Silver Tree too good in Fort Marcy

Peter Vegso's homebred SILVER TREE (Hennessy) put away pacesetter Buddy's

Humor (Distorted Humor) in early stretch and strolled home a convincing, 1

1/2-length winner in the $110,600

Fort Marcy H. (G2) over the firm Aqueduct lawn on

Sunday. Away from the gate in good order under Edgar Prado, the Bill Mott

trainee rated kindly in second through splits of :24 2/5, :49 2/5 and 1:13 1/5

to the lane, prior to asserting himself at the top of the stretch. Silver Tree

gained the lead with relative ease and was never challenged late in recording a

final time of 1:42 for 1 1/16 miles. The nearly 5-2 favorite paid $6.70, $3.90

and $2.80 while keying the $27.60 exacta and $69 trifecta.

Operation Red Dawn (Miswaki) had only one horse behind him after six panels

but closed sharply without pressuring the winner through the stretch, gaining

the place three-parts clear of third. The 5-1 runner-up gave back $5.10 and

$3.10. Twilight Meteor (Smart Strike), the 7-2 third choice, saved ground early

while in third, came out into the stretch and finished evenly to gain the show,

good for $3. Wood Be Willing (Pulpit) was another three-quarters of a length

back and trailed by Barastraight (GB) (Barathea [Ire]), Buddy's Humor and Pays

to Dream (High Yield)

With this eighth stakes victory to his credit, Silver Tree improved his

record to 38-13-9-4, $1,598,009. He owns stakes wins in each of the past six

years, having taken the 2003 Virginia Derby, 2004 Bernard Baruch H. (G2), 2005

Tropical Turf H. (G3), 2006 Florida Cup Turf Classic S., and 2007

editions of the Appleton H. (G3), Fourstardave H. (G2) and Caesar Rodney S. Silver Tree has also placed 13 times at

the stakes level, including the 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. Silver

Tree was second last out in the Florida Cup Turf Classic S. at Tampa Bay Downs.

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 (Hennessy). 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), 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).