Silverbulletday
Encyclopedia
Silverbulletday is an American
Thoroughbred
Champion
Filly
racehorse
. Bred in Kentucky
, she was sired by Silver Deputy
and out of the GII
winning mare
Rokeby Rose. Her damsire was Tom Rolfe
, the 1965 Preakness Stakes
winner and that year's U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt
. Her grandsire was Deputy Minister
, the 1981 Canadian Horse of the Year
and a very important North America
n sire.
Bob Baffert
for conditioning, Silverbulletday began her racing career at age two with an impressive 11-length win. In her second start she was flown east to step up to graded stakes company and won the grade two Debutante Stakes
at Churchill Downs
in June at six furlongs under jockey Gary Stevens
. In late July, Stevens again guided Silverbulletday to a win in the grade three, six and one half furlong Sorrento Stakes
at Del Mar
. After three straight wins, Baffert and Pegram mapped out a strategy attempting to win the division by moving her tack for the rest of the year to Churhill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky
. There she reeled off another three straight wins to finish her season undefeated.
In early October she won the grade two Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland Race Course at a mile and one sixteenth. Then she clinched the division title with a win in the fall's grade one Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
held at Churchill that year. In that race she beat a very strong field of ten including stakes winners Excellent Meeting and Three Ring who finished second and third behind her. If that weren't enough Baffert wheeled her back in three weeks to capture the grade three Golden Rod Stakes
at a mile and one sixteenth at Churchill.
Silverbulletday's performances in 1998 earned her United States Champion 2-Yr-Old Filly
honors.
, Kentucky Oaks
, and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes
. The Black-Eyed Susan is called by many as the defacto second jewel of the filly triple crown and is run at a mile and one eighth at Pimlico Race Course
in Baltimore, Maryland. In that race held on May 14, 1999 she faced a field of stakes winners and beat them handily including Dreams Gallore and Vee Vee Star who finished in second and third respectively.
Later that year Silverbulletday was entered in the third of the American Classic Races, the Belmont Stakes
, she held the lead through more than three-quarters of the race but the 1½ mile test proved to long for her and she finished seventh to winner Lemon Drop Kid
.
Silverbulletday came back to win over fillies in the Monmouth Oaks
at Monmouth Park. At Saratoga Race Course
, she demolished the competition in the 1¼-mile Alabama Stakes
, running away to win by nine lengths. She next won another Grade I event, the Gazelle Handicap
, then ran second in the Beldame Stakes
to Beautiful Pleasure. The heavy parimutuel betting
favorite for the 1999 Breeders' Cup Distaff
, Silverbulletday was in contention until the stretch drive but then faded and finished sixth to winner Beautiful Pleasure.
Silverbulletday's performances in 1999 earned her United States Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly
honors.
In 2000, Silverbulletday returned to the track. Her best results were a win in the Doubledogdare Stakes
at Keeneland Race Course and second place finishes in the Grade II Fleur de Lis
and Molly Pitcher Handicaps.
Retired to broodmare duty, having won fifteen races and banked more than $3 million, Silverbulletday has produced foals by prominent sires such as A.P. Indy
and Storm Cat
, but none to date have found significant racing success.
Silverbulletday was a 2007 finalist on the balloting for induction in the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
. In 2009, she was inducted.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
Champion
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
Filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
. Bred in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, she was sired by Silver Deputy
Silver Deputy
Silver Deputy is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known as a top sire in North America. He was a son of Deputy Minister who was an Eclipse and Sovereign Award winning runner and the 1997/98 Leading sire in North America. His dam was Silver Valley, a daughter of Mr...
and out of the GII
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
winning mare
Mare (horse)
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...
Rokeby Rose. Her damsire was Tom Rolfe
Tom Rolfe
The racehorse Tom Rolfe was one of the best American sons of the great racehorse and sire Ribot. His dam was Pocahontas, from whom he takes his name...
, the 1965 Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
winner and that year's U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse
The American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
. Her grandsire was Deputy Minister
Deputy Minister (horse)
Deputy Minister was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred horse racing Champion. At age two, he won eight out of his nine starts and was voted the 1981 Sovereign and Eclipse Award winner as North American Champion 2-Yr-Old, and was also voted Canada's Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year...
, the 1981 Canadian Horse of the Year
Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year
The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honor given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honor in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing....
and a very important North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n sire.
1998 racing season
Purchased by Michael E. Pegram, who gave her to trainerHorse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
Bob Baffert
Bob Baffert
Robert A. "Bob" Baffert is an American horse owner and trainer, whose horses have won three Kentucky Derbies, five Preakness Stakes, one Belmont Stakes and two Kentucky Oaks. He graduated from the University of Arizona's with a Bachelor of Science degree. -Early career:Bob Baffert began his...
for conditioning, Silverbulletday began her racing career at age two with an impressive 11-length win. In her second start she was flown east to step up to graded stakes company and won the grade two Debutante Stakes
Churchill Downs Debutante Stakes
The Debutante Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the last week of June at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. A Grade III event open to two-year-old fillies, it is contested on dirt over a distance of six furlongs....
at Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...
in June at six furlongs under jockey Gary Stevens
Gary Stevens
Gary Michael Stevens is a retired English footballer who is best remembered playing in defence for a successful Everton side of the 1980s, as well as for the England national football team....
. In late July, Stevens again guided Silverbulletday to a win in the grade three, six and one half furlong Sorrento Stakes
Sorrento Stakes
The Sorrento Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. It is open only to two-year-old fillies and is run at a distance of six and one-half furlongs on Polytrack...
at Del Mar
Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 miles north of San Diego. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogan: "Where The Turf Meets The Surf." It was built by a partnership...
. After three straight wins, Baffert and Pegram mapped out a strategy attempting to win the division by moving her tack for the rest of the year to Churhill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. There she reeled off another three straight wins to finish her season undefeated.
In early October she won the grade two Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland Race Course at a mile and one sixteenth. Then she clinched the division title with a win in the fall's grade one Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1/16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.-Automatic Berths:Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup...
held at Churchill that year. In that race she beat a very strong field of ten including stakes winners Excellent Meeting and Three Ring who finished second and third behind her. If that weren't enough Baffert wheeled her back in three weeks to capture the grade three Golden Rod Stakes
Golden Rod Stakes
The Golden Rod Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. A Grade II event open to two-year-old fillies, it is contested on dirt over a distance of 11/16 miles ....
at a mile and one sixteenth at Churchill.
Silverbulletday's performances in 1998 earned her United States Champion 2-Yr-Old Filly
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Filly
The American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
honors.
1999 racing season
In 1999, Silverbulletday picked up where she left off the previous fall, winning five straight races in dominant fashion, including such prestigious stakes as the Ashland StakesAshland Stakes
The Ashland Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It and the Ashland Oaks, the Kentucky Association racetrack's predecessor race, were named for Ashland, the homestead and breeding farm of statesman...
, Kentucky Oaks
Kentucky Oaks
The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1⅛ miles at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year...
, and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes
The Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The race is open to three-year-old fillies willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $250,000...
. The Black-Eyed Susan is called by many as the defacto second jewel of the filly triple crown and is run at a mile and one eighth at Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...
in Baltimore, Maryland. In that race held on May 14, 1999 she faced a field of stakes winners and beat them handily including Dreams Gallore and Vee Vee Star who finished in second and third respectively.
Later that year Silverbulletday was entered in the third of the American Classic Races, the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
, she held the lead through more than three-quarters of the race but the 1½ mile test proved to long for her and she finished seventh to winner Lemon Drop Kid
Lemon Drop Kid
Lemon Drop Kid is a Champion American Thoroughbred racehorse.-Background:He is among many stakes-winning Thoroughbreds to be descended from Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Seattle Slew is the son of, Charming Lassie. Kingmambo was his sire, himself a son of the very important Champion sire Mr...
.
Silverbulletday came back to win over fillies in the Monmouth Oaks
Monmouth Breeders' Cup Oaks
The Monmouth Oaks is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey for three-year-old fillies. Named for England's Epsom Oaks, first run in 1779, the inaugural American edition took place in 1871...
at Monmouth Park. At Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...
, she demolished the competition in the 1¼-mile Alabama Stakes
Alabama Stakes
The Alabama Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race open to three-year-old fillies. Inaugurated in 1872, the Grade I race is run over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the dirt track at Saratoga Race Course. Held in mid August, it currently offers a purse of $500,000...
, running away to win by nine lengths. She next won another Grade I event, the Gazelle Handicap
Gazelle Handicap
The Gazelle Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race raced annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, New York. Open to three-year-old fillies, it is a Grade I event run over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on dirt...
, then ran second in the Beldame Stakes
Beldame Stakes
The Beldame Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares three-years-old and up. Inaugurated in 1939, it was run as a handicap prior to 1960...
to Beautiful Pleasure. The heavy parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...
favorite for the 1999 Breeders' Cup Distaff
Breeders' Cup Distaff
The Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Distaff from its inception in 1984 through 2007, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders'...
, Silverbulletday was in contention until the stretch drive but then faded and finished sixth to winner Beautiful Pleasure.
Silverbulletday's performances in 1999 earned her United States Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly
The American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
honors.
In 2000, Silverbulletday returned to the track. Her best results were a win in the Doubledogdare Stakes
Doubledogdare Stakes
The Doubledogdare Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. A Grade III event since 2007, it is open to fillies and mares, age four and older...
at Keeneland Race Course and second place finishes in the Grade II Fleur de Lis
Fleur De Lis Handicap
The Fleur de Lis Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-June at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is open to filles and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt...
and Molly Pitcher Handicaps.
Retired to broodmare duty, having won fifteen races and banked more than $3 million, Silverbulletday has produced foals by prominent sires such as A.P. Indy
A.P. Indy
A.P. Indy is a champion stallion Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Kentucky, USA, by William Farish III and William Kilroy. He is known for his ancestry, his own record, and his successful progeny. He was sired by Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew through mare Weekend Surprise, who herself was sired...
and Storm Cat
Storm Cat
Storm Cat was an American Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding fee during the peak of his stud career was $500,000, the highest in the world. As such, he was one of the few horses with a 24-hour armed guard....
, but none to date have found significant racing success.
Silverbulletday was a 2007 finalist on the balloting for induction in the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
. In 2009, she was inducted.