Silver enjoying the ride with Hot Fudge, Derby hopeful Honor Marie

by NYRA Press Office

• Silver enjoying the ride with Hot Fudge, Derby hopeful Honor Marie
• Sterling Silver points to Grade 1 Madison after Tampa Bay Downs triumph
• Aqueduct Week 11 stakes probables

Thoroughbred owner Earl Silver, the “E” in KEM Stables, has been relishing a string of recent success in partnership with longtime friends Kenny Fishbein and Michael Eiserman.

The talented Hot Fudge earned her third consecutive stakes score for the partnership in Saturday’s $100,000 Correction at Aqueduct Racetrack, while graded stakes-winner Honor Marie has his owners “Derby Dreaming” as he targets the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 23 at Fair Grounds.

“We are all octogenarians, and we have known each other for as many years as you can imagine,” Silver said, with a laugh. “I started out in the 1980s and we’ve been doing this together off and on doing pinhooking and breeding, but mostly racing, for about five or ten years.”

The partnership has enjoyed a tremendous run of form from the 5-year-old Hot Fudge, who captured the six-furlong Correction in a thrilling photo finish with Kant Hurry Love, defeating her familiar foe by a narrow margin for the second time in a stakes this winter at the Big A.

Ridden by Kendrick Carmouche, the Liam’s Map bay rolled home down the lane after stalking a strong pace set by a runaway Quick Munny and took dead aim at the lead to the outside of Kant Hurry Love, who took command at the eighth pole. Hot Fudge found more with every stride over the muddy and sealed footing to get her nose down just in time and complete the course in 1:10.99. She earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“She seems to know where the finish line is, but not much more than that. She doesn’t make it easy on us,” Silver said, with a laugh. “Usually, I don’t ascribe human qualities to horses, but it seems like she’s got a nose for the finish line. The jockey got off and told us she knows and put her nose down just in time.”

Hot Fudge has proven well worth the wait for her connections. The $235,000 purchase at the 2021 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training debuted in July of that year for conditioner Linda Rice, whose nephew Adam Rice saddled the mare on Saturday as she serves a two-week suspension. Hot Fudge graduated at second asking before finishing off-the-board in the Grade 1 Frizette and earning her first stakes placing when second on the turf in the Stewart Manor that November at Belmont Park to close out her juvenile campaign.

Hot Fudge was then away from the races for more than a year, and returned triumphantly last January with a neck score in a six-furlong allowance sprint at the Big A. Since then, she has won 6-of-8 starts, including the Garland of Roses and Interborough at Aqueduct. The Correction was her fifth consecutive score dating to an optional claiming conquest in June at Belmont.

“We thought when we bought her that she had a lot of talent,” said Silver. “It took us a long time – she had various ailments and was off the track for more than a year, but that was probably to her benefit. She’s come back with a vengeance, and I give all the kudos to Linda for managing her career as she has. She gave her all the time off she needed and put her in the right races.”

With her strong string of exciting stakes victories, Hot Fudge will now likely turn her attention to a return to graded company in the Grade 3, $175,000 Distaff sprinting seven furlongs on April 6 at the Big A.

“We’re hopeful she can go into graded stakes now, which is what the plan is,” said Silver. “She came out of this race well and the plan is for her to go to the Distaff. To me, she seems like she could use six and a half furlongs or more, and she could go even a mile. I think she’ll perform even better.”

While Hot Fudge lies a strong contender in the older filly and mare sprint division, her owners also have high hopes for sophomore colt Honor Marie, an exciting prospect at a time of year when all owners hope to be competitive in the division.

Trained by Whit Beckman, Honor Marie has Silver and the other partners in KEM daring to think of roses on the First Saturday in May as he prepares to make a splash on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.

The Honor Code bay, owned by the KEM partners, Ribble Farms and Daniel Fishbein, looks to make amends from a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Risen Star on February 17 at the New Orleans oval where he rallied from 11th-of-12 and went eight-wide in the stretch to put in a mild bid under Rafael Bejarano. Honor Marie earned five Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the effort, adding to the 10 he received for his two-length last-to-first score in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club in November at Churchill Downs.

“Hot Fudge is the best horse we have, but Honor Marie is on the Derby trail and we are looking forward to that,” said Silver. “We were fortunate enough to be able to buy into him just before the Risen Star and that was a tough race for him. But, we weren’t discouraged and thought he ran well considering the circumstances. We’re very hopeful if we get the right kind of race for him that he’ll do better in the Louisiana Derby.”

For Silver, a lifelong involvement in horse racing has provided many thrills, but none as elusive and fulfilling as the hope of a run in the Kentucky Derby.

“Oh, it’s incredible, especially at our ages,” Silver said, with a laugh. “It’s well worth the wait, and we’re having a good time.”

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Sterling Silver points to Grade 1 Madison after Tampa Bay Downs triumph

Mark Anderson’s multiple graded stakes-placed New York-bred Sterling Silver returned in style from a more than three-month layoff Saturday when capturing the seven-furlong Manatee Handicap versus older fillies and mares by a head at Tampa Bay Downs.

Trained by Tom Albertrani, Sterling Silver kicked off her 5-year-old campaign with an impressive closing finish, and was awarded a 91 Beyer Speed Figure in victory.

“It was a really good effort. She really had to work at it, being trapped inside until the last quarter,” said Albertrani. “She had no running room at all until she got just past the quarter pole and managed to wiggle out of there to come with a strong run late.”

After breaking from the inside post and sitting sixth-of-seven through the first half-mile, Sterling Silver saved ground on the inside in the turn before getting a perfectly-timed cue from regular rider and Hall of Famer Javier Castellano to collar pacesetter Poiema right at the wire.

The Cupid gray exited the race in good order and will now have her sights set on the Grade 1 Madison sprinting seven furlongs on April 6 at Keeneland.

“She had a great gallop out and it was basically just a prep race,” said Albertrani. “She ran exactly how we would want her to – I think she could’ve even won a little easier. Now we’ll go to the next step. It looks like her best distance is six to seven furlongs.”

Before her respite, Sterling Silver tried a turf sprint, finishing fourth in the Autumn Days on November 17 at Aqueduct. The experiment followed a pair of two strong stakes performances at 6 1/2 furlongs over the main track in October when capturing the state-bred Iroquois and crossing the wire first in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom. She was subsequently disqualified from the latter due to interference in the stretch run.

“The owner hadn’t seen her in a while, Mark Anderson was at the races yesterday and said how much better she looks this year,” Albertrani said. “She has filled out and is carrying more muscle tone, a little more weight on her, and physically she couldn’t look any better. Hopefully as a five-year-old, she will have a good year now.”

Bred in the Empire State by Mallory Mort and Karen Mort, Sterling Silver was a $13,000 purchase at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase. She now boasts 20-7-3-3 record and $692,988 in purse earnings with other state-bred stakes scores as a sophomore in Belmont’s Bouwerie and the Big A’s Franklin Square.

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Aqueduct Week 11 stakes probables

Saturday, March 16

$100K Cicada

Probable: Daughter of Time (Charlton Baker), Ghalia Princess (Brad Cox)

Possible: Caress (George Weaver), Determined Driver (Phil Schoenthal), Miss Harriett (Brandon McFarlane), Patricia Ann (Carlos Martin)

Sunday, March 17

$100K Damon Runyon (NYB)

Probable: Allied Attack (Mike Maker), Heavyweight Champs (Rudy Rodriguez), Mischief Joke (Maker)

$100K East View (NYB)

Probable: Bernietakescharge (Domenick Schettino), Caldwell Luvs Gold (Cox), Rumint (Keri Brion)

Possible: Photo Finish (Jesus Cruz), The Shoe Lady (Christophe Clement)