Sterling Silver inches away to win an allowance optional claimer July 29 at Saratoga (NYRA/Coglianese)
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Mark Anderson’s New York-bred Sterling Silver is likely to return to Grade 1 company in the $500,000 Ballerina Handicap, a seven-furlong main track sprint for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on August 26, at Saratoga Race Course.
Sterling Silver, trained by Tom Albertrani, won an optional claiming race at the Spa going the Ballerina’s distance last time out on July 29. She trailed the four-horse field by three lengths before launching a move just before the stretch and closing strong to win by one length.
“We know it’s going to be a tough race, but she’s been training really well,” said Albertrani. “This year she has always been right there. We just would like to take a crack at it and hopefully she wants to go.”
The Ballerina provides a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in November at Santa Anita – a race in which the 4-year-old Cupid grey finished ninth in last year at Keeneland.
Albertrani said Sterling Silver exited her last effort in good order and returned to the tab a week and a half later, where she breezed four furlongs in 49.33 seconds.
“She’ll work again probably in a couple of days. Things are going well with her,” Albertrani said. “She deserves a shot at it and I think seven-eighths seems like her best distance.”
Sterling Silver has hit the board in her last four efforts, only missing this campaign when fourth in her first start off of a four-month layoff in March at Tampa Bay Downs. The gray filly ran well versus state-bred fillies and mares at Belmont Park this spring when second in the 1 1/16-mile Critical Eye Handicap in May before turning back to finish a close third in the six-furlong Dancin Renee on June 25, finishing three-quarters of a length behind Kant Hurry Love and Grannys Connection, who flipped positions and ran 1-2 again in the recent Union Avenue Handicap.
The multiple graded stakes-placed Sterling Silver hit the board last year when third in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont and a close second to Wicked Halo in the Grade 2 Prioress ahead of a distant third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom at Belmont at the Big A. She captured the state-bred Franklin Square last January at Aqueduct.
Bred in the Empire State by Mallory Mort and Karen Mort, Sterling Silver, a $13,000 purchase at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, sports a record of 15-5-2-3 with $512,988 in earnings.
Albertrani will send out Chalk Racing’s Savage Spirit in Race 6 on Friday, a maiden special weight going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf for New York-bred 2-year-olds. This will be the Accelerate chestnut’s second start, missing the board here on July 27 in a five-and-a-half furlong turf sprint.
“Distance should definitely help him. He got a lot out of his first race. I expect a big improvement this Friday,” Albertrani explained. “He’ll definitely be a little closer to the pace this time and in the first race he got a good education.”
Bred by Kelly and Paul Zanella, Savage Spirit was a $60,000 purchase at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred Sale.
