Silver Charm (USA)
February 22, 1994 – Living
Silver Buck (USA) x Bonnie's Poker (USA), by Poker (USA)
Family 3-l
February 22, 1994 – Living
Silver Buck (USA) x Bonnie's Poker (USA), by Poker (USA)
Family 3-l
Silver Charm wasn't unbeatable, but let him get into an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with a rival in the stretch and there was no getting by him. Had Chris McCarron not turned in one of the headiest rides of his career in the 1997 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1), sending Touch Gold down the center of the track while Silver Charm's attention was occupied with Free House to his immediate inside, the gray colt might well have become the 12th American Triple Crown winner. As it was, Silver Charm became one of the most memorable runners of the 1990s. He failed to live up to early expectations while at stud in Kentucky and was exported to Japan after five seasons.
Race record
24 starts, 12 wins, 7 seconds, 2 thirds, US$6,944,369
1996:
1997:
1998:
1999:
Honors
Assessments
Silver Charm was rated #63 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
Rated at 118 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1996, 8 pounds below champion Boston Harbor.
Highweighted at 127 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1997, 1 pound above Touch Gold.
As an individual
A handsome, well-made colt with an excellent shoulder, Silver Charm had a rather delicate constitution and did not stand hard races close together well. He seldom won by wide margins and had a tendency to lose focus if he got to the lead too early but was thoroughly tenacious if challenged eyeball-to-eyeball. He had a history of serious respiratory bleeding which his trainer, Bob Baffert, attributed to damage caused by an episode of pneumonia when Silver Charm was a foal. As a stallion, Silver Charm has exhibited a sociable temperament and appears to enjoy posing for photographs.
As a stallion
Silver Charm was a disappointing sire in both the United States and Japan. According to records maintained by The Jockey Club, he sired 327 winners (60.3%) and 13 stakes winners (2.4%) from 542 named foals. His best runners are Grade 2 winners Miss Isella and Preachinatthebar.
Connections
Silver Charm was bred in Florida by Mary Lou Wootton. He was purchased as a yearling by pinhookers Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo and was sold privately for US$30,000 to C. J. Grey, who bought him back from the 1996 Ocala Breeders' Sales April 2-year-olds in training sale after the colt failed to make a US$100,000 reserve. Robert and Beverly Lewis bought the still-unraced colt privately for US$85,000 on Baffert's recommendation, and Silver Charm raced for them throughout his career with Baffert as his trainer. He entered stud in 2000 at Three Chimneys Farm. He was exported to Japan prior to the 2005 Northern Hemisphere breeding season and initially stood at Shizunai Stallion Station before moving to Shichinohe Stallion Station in 2008 and to Iburi Stallion Station in 2009. In accordance with the terms of his sale, Silver Charm returned to the United States after being retired from stud duty in October 2014 and is pensioned at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility near Georgetown, Kentucky.
Pedigree notes
Silver Charm is inbred 4x5 to War Admiral. He is a half brother to Elrose (by Deputy Minister), dam of Grade 3 winner Super Freaky (by Smart Strike). His third dam, Militant Miss (by Faultless), is a half sister to stakes winners Reaping Right (by Reaping Reward) and Little Reaper (by Hypothetical).
Books and media
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at Old Friends in 2016. Used by permission.
Last updated: February 21, 2022
Race record
24 starts, 12 wins, 7 seconds, 2 thirds, US$6,944,369
1996:
- Won Del Mar Futurity (USA-G2, 7FD, Del Mar)
1997:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won San Vicente Stakes (USA-G3, 7FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Santa Anita Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Malibu Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd San Felipe Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
1998:
- Won Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1, 2000mD, Nad al Sheba)
- Won Clark Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Strub Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won San Fernando Breeders' Cup Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Kentucky Cup Classic Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Turfway Park)
- 2nd Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Stephen Foster Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
1999:
- Won San Pasqual Handicap (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 3rd Santa Anita Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Santa Anita)
- 3rd Donn Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 2007)
- Arcadia Historical Society's Racing Walk of Champions (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2014)
- Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old male (1997)
Assessments
Silver Charm was rated #63 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
Rated at 118 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1996, 8 pounds below champion Boston Harbor.
Highweighted at 127 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1997, 1 pound above Touch Gold.
As an individual
A handsome, well-made colt with an excellent shoulder, Silver Charm had a rather delicate constitution and did not stand hard races close together well. He seldom won by wide margins and had a tendency to lose focus if he got to the lead too early but was thoroughly tenacious if challenged eyeball-to-eyeball. He had a history of serious respiratory bleeding which his trainer, Bob Baffert, attributed to damage caused by an episode of pneumonia when Silver Charm was a foal. As a stallion, Silver Charm has exhibited a sociable temperament and appears to enjoy posing for photographs.
As a stallion
Silver Charm was a disappointing sire in both the United States and Japan. According to records maintained by The Jockey Club, he sired 327 winners (60.3%) and 13 stakes winners (2.4%) from 542 named foals. His best runners are Grade 2 winners Miss Isella and Preachinatthebar.
Connections
Silver Charm was bred in Florida by Mary Lou Wootton. He was purchased as a yearling by pinhookers Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo and was sold privately for US$30,000 to C. J. Grey, who bought him back from the 1996 Ocala Breeders' Sales April 2-year-olds in training sale after the colt failed to make a US$100,000 reserve. Robert and Beverly Lewis bought the still-unraced colt privately for US$85,000 on Baffert's recommendation, and Silver Charm raced for them throughout his career with Baffert as his trainer. He entered stud in 2000 at Three Chimneys Farm. He was exported to Japan prior to the 2005 Northern Hemisphere breeding season and initially stood at Shizunai Stallion Station before moving to Shichinohe Stallion Station in 2008 and to Iburi Stallion Station in 2009. In accordance with the terms of his sale, Silver Charm returned to the United States after being retired from stud duty in October 2014 and is pensioned at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility near Georgetown, Kentucky.
Pedigree notes
Silver Charm is inbred 4x5 to War Admiral. He is a half brother to Elrose (by Deputy Minister), dam of Grade 3 winner Super Freaky (by Smart Strike). His third dam, Militant Miss (by Faultless), is a half sister to stakes winners Reaping Right (by Reaping Reward) and Little Reaper (by Hypothetical).
Books and media
- Silver Charm's rivalry with Free House was featured as the 18th chapter of Horse Racing's Greatest Rivalries (2008, Eclipse Press), a compilation produced by the staff and correspondents of The Blood-Horse.
- “Silver and Gold,” a look at the 1997 Belmont Stakes, is the 10th chapter of Steve Haskin's Tales From the Triple Crown (2008, Eclipse Press).
- Silver Charm is profiled in Chapter 12 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- In his eight races against Free House, Silver Charm won four and outfinished his rival in the Belmont (Free House was third). He was second to Free House twice and was third to him in the 1999 Santa Anita Handicap.
- Silver Charm was the first of three consecutive runners to complete the Kentucky Derby/Preakness Stakes double. The others were Real Quiet (1998) and Charismatic (1999). Silver Charm was also the first of five Derby/Preakness winners trained by Bob Baffert, who also trained Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), American Pharoah (2015), and Justify (2018). The two last-named colts also won the Belmont Stakes to complete the American Triple Crown. Baffert also trained 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, whose win tied Baffert with Calumet Farm's legendary Ben Jones as the trainer with the most Derby wins. In 2021, Baffert appeared to have scored a record-breaking seventh Derby win when Medina Spirit crossed the line first, but the victory was taken away via disqualification after the colt tested positive for the corticosteroid bethmethasone.
- Silver Charm was third on the earnings list among Thoroughbreds based in North America at the time of his retirement.
- Old Friends is not only the retirement home of Silver Charm but was the final home of his dam, Bonnie's Poker, who died there in 2010 and is buried on the premises.
- The FTBOA Silver Charm Florida Sire Stakes is a race restricted to Florida-bred 3-year-olds. It is contested at a mile and 40 years on the main track at Tampa Bay Downs.
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at Old Friends in 2016. Used by permission.
Last updated: February 21, 2022