Mark Bacon and Dana Wells’ Silver Max was bet down to 4-5 favoritism in
Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000
Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga, and the enthusiastic front runner did
not let his fans down. In a small field further reduced by the scratches of Za
Approval and Willyconker, the Dale Romans charge led throughout to earn his
eighth career stakes victory.
The Bernard Baruch was the only race to remain on the turf on a soggy day at
the Spa. With the turf favoring speedy types, and given Silver Max’s proficiency
over yielding ground, he looked tough to catch on paper.
Breaking from the outside with regular rider Robby Albarado, the
four-year-old Badge of Silver colt easily grabbed command and angled over to the
fence. The other son of Badge of Silver, Tetradrachm, chased through an opening
quarter in :23 4/5. When Tetradrachm increased the pressure through a half in
:47 1/5, Albarado had to scrub Silver Max along to stay in front.
But Silver Max responded, and after clocking 1:11 for six furlongs, he kicked
away cornering into the stretch. Paris Vegas, who had been stalking on the
inside, peeled out to offer his challenge. The 10-1 longest shot on the board,
Paris Vegas tried to make headway down the lane, but Silver Max maintained a
two-length margin at the wire. The winner slogged 1 1/16 miles on the yielding
Mellon turf in 1:42 1/5 and paid $3.80 to win.
“It’s no secret what his strategy is: he just pops right out of there and
goes right to the front,” Albarado said. “I try to be a quiet and patient
passenger on him and let him do all the work.
“They came to me a little earlier than I anticipated, at about the half-mile
pole. But he’s just got such a high cruising speed and he holds it. Today, I
just let him run from the first pole on, and he really stretched the race out.
He held off a couple nice horses. He gets on his streaks, and I think his last
couple (of races) he’s been back to himself.”
“We needed that,” trainer Dale Romans said.
“They made him work a lot more today than I thought he would. If you had told
me he was going to go that fast for the first (half-mile), I’d say he’d be 15
(lengths) in front. They made him run for it.”
Romans was asked about the turf condition.
“Every time something happens, you’re concerned, especially going into a big
race like this,” the trainer said. “If there’s anything to worry about, you will
worry about it. But he handled it last year in Virginia (when winning the
Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs).”
Paris Vegas’ connections were pleased with his performance.
“Turning for home, I thought we had a shot,” jockey Rosie Napravnik said. “My
horse is a kind of a grinder. You know he doesn’t have a huge kick, but he ran
very well.”
“He ran great,” trainer Tom Voss said of Paris Vegas. “He wouldn’t change to
his right lead in the stretch for whatever reason. I don’t know why. Maybe he
was a little uncomfortable.”
There was a gap of 6 1/4 lengths back to Tetradrachm in third. Turallure, the
3-1 second choice, never landed a blow from off the pace and settled for fourth.
So Long George lagged in last for the duration.
Silver Max’s resume now reads 21-10-5-1, $1,208,403. The bay colt needed six
starts before breaking his maiden on Gulfstream Park’s turf in January 2012, and
after a well-beaten fifth in the Holy Bull on dirt, he switched back to turf
with a gusto. He compiled a six-race win streak, all in front-running fashion,
beginning with a 3 3/4-length romp over allowance/optional claiming rivals at
Gulfstream.
Next came a convincing 5 1/2-length triumph in Keeneland’s
Transylvania Stakes; a 2 3/4-length tour-de-force performance in the American
Turf at Churchill Downs; a facile two-length win in the Arlington Classic; a 6
3/4-length, course record-setting performance in the Oliver Stakes, completing a
mile over Indiana Downs’ turf in 1:33.88; and a one-length decision in the
Virginia Derby.
Silver Max’s skein ended in the Secretariat at Arlington, as he gave way in
the stretch to finish fifth. He closed out his three-year-old campaign with a
disappointing ninth in the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland in October.
His 2013 campaign likewise began with a pair of subpar efforts — a fifth in
the March 30 Appleton at Gulfstream Park and a fourth to Horse of the Year Wise
Dan in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on Kentucky Derby Day.
Silver Max regained his old sparkle in the off-the-turf Opening Verse back at
Churchill Downs on June 1, running away by 9 1/2 lengths over a sloppy track. He
stayed on dirt for the June 29 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, but faded to
third. Silver Max rebounded with a vengeance when reverting to turf last time
out in the July 28 Oceanport at Monmouth, where he romped by 5 3/4 lengths.
“Last year, I might have overdone it with him,” Romans observed. “I ran him a
lot of times in those three-year-old races. He was a little tired at the end of
the year. He’s coming into the summer and fall a lot more fresh, and I think by
the end of the year he could be one of the best turf horses around.”
Bred in Kentucky by Steve Snowden, Seth Lauffer and Will Lauffer, Silver Max
was a $20,000 Fasig-Tipton July yearling. Produced by the Kissin Kris mare
Kissin Rene, he is half-brother to stakes winner True Kiss. This is the extended
family of Grade 1 winner and sire Yes It’s True as well as Canadian champion and
Grade 2 winner Kiss a Native.
Silver Max is inbred 4×4 to influential sire Roberto.
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