Hawthorne: Silver Bid scores

Silver Bid picked up at age 7 where he left off at 6, with a convincing high-class sprint victory at Hawthorne Race Course.

Making his first start since Nov. 13, when he won the $100,000 Lightning Jet Handicap here, Silver Bid ($4) beat Stormy Impact by 1 1/4 lengths in a $42,000 overnight stakes race dubbed the Hula Chief. It the fifth victory at Hawthorne and 16th overall for Silver Bid, who was named champion Illinois-bred sprinter of 2004.

Silver Bid was timed in 1:11.10 for six furlongs. Stormy Impact finished a length clear of Silver Zipper for second.

Trained by Joel Berndt and ridden by Carlos Montalvo, Silver Bid showed his usual early speed, but Shandy was faster down the backstretch, and he led Silver Bid by less than a length through an opening quarter-mile in 22.22 seconds. But Silver Bid was going comfortably, and after a half-mile in 45.98 he left Shandy and went to the front. Stormy Impact made a run coming off the turn, but Silver Bid turned him back at the eighth pole.