Sparks Fly as Silver Max Wires Firecracker
By Evan Hammonds,
By Evan Hammonds,
Making his first start since finishing fourth in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT), Mark Bacon and Dana Wells' Silver Max, lit up the turf course at Churchill Downs with a wire-to-wire score in the Firecracker Stakes (gr. IIT). He won by 1 1/2 lengths over Nikki's Sandcastle, getting the mile in a short-fused 1:34.21 (VIDEO).
Sent off the 6-5 favorite against seven rivals under the Twin Spires, 5-year-old Silver Max was hustled out of the gate by rider Robby Albarado, quickly establishing his place on the front end with a :23.65 opening quarter. Free World gave chase along the hedge with Regally Ready tracking in the middle of the firm turf course. Nikki's Sandcastle and Valentino's Beauty were a few lengths off the pace as the opening half-mile went in :46.83.
On the far turn, Silver Max was cruising on the lead as Regally Ready made a bid but that opponent quickly flattened out. Silver Max hit the quarter pole in 1:09.98 and reached the eighth pole in 1:21.74 well clear of the rest of the field. At the line, Nikki's Sandcastle got the place in a tight photo with Guy's Reward--winner of the 2012 Firecracker--who came up the rail late for third and Villandry.
"I was more nervous before this race than before any other just to see how he came back and, boy, he delivered," Bacon said.
"Robby said he was really impressed with the way he did it and the way he galloped out so we're looking forward to the future," Bacon said. "It was good to get the first one under the belt."
Both Silver Max and Guy's Reward are trained by Dale Romans. Romans has now won four runnings of the Firecracker. His other winners were Thorn Song in 2008 and champion Kitten's Joy in 2005.
"It was unbelievable," Romans said. "This is special and he's a special horse."
Albarado won the Firecracker in 1999 aboard the Bob Baffert-trained Joe Who.
Silver Max paid $4.60, $4, and $2.80. Nikki's Sandcastle paid $5.80 and $3.40, and Guys Reward returned $4. The $2 5-4 exacta paid $29.
Villandry was followed by Free World, Valentino Beauty, Regally Ready, and Joha.
"That's very fast under today's conditions," Albarado said. "He was cruising along there pretty good and had his ears forward the whole way so I knew he was content with his cruising mode. He's got such a high cruising speed and that's his asset."
Silver Max, out of the Kissin Kris mare Kissin Rene, was bred in Kentucky by Steve C. Snowden and Seth and Will Lauffer.
He is a grade I winner, having topped two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan last fall in the off-the-turf Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. I) that was switched to Keeneland's Polytrack. Last year he also won the Bernard Baruch Handicap (gr. IIT) at Saratoga and Monmouth's Oceanport Stakes (gr. IIIT) prior to running fourth behind Wise Dan in the Breeders' Cup.
Silver Max has won 12 of 24 starts, with five seconds and one third. His $135,195 winner's share of the $224,800 purse pushed his career earnings to $1,913,598.
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/85907/sparks-fly-as-silver-max-wires-firecracker#ixzz35zJWMEoN
By Myra Lewyn,
Cinco Charlie turned in his second impressive performance in as many career starts June 28 when leading all the way to win the $100,000 Bashford Manor Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs (VIDEO).
Ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan for trainer Steve Asmussen, Cinco Charlie rebuffed a strong challenge from game runner-up Silverhill, who bid alongside on the far turn after pressing the early pace. Cinco Charlie held off that rival at the quarter pole and edged away to a 1 3/4-length triumph.
Cinco Charlie covered six furlongs in 1:10.36 as the 6-5 favorite on a fast track.
Skyway was a well-beaten third, finishing four lengths behind Silverhill in the six-horse field.
Cinco Charlie, a colt from the final crop of Indian Charlie, made a splash in his career debut May 9 at Churchill when defeating seven opponents by 2 3/4 lengths and stepped up with aplomb for his stakes bow in the Bashford Manor.
"He's pretty precocious, a nice 2-year-old and he makes my job easy," Bridgmohan said. "It was pretty straightforward. He broke smartly and was comfortable the whole way. When I asked him to pick it up he accelerated and did everything profession."
Fastest from the gate, Cinco Charlie led through fractions of :21.89, :45.69 and :57.63 with Bret Calhoun's Texas maiden winner Silverhill in close pursuit from his outside. With stamina in reserve, proved best in the closing stages, banking the $67,022 winner's share of the Bashford Manor purse to increased his career earnings to $93,422
Cinco Charlie races for B and C Racing, the nom de course of Bill and Corrine Heiligbrodt. The Texas couple was among the nation's top owners for more than two decades and have just returned from a brief hiatus from the ownership ranks that included the dispersal of their vast racing operation in the summer of 2011. At the time of the dispersal, the Heiligbrodts had owned or co-owned 118 stakes winners, including 45 graded stakes winners.
"It was pretty much unbelievable to go all the way today coming off of one race seven weeks ago," Bill Heiligbordt said after the Bashford Manor about Cinco Charlie, who is named after his boat. "It's pretty impressive to win back like that and get a horse to go from 4 1/2 furlongs to six furlongs over a period of time, so he's got to be a nice horse."
Bred in Kentucky by Candyland Farm, Cinco Charlie was a $190,000 purchase from Cary Frommer, agent, at the Ocala Breeders' Sale Co. March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training. One of several 2014 starters for the Heiligbrodts, he is out of the stakes-placed Marquetry mare Ten Halos, a half sister to graded stakes winners My Pal Charlie and Bwana Charlie, both by Indian Charlie, and Bwana Bull, by Holy Bull.
"I found a good horse," said Heiligbrodt, who raced Bwana Charlie, a three-quarter brother to Cinco Charlie. "That's why I'm back. I have just a couple of horses in training (five) but I'm looking for some more good horses. I'm just being careful and trying to buy a little better horse and not have as many."
Cinco Charlie gave the Heiligbrodts their third win in the Bashford Manor. They campaigned 2004 winner Lunarpal and co-owned 1994 winner Hyroglyphic with Jack Hammer.
Cinco Charlie paid $4.60, $3, and $2.20 while Silverhill returned $6 and $3.20. Skyway, who chased from third throughout, brought $2.80 to show.
Lucky Player was fourth and Governmentshutdown, the 2-1 second-favorite, was fifth. Draw Nigh, the longest shot in the field at 48-1 odds, was pulled up in the early stages and walked off the track.
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/85906/cinco-charlie-gate-to-wire-in-bashford-manor#ixzz35zKKK2VW
