee
Victor and a weanling colt by High Yield. This victory improves Silver Train’s
record to 11-4-2-3 with $756,145 in earnings. The three-year-old colt previously
finished first in the Jerome H. (G2) last out and placed third in the Amsterdam
S. (G2) prior to that one. He sold to his current connections for $140,000 as a
Fasig-Tipton July yearling.
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“The best day of my life was when my child was born, but the best day of my
racing life is today,” said Prado, who won his second Breeders’ Cup race on the
day after earlier annexing the Juvenile Fillies (G1).
