Chelsea Durand Photo

Sterling Silver captures $100K Franklin Square

by Ryan Martin

Mark T. Anderson’s Sterling Silver made her stakes debut a winning one to cap a four-win day for jockey Trevor McCarthy in Saturday’s eighth running of the $100,000 Franklin Square for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies going 6 1/2 furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Leaving from post 2, Sterling Silver settled four lengths off the pace in fifth as Sandy’s Garden commanded the field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.16 seconds over the fast main track.

Sterling Silver began making progress through a half in 45.25 with Sandy’s Garden still the one to catch around the far turn. McCarthy got busy aboard Sterling Silver approaching the quarter-pole and angled his charge one path to the outside of the frontrunner. Sterling Silver collared Sandy’s Garden inside the furlong marker and was wrapped up to a 2 1/4-length victory in a final time of 1:16.28.

Sandy’s Garden finished another 2 3/4 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Thinking It Over. Completing the field were the slow-starting Moam, Leeloo, Meraviglioso, Flip My Id, Thin Legs and Shesawildjoker. Captainsdaughter was scratched.

Sterling Silver, a Tom Albertrani-trained daughter of Cupid, won her career debut against fellow state-breds on November 21 at Aqueduct en route to the Franklin Square. Returning $15.40 for a $2 win wager, she now boasts an unbeaten record in two starts with lifetime earnings of $93,500.

“First time out she was really green and lugged in a bit. She'd been working pretty handy and pretty straightforward,” McCarthy said. “She got a really nice trip today. The rail has been really good and we were able to sit on that for most of the way. She beat a nice filly, a horse who had shown some really good races. With a trip like that and the effort she gave today, I'm really proud of her. A huge credit to Tommy and all his employees, they've done a good job.”

Albertrani, who is based primarily at Palm Meadows Training Center in South Florida during the winter, said Sterling Silver will improve with added ground.

“She ran very well and gave a good kick,” Albertrani said. “We were in a good spot down the backside. Trevor was patient with her and she gave him a great run at the end. The extra half-furlong helped. We would like to stretch her out a little longer going forward. I always thought she’d improve with a little more distance. She seems like she wants to go further.”

Sterling Silver has plenty of options moving forward in stakes company for sophomore fillies at the Big A, including the open one-mile $250,000 Busher Invitational on March 5 and the seven-furlong $100,000 East View for state-breds on March 27.

“We’ll see how she comes out of the race and decide what’s next from there,” Albertrani said. “We may want something a little sooner than the East View or the Busher. We’re not sure if we’ll stay in New York or not.”

Bred by Mallory Mort and Karen Mort, Sterling Silver was bought for $13,000 out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale and is out of the unraced Distorted Humor mare Sheet Humor.

Live racing resumes on Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race program, featuring the nine-furlong $100,000 Busanda, offering 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.  

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.