NEWS: RACING

Pure Silver a perfect two-for-two with Lynbrook score

Sunday, July 16th, 2017

NYRA/Chelsea Durand

By Sarah Mace

On April 28, Belmont Park’s spring/summer meet Opening Day, Celtic Chaos won the featured Affirmed Success Stakes for older New York-breds. This Sunday, the meet came to a fitting end with another featured New York-bred stakes race, this time starring the youngsters: the $125,000 Lynbrook for juvenile fillies.

When the dust settled, the meet’s final trophy went to Pure Silver and owner/breeder Twin Creeks Racing Stables. Like Celtic Chaos (Dublin), Pure Silver, who is a daughter of Mission Impazible, is a New York-sired New York-bred. With the victory, filly ran her career record to a perfect two-for two and increased her earnings bankroll to $97,200.

Tabbed at 2-1 second choice behind undefeated open Astoria Stakes winner I Still Miss You (1-5), Pure Silver bobbled slightly at the start, but still got a jump on her rivals from her rail post and quickly opened up a length on I Still Miss You. One Last Cast raced in third at the fence and Northernstreetgal was last.

Parked out the two path by jockey John Velazquez, Pure Silver ticked off opening fractions of 23.01 and 46.82 while maintaining the lead. In the turn, however, I Still Miss You began to loom and the pair straightened away at the top of the stretch for a fair fight to the wire.

Pure Silver dug in, maintained her lead and, ultimately, got the win by 1 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:11.40. One Last Case and Northernstreetgal finished well back in third and fourth. [VIDEO REPLAY]

“We just broke good and got to the lead. I tried to save something for the end and she put in a good fight in the lane,” reported John Velazquez. “She broke so fast, it was kind of weird. She was so fast, she was on the ground and in the next step, she’s up and running. She got pressed and when she had to put in a fight, she did it all the way.”

Todd Pletcher’s assistant Byron Hughes followed up, “After the last start [her winning debut on June 22] we knew she had the speed out of the gate and she showed it again today and she was able to hang on.”

Hughes also tipped his hat to the filly’s well-backed rival. “[I Still Miss You] is a nice filly. It seemed like our filly dug in a little bit and it seemed like the other filly had the advantage but we were able to hold her off.” The connections plan to bring Pure Silver back at Saratoga.

Pure Silver is the lone starter from her dam Jehan, by Forest Wildcat. A Kentucky-bred stakes winner and $302,683-earner, Jehan was purchased by Twin Creeks at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale for $150,000.

In 2016 Jehan produced a yearling full-brother to Pure Silver and foaled a filly by Graydar on April 6 this year. Mission Impazible (Unbridled’s Song), stands at Sequel Stallions New York, where Pure Silver was foaled.

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