A majority interest in Silver Medallion, winner of the El Camino Real Derby (gr. III) and Eddie Logan Stakes in his last two starts, has been sold to Steven Marshall, with original owner Michael Ryan retaining a minority interest.
The son of Badge of Silver – Another Vegetarian, by Stalwart, was purchased by Ryan at the Keeneland September yearling sale for $150,000. He broke his maiden on the grass in his career debut before finishing out of the money in the With Anticipation Stakes (gr. IIIT) and Breeders’ Futurity (gr. I). He closed out the year with a second in a one-mile allowance race on grass at Churchill Downs.
Following his half-length victory in the Eddie Logan on grass, he scored by 1 1/4 lengths in the El Camino Real Derby, defeating
Marshall, a resident of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., is president of Western Energy Production and was a minority investor in I Want Revenge and has been looking for another Derby horse..
"Nick Sallusto (who brokered the deal) and I have been looking for the right horse on the Derby trail," Marshall said. "We looked at several, and then Nick called me up and said he had something interesting. We went out and took a look and things just started to align."
Silver Medallion is Marshall's only horse in training, and he has four or five upcoming 2-year-olds. He will race under the name Blackrock Stables with several friends who he wanted to bring into the game. Marshall is president of Western Energy Production. and Blackrock is an oil business term,
"Living in Rancho Santa Fe, which is close to Del Mar, racing has always been a passion of mine, and one of my best friends was Bill Allen, who owned Wild Again," Marshall said. "I got involved from the sidelines in the beginning and it's just been a natural sequence of events to start owning horses."
.Sallusto added, "I always love a horse who wins first time out in his life,” Sallusto said. “It shows a lot about a horse’s constitution; it’s not an easy thing to do.
"I watched him progress and it was the Eddie Logan that really captured my attention; I really liked how tenacious he was when he got into the battle. I had question marks at the time about the mile and an eighth, then when he won the El Camino I was super impressed with him. He was in hand the whole way and went by them at the eighth pole with mild encouragement and appeared to have plenty more in the tank.”
One possible target for Silver Medallion is the $1 million Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) on April 9, though the $500,000 Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes (gr. III) March 26 at Turfway Park is also a possibility. Steve Asmussen will continue to train the colt.