Promise Me Silver 'Cool Customer' at Belmont

Eyes half closed in her stall at Belmont Park, Promise Me Silver is doing just fine at her seventh track.



It's the same essence Bret Calhoun saw from the perpetual shipper in the winner's circle at Churchill Downs May 1.



The 3-year-old Silver City   filly had just won the Eight Belles Stakes (gr. III) in her graded debut, improving her record to an unblemished eight-for-eight.



"I swear, after the Eight Belles, she got into the winner's circle, took a deep breath and looked around like, 'What's the big deal?' " Calhoun said of his filly's 1 1/4-length victory in the seven-furlong race on the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) undercard. "Nothing seems to bother her. She's a cool customer. You get on these big days, with the big crowds, and you wonder how they're going to handle it.



"There's a ton of people in the paddock and a ton of horses were acting up. It's stressful for a lot of those horses, with all the people and she couldn't care less. Her mind is a big part of why she's so successful, I think."



That's the aspect that excites the 51-year-old trainer from Grande Prairie, Texas the most—her mind. Although relatively untested, with seven non-graded stakes wins on her resume—including two restricted to Texas-breds—she has undoubtedly shown an affinity for crossing the wire first for owners Robert and Myrna Luttrell.



"We have moved her to a lot of different tracks, and a lot of different people, at first glance, feel we've taking the low road," Calhoun said. "But honestly, we've had some opportunities that filled in the blanks in certain spots... On form, it looks like we've ducked and dived, but it's just the way it's gone for us."



Awful winter weather at Oaklawn Park derailed a couple early-season starts for Promise Me Silver (although she did overcome a troubled trip to win the Jan. 15 Dixie Belle Stakes by a neck over the Arkansas oval), including the Honeybee Stakes (gr. III), where she was supposed to make her graded debut.



"The track froze and was closed all week (leading into the Honeybee)," Calhoun said. "We had her training in Louisiana, actually. She wasn't missing any training, but the track and the weather was so bad, we weren't even sure we could get her there. With the track frozen and thawing, I was just scared."



That forced the Calhoun team to take its time, with wins in the Two Altazano Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park and the Instant Racing Stakes at Oaklawn building toward the Eight Belles, which Calhoun feels may have been a blessing in disguise.



"I guess it's somewhat lucky, in a way, because if we'd have gotten those two races in, we may have ended up in the (Kentucky) Oaks and probably not won," Calhoun said.



But if the Eight Belles was a step up in class, the filly's entry in the June 6 Acorn Stakes (gr. I) is a vault upward. As the only Texas-bred on the Belmont Stakes Day card, the "TX" next to her name just doesn't seem to fit, but that hasn't dissuaded her connections.



"This will be another step up, for sure," Calhoun said. "This is a very deep group of horses, with some of the best 3-year-old fillies in the country. I absolutely think she fits, otherwise I wouldn't have come. I didn't come just to be here. I mean, I'm a big fan of (Triple Crown contender) American Pharoah, but we only came here because we think she's got a big chance."



Out of the Luttrells' Macho Uno   mare Uno Mas Promesa, Promise Me Silver is one of three horses in training for the owners—all progeny of the same mare—and all carry their mother's gray or roan color. Promise Me Silver's Eight Belles victory was the husband and wife duo's first graded score.



"It was a big moment," said Robert Luttrell, a retired, 77-year-old resident of Arlington, Texas who purchased his first horse, in a partnership, in 1984. "We were treated grandly. It wasn't emotional, because we've been doing this too long to get real emotional, but it was a proud and happy moment."



The whole family is running this weekend, all trained by Calhoun, with Promise Me Sliver in the Acorn, 4-year-old Bully Good entered into an allowance race at Lone Star Park June 6, and 2-year-old Another Kite Flyer seeking her maiden score in her second start June 5, also at Lone Star.



The connections' hopes for the filly are bolstered by a variety of factors, one being the addition of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who picked up the mount when Robby Albarado had a prior commitment to ride Shook Up in the Acorn.



"She's very versatile," Smith said of Promise Me Silver's ability to track horses and pounce. "She doesn't need the lead, doesn't come from way back, and runs hard every time."



Calhoun is also encouraged by her recent workouts, although they didn't go over well in the moment.



"We worked her two weeks after the (Eight Belles) and I wanted her to go an easy half-mile in about :50," Calhoun said. "She went in :46 4/5 and I was sick to my stomach. I was horrified and so upset. I was sick, but the next day she was fine. She came off the track with her tail over her back and she was full of energy. I just don't think that race took too much out of her."



Albarado, who was aboard for the drill, even called the trainer during the day to apologize.



"He knew I was really upset," Calhoun said. "He called me in the middle of the day when races were going on and said, 'I'm sorry. I had no idea I was going that fast.' I think it's a good indication if they do it the right way, like that. When a rider misses the mark like that sometimes, they tell me how 'easy' they did it and all that. Well, their legs don't know how easy it was. We'll see what we find out (the next day). After the fact, when you know the horse is OK, then it's all right."

Whether Promise Me Silver can make that leap up to the level of a grade I winner remains to be seen, but she's done everything asked of her so far.



"She's a complete package," Calhoun said. "It's so hard to get one with the talent, the heart, desire, and the mind—and the soundness to go along with it. A lot of them, you're always having some kind of issue. Knock on wood, she's been extremely healthy and sound, and that makes it easy."