|
|
Silk looks smooth in Just a Game upset
Seizing the initiative in a race lacking an unambiguous front runner, C. S. Silk carved out steady fractions of :25 1/5, :50 2/5 and 1:15 2/5 on the good Widener turf course. Much Rejoicing (Distorted Humor) and Amen Hallelujah (Montbrook) were tracking closely, but 3-2 favorite Aviate (GB) (Dansili [GB]) was reserved in midpack, where she ended up never landing a blow. Fantasia (GB) (Sadler's Wells), on the other hand, was able to mount a strong rally from dead last. By that point, however, C. S. Silk was long gone. The longtime leader kicked clear at the top of the stretch, built up a daylight lead, and completed the soggy mile in 1:40 2/5. "I know the turf is soft," Castellano said. "She loves it; she handled it so well. She was comfortable on the lead. She really enjoyed the trip. It was beautiful. I think the key was getting her to relax at the first quarter. For the first quarter of a mile, she was relaxed. We walked with the 25-second first quarter. The rest was history. When I asked her, it was like I pushed a button and she took off." "The turf today suited us perfectly," Romans noted. "We've had her since she was a yearling, and she has been a little bit fickle where she'd throw in a bad race and then throw a good one. We just can't give up on her. She pays you off when she's right." Fantasia got up late to take runner-up honors, one length ahead of Amen Hallelujah. Justaroundmidnight (Ire) (Danehill Dancer) checked in fourth. Gypsy's Warning (SAf) (Mogok), Aviate, Much Rejoicing, Strike the Bell (Mizzen Mast) and Cherokee Queen (Cherokee Run) rounded out the order of finish. "(Fantasia) was gradually running," trainer Jonathan Sheppard said, "but she wasn't going to catch the winner; it was going to have to be another eighth of a mile, I think. I'm kind of anxious to try this filly a bit longer now, because she really seems to be staying well and finishing well." C. S. Silk's biggest career victory improved her mark to 24-7-5-2, $776,896. A six-length winner of the 2008 Arlington-Washington Lassie S. (G3) on Polytrack, she concluded her juvenile season with a runner-up effort in the Delta Princess S. (G3) on dirt. C. S. Silk lost her way at three, but ultimately found herself as a four-year-old on the turf. She garnered the 2010 Addison Mallery S. at Saratoga and placed in the Locust Grove H. (G3) and Ellis Park Turf S. prior to her terrific try in the First Lady. Bred by Hermitage Farm in Kentucky, C. S. Silk was sold for $120,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. She was produced by the stakes-winning Remember the Day (Settlement Day), making her a half-sister to Grade 3 victor Remember Sheikh (Sheikh Albadou [GB]), multiple stakes scorer Memory Tap (Pleasant Tap) and the winning Since Time Began (Rubiano), the dam of Grade 3 queen Victorina (Delaware Township). Remember the Day's latest foal is an unnamed yearling colt by Indygo Shiner. "She's from Medaglia d'Oro's first crop, and everybody knows what his fillies have done," Romans said. "She has three or four half-brothers and sisters who are stakes horses, and it's huge getting a Grade 1 win with her."
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
