Print size 17″ X 22″, Image Size 11″ X 14″

This print has been in storage since 1967 and has slight discolorations around the print border which does not distract from the beauty of the print and would be easily covered up when matted and framed

SILKY SULLIVAN, the American thoroughbred race horse best known for his come-from-behind racing style.
Not since Native Dancer’s gray colt and flying legs made him a national favorite has any horse so captured the public fancy as has Silky Sullivan. His heroic proportions, flame-red color, winning personality and particularly his stretch charges from impossibly far back have made him immensely popular.
Purchased for $10,700 as a yearling at the Del Mar Sales by Thomas Ross and the late Philip Klipstein, the colt by *Sullivan – Lady N Silk, by *Ambrose Light, was a good if not sensational two-year-old, winning four of seven starts, including the Golden Gate Futurity. In that race he came from last place in the 10-horse field to zoom down the stretch as though his rivals were standing still. Third money in a division of the Berkeley Handicap and fourth place in the California Breeders’ Trial Stakes helped lift his seasonal income to $21,750.
At Santa Anita Park early in his three-year-old career he began to develop into an almost legendary popular hero, as he would lope along some 20 or 30 lengths back of his field in the early stages, then jet down the home lane to overtake all or most of his opponents. When he ran in the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes in this style he barely missed overtaking the flyer Old Pueblo, and received louder cheers than the winner. “Silky” came from 14 lengths back to cop the Santa Anita Derby.
Although an Eastern classic campaign proved a sad disappointment, his followers never lost faith in him. Instead they wrote him encouraging letters and sent him resents. He partially redeemed his reputation later in the season, before injuries cut short his campaign with five victories, a second, a third and $110,225 to show for a dozen starts.
Staging a good comeback at Hollywood Park as a four-year-old, he made up 14 lengths to take the secondary feature on opening day, the Roy Campanello Purse honoring the now crippled baseball catcher, once one of the greats in his own field. Then Silky Sullivan ran third in the Golden State Breeders’ Handicap. IT took another secondary feature named for an injured star, the Ralph Neves Purse honoring the injured jockey on Independence Day, to return the flaming chestnut to the winner’s circle after he had spotted the front runners a dozen lengths in the opening stages.