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This is a stub that still exists even though a full article has been written named simply "Silky Sullivan."
Silky was the come-from-behind runner of all come-from-behind runners. Of all the successful come-from-behind horses before him ( Whirlaway , Stymie , Needles , even Gallant Man ), none could hang so far back, and then overtake the rest of the field like a bullet shot from a gun. Ridden throughout his career by the great National Museum Of Racing And Hall Of Fame jockey, Willie Shoemaker (the Shoe), Silky once lalloped along in a race until the field was 41 lengths in front of him, and still won. He accomplished such feats by clocking the last quarter in 22 seconds flat.
He could also continue to lallop along, despite the best efforts of his leading jockey, and come in a very distant last. Whether it was due to an arthritic condition (one theory) or wnether it was because he was a born showman (another theory), with Silky, nothing was ever predictable.
PEDIGREE
Born in California in 1955, Silky's Pedigree pedigree was undistinguished. His sire, Sullivan , rated strictly as a Sprinter , raced in Ireland as a two-year old, winning only one of his starts, though when he came to California , he did a little better, winning five out of eight. But Silky's dam, Lady N Silk , a non winner in four starts, had Fair Play three generations back in her pedigree. Fair Play was the sire of Man O' War (ranked in Blood-Horse Magazine 's top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred Champions of the 20th Century as number 1). Her chart also shows the famous European stallion Phalaris as the great great grandsire of Silky Sullivan.
RACING DAYS
A big rangy chestnut, Silky was purchased for $10,700 at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association 's Del Mar yearling sales. Over the course of his life, that almost $11,000 outlay bought his owners and his trainers millions of dollars in not necessarily purses, but in publicity.
SILKY'S KENTUCKY DERBY
The 84th running of the and Tom Ross , neither of whom had ever before seen a Derby, Silky wore a red noseband, a set of unconventional steel shoes, and a specially made supersize Surcingle to get round his enormous girth.
CALIFORNIA'S HORSE
As popular in California as Funny Cide in New York or Smarty Jones in Philadelphia , Silky was the Seabiscuit of his day. Traveling throughout the state, people came out in their thousands to see him run, or later, just to see him. If he won a race, they cheered. If he lost, they ignored the winner, and cheered Silky. No matter what Silky did, the people loved him.
Before Seabiscuit, there was Man O 'War. After Seabiscuit, the only other horse to so fire the public imagination, at least in California , was Silky Sullivan in the 1950s and 60s.
