|
|
Silver Tree regains his luster in Appleton Peter Vegso's homebred SILVER TREE (Hennessy), a fixture in the graded turf ranks for the past few years, appeared to have lost a step in 2006. Returning from a six-month hiatus in Sunday's $125,000 Appleton H. (G3) at Gulfstream Park, the Bill Mott-trained seven-year-old showed that he retains all of his old sparkle. With Edgar Prado aboard, Silver Tree came flying late to get up in the nick of time, blazing the grassy mile in 1:32 on a firm course. Prado allowed his mount to settle well off the pace as Giant Wrecker (Giant's Causeway) winged his way through splits of :22 4/5, :45 4/5 and 1:09. Entering the stretch, the stalking Steel Light (Stravinsky) angled to the outside to launch his bid and rapidly assumed command. He appeared home and dry until Prado produced Silver Tree, who delivered a stunning late burst to reel in Steel Light by a neck. Old Dodge (Brz) (Dodge) also found his best stride late for third, a half-length adrift of the runner-up. Gin and Sin (Go for Gin) checked in fourth, followed by Kiss the Kid (Lemon Drop Kid), Tiganello (Ger) (Acatenango), Giant Wrecker and Better Than Bonds (Sweetsouthernsaint). Ecclesiastic (Pulpit) was withdrawn after running 10th in Saturday's Richter Scale Breeders' Cup H. (G2). "He was just old and tired and needed a rest last year," Mott said. "He wasn't moving that well and needed to be turned out for about 60 days. He spent most of it on Peter's farm in Ocala (Florida). The plan always was to bring him back eventually. The folks on the farm put some of the initial miles into him, and he came to me ready to go. He was working well and moving well and seemed to be enjoying himself." Dispatched as the lukewarm favorite at 5-2, the winner furnished mutuels of $7.60, $4.40 and $3.20. The nearly 6-1 Steel Light, who was racing for the first time in more than 16 months, turned in a terrific effort for second, paying $5.80 and $4. Old Dodge returned $4 to show at odds of 8-1. The $1 exotics yielded $20.20 (exacta), $108.50 (trifecta) and $833.60 (1-2-5-9 superfecta). With this fifth stakes victory to his credit, Silver Tree improved his record to 29-9-7-4, $1,228,929. He has now won one stakes in each of the past five years, having taken the 2003 Virginia Derby, 2004 Bernard Baruch H. (G2), 2005 Tropical Turf H. (G3) and 2006 Cherokee River Stables Turf Classic S. Silver Tree has also placed 11 times at the stakes level, including runner-up efforts in the Fourstardave H. (G2) (2004 and 2005) and Bernard Baruch (2005) as well as a third in the 2004 Shadwell Turf Mile S. (G1). He holds the distinction of being Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey's final mount. On that occasion, in the 2006 Sunshine Millions Turf, he was just caught by eventual turf champion Miesque's Approval (Miesque's Son). Bred by his owner in Florida, Silver Tree is out of the multiple stakes-placed With Approval mare Blue Begum, making him a full brother to multiple Grade 3 winner Orchard Park. He is the latest product of a female line that has left an indelible mark on American racing. His granddam is a half-sister to Tiller (Herbager [Fr]), a titan of the turf in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Endear (Alydar), a Grade 1 queen who earned lasting fame as the dam of two-time Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) hero Lure (Danzig). Mott hasn't penciled in his next start, but he indicated that 1 1/16 miles is probably Silver Tree's ideal trip.
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
