Silverbulletday

Silverbulletday
Sire	Silver Deputy
Grandsire	Deputy Minister
Dam	Rokeby Rose
Damsire	Tom Rolfe
Sex	Mare
Foaled	1996
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Highclere Inc. & Clear Creek
Owner	Michael E. Pegram
Trainer	Bob Baffert
Record	23: 15-3-1
Earnings	$3,093,207
Major wins
Debutante Stakes (1998) Golden Rod Stakes (1998) Sorrento Stakes (1998) Alcibiades Stakes (1998) Ashland Stakes (1999) Kentucky Oaks (1999) Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (1999) Monmouth Oaks (1999) Gazelle Handicap (1999) Fair Grounds Oaks (1999) Alabama Stakes (1999) Davona Dale Stakes (1999) Doubledogdare Stakes (2000) Breeders' Cup wins: Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1998)
Awards
United States Champion 2-Yr-Old Filly (1998) United States Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly (1999)
Honours
Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (2009)
Last updated on April 19, 2009

Silverbulletday (foaled January 22, 1996 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred Champion 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 American sire.

1998 racing season

Purchased by Michael E. Pegram, who gave her to trainer Bob Baffert for conditioning, Silverbulletday began her racing career at age two with an 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 guided Silverbulletday to a win in the Grade III six and one half furlong Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar. After three straight wins, Baffert and Pegram mapped out a strategy of attempting to win the division by moving her tack for the rest of the year to Churhill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. There Silverbulletday 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. Baffert then 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.

1999 racing season

In 1999, Silverbulletday won five straight races, including such prestigious stakes as the Ashland Stakes, Kentucky Oaks, and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. The Black-Eyed Susan is called by many 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, Silverbulletday beat a field of stakes winners, including Dreams Gallore and Vee Vee Star, who finished 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 too 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 won the 1¼-mile Alabama Stakes 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.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Silverbulletday

Sire Silver Deputy dk br 1985	Deputy Minister bay 1979	Vice Regent	Northern Dancer
			Victoria Regina
		Mint Copy	Bunty's Flight
			Shakney
	Silver Valley chestnut 1979	Mr. Prospector	Raise a Native
			Gold Digger
		Seven Valleys	Road at Sea
			Proud Pied
Dam Rokeby Rose dk br 1977	Tom Rolfe bay 1962	Ribot	Tenerani
			Romanella
		Pocahontas	Roman
			How
	Rokeby Venus bay 1970	Quadrangle	Cohoes
			Tap Day
		All Beautiful	Battlefield
			Parlo

References

• Silverbulletday's pedigree and partial racing stats
• Video at YouTube of Silverbulletday's win in the 1999 Kentucky Oaks