Meantime Could Put Silverton Hill on the Map

It's not a stretch to say that Bonnie and Tommy Hamilton's Silverton Hill farm operates below the radar.

"We had a good horse a few years ago and people were asking us where we're from," said Tommy Hamilton. "We said, 'Springfield,' and they'd always say, 'Illinois?' And I said, 'No, Kentucky.' And these were people from Lexington, which is only 55 miles away. I'm thinking of naming a horse 'Where Is Springfield.'"

Silverton Hill did hit the radar a decade ago when the Hamiltons' Dominican popped up and won the Rushaway Stakes and then the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, defeating eventual Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Street Sense  . Dominican went on to earn $753,783 for the Hamiltons, who also raced homebred and five-time graded stakes winner Havelock, grade 1 winner Swagger Jack, and stakes winners such as Ruby Notion, Gin and Sin, and last year's Kentucky Juvenile Stakes winner Silvertoni.

This week, the Hamiltons hope to add to their grade 1 winners when Meantime competes in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1). They went to $230,000 to purchase the son of Shackleford   at the 2015 Keeneland September yearling sale.

"We liked the stallion and he met all our criteria," said Hamilton. "We broke him here at the farm, then we gave him to (trainer) Brian Lynch, who had him at Belmont Park last spring. But he was starting to get some bone soreness so we brought him back here and turned him out, which made us late in trying to get to the Derby with him this year."

Meantime ran second to fellow Belmont contender Patch in his Gulfstream Park debut in February, and two races later broke his maiden at Keeneland going nine furlongs in the mud. He came back and finished second in the May 13 Peter Pan Stakes (G3), the local prep for the Belmont, to the highly regarded Timeline.

"It took a while to get him back and going, but he's improving, so we're in there and hoping," Hamilton said. "Can we get a mile and a half? We do not know, but we're going to give it a try."

Lynch noted Meantime has enough natural speed to be forwardly placed in the Belmont, and the colt has drawn the top big-money rider in the country, Mike Smith, to pilot him. Lynch and Smith know one another well from when both were based in Southern California.

"We've got a good jock on him," noted Hamilton. "And we really like a lot of things Brian does and his attitude. He doesn't have as many horses as a lot of the big trainers do, but he's a very hands-on individual."

Silverton Hill has about 15 horses in training, plus several retirees such as Dominican, who live on the farm. The Hamiltons also have a few broodmares and breed as well as buy a couple per year at auction. Bonnie is part-owner of an all-girls stable as well. They also run 300 head of cattle and grown soybeans and corn.

"It's enough work to keep you going," Hamilton said.

Taking a few minutes off from breezing some 2-year-olds over the farm training track, Hamilton reflected on Silverton Hill's good fortune in usually having a big runner.

"Well, we've been lucky," he said, "but there's a lot of in-between spots."

They're hoping the Belmont is one of those big spots that might just put Springfield, Ky., on the map.