Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: Silver Prospector

Dec 01, 2019 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

Ed and Susan Orr’s Silver Prospector earned 10 points on the “2020 Road to the Kentucky Derby” following his triumph in Saturday’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs. The two-year-old colt earned his first graded stakes win after completing 1 1/16 miles over a sloppy, sealed surface in 1:45.94 beneath Ricardo Santana Jr.

Silver Prospector began his career in the Empire State on July 6 at Belmont Park, where the gray finished fourth in a six-furlong dash on the turf. Next came a third on the Saratoga green, followed by a sixth-place stakes finish sprinting on the sod at Kentucky Downs. It was not until the youngster moved to the main oval that he began reaching new heights.

The son of Declaration of War went postward in a 6 1/2-furlong dash on the dirt at Keeneland on October 13 and was a two-length winner in impressive fashion. He earned a stout 95 BRIS Speed number for his work, which earned him a go in the subsequent Street Sense Stakes beneath the Twin Spires.

In his dirt stakes bow, the Steve Asmussen trainee was involved from the start and led late, prior to ultimately finishing a solid third and registering a 92 BRIS Speed figure in the process. The Kentucky Jockey Club marked the first stakes score for the improving juvenile.

Silver Prospector was bred in the Bluegrass State by Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm, LLC. He is the first stakes winner produced from the stakes-placed Tapit mare Tap Softly.

The winner passed through the auction ring on a pair of occasions. He was first purchased for $50,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Eisaman Equine, agent, before fetching a bid of $190,000 at the 2019 OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training by his current connections.

Silver Prospector is one of only two graded stakes winners through the first four dams of his catalog page, with many speed influences throughout his female line. But the March foal has obviously turned into a much better horse since moving to the dirt. And he has displayed an affinity for the Churchill Downs surface after two strong stakes performances in Louisville.

He will get every chance to prove that he can run a classic distance against the best in his division on the 2020 Road to the Kentucky Derby