The last time we saw Silverbulletday, all eyes had turned away from her. As the weary filly plodded home seventh on June 5 in the Belmont Stakes, 29-1 shot Lemon Drop Kid was holding off 54-1 Vision and Verse's late surge up the rail to win a photo finish. Seconds later, third-place Charismatic broke down after the wire, his Triple Crown bid denied and his racing career over. The heroine who failed to beat the boys suddenly became an afterthought in a shocking upset that was marred by injury.
It had been a rough afternoon for Silverbulletday, who won 11 of her 12 previous career starts, most of them with ridiculous ease. After she took the early lead in the Belmont, a keyed-up Charismatic stalked her relentlessly. He never gave her a breather, and she was packing it in three furlongs from the wire in the 1½-mile marathon. This was not fun.
Trainer Bob Baffert had been criticized for not running her in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and in his postrace quotes he lamented what happened to his golden girl after he finally took a shot at the colts. He said he was glad Silverbulletday couldn't talk, because she'd probably be screaming at him for what he had put her through. He gave thanks that she was unhurt and promised to give her a nice rest.
Some vacation. Baffert has done more waffling in the past year than the International House of Pancakes, and this was another quick switcheroo. Twelve days after the Belmont, Silverbulletday was punching the clock again, working 4 furlongs in 47 4/5 seconds, the fastest time for the distance that day at Churchill Downs.
"The main thing is to have her ready for the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Gulfstream," Baffert said. "We need to have her ready. We need to win that race."
Since Breeders' Cup Day is Nov. 6, there seemed to be no pressing need to start pointing for it in mid-June, but Silverbulletday seems to have bounced back quickly from the Belmont fiasco. On June 30 she went five furlongs in :59 3/5 at Churchill, and she looks like a lock on Saturday in the $250,000 Monmouth Park Breeders' Cup Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.
Her journey on Tuesday from Louisville to the Jersey Shore was almost as grueling as her lap around Belmont. The flight carrying her and Oaks rival Boom Town Girl from Kentucky to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport was delayed six hours. Then the van taking the two fillies down to Monmouth was stuck in rush-hour traffic on a day when the temperature reached 102 and the humidity made the Garden State Parkway feel like a rain forest. Before they arrived in Oceanport, N.J., at about 8 p.m., the track was hit by a power outage.
Enjoy your trip, Lady Horse?
Through it all, Silverbulletday hung in there, though, and there are no signs that the adventure took anything out of her. Assistant trainer Peter Hutton is deputizing for Baffert until he arrives Saturday, and Hutton liked how she felt when he exercised her Thursday.
"She just loved the track," Hutton said. "She galloped about 1½ miles this morning and was really going well. Her ears were pricked and she was taking it all in stride. I couldn't pull her up. She's happy, and she's settled in nicely."
The Oaks winner's share is $150,000, and it looks like easy money for her in a very short field. Besides Boom Town Girl, only Woodbine shipper Bag Lady Jane was a definite, although a few others may show up. If they do, they'll all be running for second place.
Bag Lady Jane has won three of four races for owner Frank Stronach, who is eager to challenge the queen of her generation. "I may be crazy," Stronach said Sunday, "but I'm looking forward to running my filly against Baffert's filly."
Stronach is a multimillionaire who owns Santa Anita and Gulfstream, so he's one smart operator. But if Silverbulletday is even close to her best form, he'll be wondering what he was thinking about when he said that.