Golden Years Arrive for Silver Charm

One of the most popular thoroughbreds to race, Silver Charm, who counted the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness among his dozen wins, has been retired.

The decision was made by trainer Bob Baffert and owners Bob and Beverly Lewis after the 5-year-old gray son of Silver Buck finished a lackluster fourth in the Stephen Foster Handicap on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

After winning the San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita on Jan. 10 in his first start of 1999, Silver Charm ended his career with a four-race losing streak. Before the Foster, where he was beaten a little more than eight lengths by impressive winner Victory Gallop, he had finished sixth in the Dubai World Cup, a race he won by a nose last year.

“[Baffert] and I talked [Saturday night] after the race and we felt that in the best interest of all concerned, and especially the horse, that we should retire him,” Lewis said. “He’s given Beverly and I four years of great excitement and there are hardly any words I can use to describe what Silver Charm has meant to us and all his fans.

“We didn’t want to demean the horse in any way and it wasn’t a difficult decision at all. He has really filled out and muscled up and I believe he’s going to make a very good stallion. He made almost $7 million [$6,944369] and that’s pretty credible.

“I certainly don’t want to put words in [Baffert’s] mouth, but he’s certainly got a soft spot in his heart for Silver Charm. He gave him his first Kentucky Derby win and he’s extremely grateful for that.”

Only Cigar ($9,999,815) and Skip Away ($9,616,360) have earned more money than Silver Charm, who provided Baffert and the Lewises with the first of their Kentucky Derby victories.

With his win in the 1997 Preakness, he also became the first of three consecutive 3-year-olds, along with Real Quiet and Charismatic, to have a shot at the Triple Crown. Before a crowd of better than 70,000 at the 1997 Belmont Stakes, the first time in 20 years the Belmont had drawn that many, he was edged late by Touch Gold.

“Like with all great athletes, there comes a time when they’re no longer at the top of their game and Silver Charm has come to that point,” Baffert told The Blood Horse. “And unlike other athletes who stayed beyond their time, we’ve elected to send him out with the dignity he deserves.

“It broke my heart to see him get beat like [he was in the Foster]. He was training awesome, but he had bulked up this year and has been spotting his rivals 300 pounds in weight.

“When Victory Gallop came to him turning for home, he didn’t put up a fight and that’s when we knew it was time to retire him. I had told Bob [Lewis] that we would keep running him as long as showed that old spark, but now that it looks like the spark is gone, this was the only fair decision.”

His final start was the first time Silver Charm had ever been worse than second at Churchill Downs. He finished off the board only three times in his 24-race career.

Besides the head victory over Captain Bodgit in the Derby, Silver Charm, bred in Florida by Mary Lou Wootton, also won the Clark Handicap last year in Louisville and was second to Awesome Again in both last year’s Foster and Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Silver Charm’s other graded stakes wins, besides the San Pasqual at Santa Anita, included the San Fernando Breeders’ Cup, Strub Stakes and Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap last year and the 1997 San Vicente. As a 2-year-old, he won the Del Mar Futurity.

For Lewis, the Derby win was the one he’ll remember most. “There’s nothing that can compare to that,” he said. “Beverly and I are just very privileged to have experienced that twice [again with Charismatic last month].”

No decision has been made on where Silver Charm will stand and none is expected in the immediate future, according to Lewis, although, not surprisingly, many farms have made inquiries.

“It’s hard to believe I’m not going to come to the barn and see that gray head peering over the webbing, greeting me every morning,” Baffert said. “He was like my fifth child and I feel like I’m losing a good friend.

“Each day, I’d look forward to getting there and giving him his carrots. I would sit in my office and I could hear him nickering in his stall. It’s going to be awfully quiet and empty around here for a while.”

This was the third thoroughbred star the Lewises have been forced to retire this year. Exploit, who at one point was the future book favorite for the Kentucky Derby, was retired after being injured in the San Felipe Stakes on March 13. And Kentucky Derby and Preakness hero Charismatic suffered a career-ending injury when finishing third in the Belmont Stakes on June 5.

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Silver Charm Year by Year

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Year Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Earnings 1996 3 2 1 0 $177,750 1997 7 3 4 0 $1,638,750 1998 9 6 2 0 $4,696,506 1999 5 1 0 2 $431,363 Totals 24 12 7 2 $6,944,369

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MAJOR VICTORIES 1996--Del Mar Futurity

1997--San Vicente Stakes, Kentucky Derby, Preakness

1998--San Fernando Breeders’ Cup, Strub Stakes, Dubai World Cup, Kentucky Cup Classic, Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap, Clark Handicap

1999--San Pasqual Handicap