Catching Up With Silverbulletday

Silverbulletday boards at Hill 'n' Dale, the farm she retired to in 2000. (Photos by Melissa Bauer-Herzog, unless otherwise noted.)
Bought by Mike Pegram for $155,000 as a yearling, Silverbulletday proved to be priceless as a racehorse and broodmare.
Silverbulletday was sent to Pegram’s go-to trainer Bob Baffert and dominated the 2-year-old filly division starting in June 1998. By Silver Deputy, Silverbulletday went 6 for 7 in her races as a 2-year-old, headlined by a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, taking home the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly.
Silverbulletday had three preps leading up to the Kentucky Oaks and never had to worry about getting beat, winning by a combined margin of 12 1/4 lengths in those starts. She went off as the favorite in all 10 of her starts before the Oaks and that race would be no different, with the fans betting her down to 1-to-10 odds when betting closed at post time.
Just six other horses were in the Kentucky Oaks field and Silverbulletday was second to last for the first half-mile but after six furlongs, she decided that it was time to roll and moved only a head behind the leader. There was really no worry that her six-race win streak would end that day as Gary Stevens hand rode her to the finish line, glancing back several times to check on the rest of the field. Silverbulletday was an easy two-length winner and $341,620 richer.
SILVERBULLETDAY WINNING THE KENTUCKY OAKS

Photo by Horsephotos
A few weeks later, the filly rolled against fillies at Pimlico Race Course, winning the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes by another easy two lengths, which prompted her connections to test her against males in the Belmont Stakes.
For the first time in her career, Silverbulletday did not enter the starting gate as the favorite, instead going off as the third betting choice at 5.10-to-1. She set the pace for most of the race while pressured by Charismatic, who was attempting to sweep the Triple Crown. But the pace caught up with her in the final quarter-mile and she relinquished the lead on the turn before fading to seventh.
It didn’t take Silverbulletday long to regain her winning form. She scored a five-length victory coming in the Monmouth Breeders’ Cup Oaks in July. Two victories followed, both in Grade 1 races, including a nine-length runaway in the Alabama Stakes.
However, a longer win streak wasn’t in the cards for the end of her 3-year-old season as she fell to Beautiful Pleasure by 4 ¾ lengths in the Beldame Stakes in her prep for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The Breeders’ Cup Distaff ended up being Silverbulletday's worst ever finish against females as she faded to sixth after being close to a sizzling pace for much of the race, which was won by Beautiful Pleasure.
Silverbulletday ended her 3-year-old season with eight wins in 11 starts for $1,707,640 in purse earnings. The Belmont and Breeders’ Cup Distaff blemishes were not close to enough to allow anyone to top her in 3-year-old championship race and she took home another Eclipse Award at the end of the year.
A return as a 4-year-old was in the cards for Silverbulletday, and she started the season with a neck victory in the Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. It was the final win of her career as she put in four more starts with three top-three finishes, including a head defeat in the Molly Pitcher Breeders’ Cup Handicap. Silverbulletday just wasn’t able to find her previous championship form.
The goal for the season was to make the filly the all-time leading earner among fillies and mares but it wasn’t meant to be. After a third-place finish in the 2000 Delaware Handicap, her connections opted to call it a career for Silverbulletday.
“All good things must come to the end, and this is the end,” Pegram told The Blood-Horse. “She’s the best horse a person could ever own, and you’ve got to do right by her. If Bobby doesn’t think she can be 100% by Breeders’ Cup time, you’ve got to pull the plug, because she’s got nothing else to prove. We had hoped to get her the money record and win the Distaff, but that won’t be possible.”
SILVERBULLETDAY AT HILL 'N' DALE IN 2015

Silverbulletday was sent to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm to begin her career and visited A.P. Indy for her first mating in 2001. A colt named Tice was born on Jan. 30, 2002 and was able to get Silverbulletday a stakes-placing on her produce record, finishing second in the Phil D. Shepherd Stakes in 2008.
She has has not yet enjoyed the success she will be remembere for as a racemare with her foals on the racetrack, with only three starters from 12 foals, but her daughters have helped make up for that in the breeding shed.
Her second foal was a Storm Cat filly named Silverbulletway. She never raced but is the dam of two stakes winners. One of those stakes winners is the 2013 Sunland Derby winner, and Sunland Park track record-holder, Govenor Charlie.
Govenor Charlie also was part of a unique exacta for Silverbulletday in 2014 when he finished second in the Grade 2 Strub Stakes behind Shakin It Up, who is out of another one of Silverbulletday’s daughters. Govenor Charlie has not raced since April 2014 but has put in six workouts since the beginning of the year.
Silverbulletday’s third foal, named Silver Bullet Moon was similarly productive in the breeding shed, producing the aforementioned Shakin It Up. In addition to his Strub win, Shakin It Up also won the 2013 Malibu Stakes to give Silverbulletday a Grade 1-winning grandson. 
Shakin It Up is starting his first season as a stallion at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky. this year. Silver Bullet Moon was a star at the 2014 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, bringing $1.25-million when selling to Katsumi Yoshida.
While none of Silverbulletday’s other daughters has yet produced a stakes winner, her 9-year-old daughter Silverbulletfolly is the dam of Mile High Magic, who was second in the Jim Kostoff Stakes in 2012.
SILVERBULLETDAY'S DAUGHTER ELUSIVE JACKPOT WAS POPULAR WHEN SELLING IN EARLY 2015

Silverbulletday has one foal active on the track right now. That colt, a 3-year-old by Midnight Lute named Midnight Lou, has been working regularly at Los Alamitos. She also has a 2-year-old colt by Misremembered and a yearling filly by Lookin At Lucky. Silverbulletday visited Midnight Lute again last year and is due to foal in early April. 
As for her popularity with fans, it has remained strong even though she’s been away from the track for nearly 15 years.
“Every now and then we’ll have some people who want to come look at her and see her,” said Will Richard, Hill ‘n’ Dale’s assistant broodmare manager. “A lot of people remember her races and how tough she was as a runner, and everybody just seems to love her.”
Those who work with her daily also don’t forget who she is, a task made easier by how classy the mare acts in her every day life.
“She’s easy to deal with. Anything that needs to be done with her, she knows the drill and its like you don’t even have to tell her, she knows,” Richard said. “I wish every mare was like her; this job would be a lot easier. She’s everything you want in a broodmare, as far as taking care of them, as far as class and she’s just a pleasure.”
Silverbulletday recently celebrated a birthday, turning 19 on Jan. 22. While her offspring has not excelled on the racetrack to date, several daughters have made sure her legacy lives on by producing stars who will keep Silverbulletday's name relevant for years to come.