Silky Sullivan (February 28, 1955 – November 18, 1977) was an American thoroughbred racehorse best known for his come-from-behind racing style.
His trainer, West Coast veteran Reggie Cornell, said "I've never seen a horse in my life, or heard of one either, go faster."
Cornell trained horses for movie star Betty Grable and her husband, bandleader Harry James.
(Berkley Handicap), and Sully’s Trial (winner of her first six starts, including the Junior Miss and Santa Ynez Stakes).
Silky Sullivan's dam, Lady N Silk, a non-winner of four starts, was rescued from Santa Anita Park in 1951 by Dr. Roberts before she could be destroyed due to a T-shaped crack in her left forefoot and had Fair Play blood three generations back in her pedigree.
Fair Play was the sire of Man o' War, ranked #1 in Blood-Horse magazine's top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century.
Sold at the 1956 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association's Del Mar yearling sales to Phil Klipstein (a retired cattleman from Bakersfield) and Tom Ross (a lumberman from Oakland) for $10,700, the colt was sent to Devonshire Downs in San Fernando to train under Reggie Cornell.
(from 'He Wasn't Smooth, but He was Silky') On December 7, 1957, he won the one mile (1.6 km) $25,000 Golden Gate Futurity after making up 27 lengths.
His jockey, Hall of Famer Manuel Ycaza, said later, "When I asked him to run, he answered and ran like a machine, like a rocket.
Carrying 54 kg (118.8 pounds), Silky Sullivan faced nine other three-year-olds including Old Pueblo, who had defeated him in the Breeder's Champion Stakes.
Silky Sullivan was joint favorite with the Jimmy Jones-trained Tim Tam, a dark-bay son of Tom Fool (ranked #11 by Blood-Horse magazine of the 100 best U.S. Thoroughbred racehorses of the 20th century) out of the winning mare Two Lea (ranked #77)—herself a daughter of Bull Lea, Calumet Farm's well-known sire.
Bull Lea had already produced three Kentucky Derby winners: Citation in 1948, Hill Gail in 1952, and Iron Liege in 1957.
Writing in 2002, sportswriter Billy Reed said: "Besides the split-screen, Fred Capossela, calling the race for CBS, mentioned Silky's name five times and Tim Tam's only once during the first mile and an eighth.
"[4] Tim Tam won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness[2]; in the Belmont Stakes, he broke a sesamoid bone in his right foreleg in the homestretch and finished second.
When the founder of San Francisco's British Motor Car Distributors, Ltd., Kjell Qvale,[3] heard that Silky Sullivan was for sale, he made an immediate offer.
Kjell (pronounced "Shell") would lead him to the winner's circle, his mane braided with green and white pom-poms; every time, ears pricked, and head held high, Silky Sullivan would turn his rump on his audience and kick out both hind legs.
On August 2, 1965, Mr. Payne emulated his father's come-from-behind style with victories in the Oceanside and La Jolla Handicaps.
Silky Sullivan was found in his stall at his last home in Pleasanton, California, on November 18, 1977, having died in his sleep at the age of 22.
His name evokes holding back until the last possible moment before making a huge bid for the win, though not always successfully.
Once run in March, the stakes race in his name now takes place in November: the $100,000, nine-furlong Silky Sullivan Handicap (Grade III) for 3-year-olds on the grass at California's Golden Gate Fields.
Silky Sullivan is buried at Golden Gate Fields, in the infield to the left of the tote board.
He is considered by many to be the greatest closer of all time and until the death of Lost in the Fog was the only horse buried at Golden Gate Fields.