Silky Sullivan
One Of Racing's All Time Favorites
Ranked With
Seabiscuit and Malicious
Shoemaker and Silky Sullivan trailed the field early by 30 lengths
and drew clear to win the 1958 Santa Anita Derby
by three lengths.
However
his most memorable race
was the 6 1/2 furlong allowance race shown in the chart below.
Shoemaker will always remember:
As exciting as the Santa Anita Derby was, it didn't come close to ranking as the most thrilling Shoemaker-Silky episode.
That came on February 25, 1958, in a 6 1/2 furlong allowance race.
(see chart)
The 20,233 fans at Santa Anita that day and the countless others
who have seen the race on film since still cannot believe it.
As the chart shows,
Silky Sullivan was 40 --lengths behind the eighth horse down the backstretch and still 15 lengths behind the field after a half-mile.
That he still won definitely qualifies Silky for Ripley.
Editors Note:
Here is a most interesting observation from
a real fan . . . thanks rob!
Pretty Amazing.
Based on the one-length-for-every 1/5 second theory (which we know isn't exact) and according to my math his fractions were as follows:
1st 1/4 2nd 1/4 3 1/4 Last 1/2
30.3 20.4 21.2 44.1
First quarter in 30 3/5's.
I'd like know what was going thru this horses head !
Silky_Sullivan.3.JPG (29987 bytes)
Children were let out of school in Louisville
and Baltimore and Inglewood and Arcadia just to get a look at him.
He was met at railroad stations and airports with banners and flags and brass bands;
and oddly enough, these jubilant demonstrations had nothing to do with victory or defeat. The day he ran second to Old Pueblo
in the California Breeders Championship Stakes
at Santa Anita
he received one of the most thunderous ovations ever heard on a race track
and the gallant winner was almost completely overlooked
even by those who had bet on him.
Silky Sullivan was not only the most publicized Thoroughbred of modern times,
he was one of the most beloved horses ever to look through a bridle. Wherever he went the public was drawn to him in droves.
He possessed the rugged grandeur of a great mountain, the dignity of an elder statesman, the warmth and charm of a beautiful woman, and the glamour of a motion picture star.
People who knew next to nothing about a horse,
who had never been to a race track, spoke of him with familiar fondness.
They still do. He became a household word.
Why did all this happen when the horse himself never reached the true heights of greatness?
Simply because Silky Sullivan, on a number of occasions, proved that he could make up more ground in the last half mile of a race than any other
horse that ever lived.
He could, and did, run final quarters in the neighborhood of 22 seconds flat.
Once he was 40 lengths off the leader in a 6 1/2 furlong race, and won it ! The breath-taking thrill of such performances can never be forgotten.
What made him amble out of a starting gate and then decide to run the last part of it, is still a mystery.
It was just Silky Sullivan's way of doing things. He was an individual. As such, his greatest victory being in the Santa Anita Derby, and as a $10,700 purchase at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association - Del Mar yearling sales he was a bargain.
He got $10,000,000 worth of news space in the three years he raced.
bid never did 1 1/4 in 157 and 4/5th?
and his derby was not under 2 minutes.
but he is a GREAt GREAt GREAT top 5 horsein the past 30 years that is for sure.
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For a seasoned horse player to put up times like "didn't run under 2 minutes" is frightening. Track records fall when tracks are souped. So Monarchos who ran under 2 is a better horse? C'mon you are better than that....BY the way that 1:57 and change at Santa Anita is the 10 furlong record in the entire world for 10 panels I believe....But I don't simply judge a horse based on track records.
Great post! Saw many of them in their haydays. Completed my first marathon (Palos Verdes) in time, to see Secretariat on the backstretch open a 20+ length lead in the Belmont.
CIGAR WAS VERY SPECIAL-16 WINS IN A ROW
AFFIRMED-LAST TRIPLE CROWN WINNER
SILKY SULLIVAN WAS A RENOWNED CLOSER WITH UNREAL FLARE & HEART
JOHN HENRY WAS THE PEOPLE'S HORSE (FORMER CLAIMER & GELDING TO BOOT)
CIGAR WAS VERY SPECIAL-16 WINS IN A ROW
AFFIRMED-LAST TRIPLE CROWN WINNER
SILKY SULLIVAN WAS A RENOWNED CLOSER WITH UNREAL FLARE & HEART
JOHN HENRY WAS THE PEOPLE'S HORSE (FORMER CLAIMER & GELDING TO BOOT)
thanks for the insights!Spectacular Bid ran the fastest 1 1/4 miles ever run on a dirt track, 1:57 4/5, breaking a 30 year old record of 1:58 1/5 set by Hall of Famer Noor under 130 pounds in his fourth defeat of Triple Crown winner Citation in 1950. The time remains the world record on a dirt track at that distance as of 2007.
Well now that they has been a lot of T-Bred talk....Let's get to some Harness Horses...........
I might be able to make a List of 100 or more....But I won't ! LOL
Greatest is going to be Very Hard......I'll start off a List
A Few people Have already Stated Niatross.... But I will Go Before that and say His Dad...My All Time Fav......Albatross !
I saw Albatross race, and at the Time he was the Greatest of all time.
Before I go on, I will have to keep it in the Family.....as The SON of Niatross.....there was Nihilator
Right behind Albatross...is the Great Bret Hanover.....Adios Butler
and if Anyone Knows Anything about Harness Racing....people have Stated the Peoples Horse in T-Breds......The People Horse for Harness was
Rambling Willie.................
Not sure if people knew that he was call" The Horse that God Loved"!
Because his Earning went to a Church..............which was about $2Mil
I might be able to make a List of 100 or more....But I won't ! LOL
Greatest is going to be Very Hard......I'll start off a List
A Few people Have already Stated Niatross.... But I will Go Before that and say His Dad...My All Time Fav......Albatross !
I saw Albatross race, and at the Time he was the Greatest of all time.
Before I go on, I will have to keep it in the Family.....as The SON of Niatross.....there was Nihilator
Right behind Albatross...is the Great Bret Hanover.....Adios Butler
and if Anyone Knows Anything about Harness Racing....people have Stated the Peoples Horse in T-Breds......The People Horse for Harness was
Rambling Willie.................
Not sure if people knew that he was call" The Horse that God Loved"!
Because his Earning went to a Church..............which was about $2Mil
