Ozone Park, NY – Mark T. Anderson’s Sterling Silver earned a 77 Beyer for her victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Franklin Square, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomore state-bred fillies, making easy work of her first start against winners to remain undefeated through two career starts for trainer Tom Albertrani.
Pedro Mateo, assistant to Albertrani, said the Cupid gray is under consideration for a pair of one-turn mile stakes for sophomore fillies at the Big A, including the $100,000 Maddie May for state-breds on February 21 and the open $250,000 Busher Invitational on March 5.
“She’s nice and happy this morning and feeling good,” said Mateo. “We’ll go step by step coming up and we may try a New York-bred stakes. There’s also the Busher but we have to talk with the owners and see. My guess would be the New York-bred stakes. She’s a young filly with lots of potential, so we’re patient. When you’re patient, you make the money.”
Sterling Silver’s Franklin Square victory was one of four wins on Saturday’s card for jockey Trevor McCarthy, who executed a well-timed ride and guided the filly to an off-the-pace victory. Sterling Silver came away from the gate in eighth before being taken up to the middle of the field by McCarthy, settling into fifth through an opening quarter-mile in 22.16 seconds.
McCarthy, noting the inside advantage to the track on Saturday, kept Sterling Silver along the rail down the backstretch before swinging two-wide in the turn to make her run at pacesetter and runner-up finisher Sandy’s Garden, grinding away to her outside to overtake the lead at the sixteenth pole and pull away to a 2 1/4-length victory. Sterling Silver stopped the clock in 1:16.28 for the 6 1/2 furlongs.
Sterling Silver has been ridden to victory by McCarthy in both of her starts, improving off a nose victory on debut and showing maturity in her latest outing.
“Trevor told me he just kept waiting and she wanted to go,” Mateo said, “He’s been breezing her in the mornings and came by this morning to check on her and see how she is after the race. He said she was a little green in her first race and she learned a lot in the race yesterday. He really likes this filly.”
NYRA Notes/NYRA Press Office
Photo: Janet Garaguso/NYRA
