(Sterling Silver / Photo Courtesy of Gulfstream Park)

From the Gulfstream Park Media Team:

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Mark Anderson’s Sterling Silver, a multiple Grade-2 placed New York-bred mare with 10 career wins, rallied through the stretch to capture the $125,000 Rampart Friday at Gulfstream Park, notching a 1 ¼-length victory in her first start for trainer Anthony Margotta Jr.

“I just recently got her. This filly has won long, short, sprinting, a mile-and-an-eighth. She’s a very versatile mare,” Margotta said.

The striking gray daughter of Cupid rated in mid-pack along the backstretch, as Dazzling Move, pressed by 6-5 favorite One Magic Philly, set fractions of 24.63 and 47.51 seconds for the first half mile of the one-turn mile stakes for fillies and mares. Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano sent Sterling Silver wide on the far turn and the 6-year-old mare advanced on the tiring pacesetters to loom boldly at the top of the stretch. The battle-tested mare would then turn the Gulfstream stretch into her personal runway to display her class and abundant talent on her way to a dominant win.

“You couldn’t ask for a better trip than that,” Margotta said. “I was comfortable about it the whole way. When they turned for home, I was pretty confident.”

Sterling Silver ($8.80) ran the one-turn mile distance in 1:37.28 while drawing away to finish clear of runner-up Necessity, who saved ground while closely monitoring the pacesetters before splitting horses at the top of the stretch. Although no match for the winner, Necessity finished 1 ½ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Claret Beret, who made a rail bid at the top of the stretch before tiring late.

“Beautiful trip. The way I handicapped the race, when the overnight came out, I thought I had a big chance because I had the outside post and all the inside horses had plenty of speed,” said Castellano, who rode Sterling Silver to a runner-up finish in the one-turn mile Ruffian (G2) at Aqueduct in May. “I was really surprised we didn’t go that fast. The first quarter went in 24 and change, so I was laying up close to the pace. She’s doing really good. I ride the horse before in New York and she always performed pretty well. It seemed to me to be wide open race and she performed great. She was amazing, the way she blew by the field. She’s a pro.”

Sterling Silver will have the opportunity to win her first graded-stakes after several placings in the $200,000 Inside Information (G2), a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares on the undercard of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Jan. 24.