Silic, Breeders’ Cup Mile winner and sire, dead at 18

Silic, winner of the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Mile and a California-based sire, has died of chronic renal failure at Dr. Ben and Kayleeta Davis’ Pacific Coast Thoroughbreds in Hemet, Calif. The son of Sillery was 18.

In a release, the farm said that Silic, who had been undergoing treatment for a kidney disease for several years, maintained his stud duties until the middle of the 2013 breeding season, but only got six mares in foal. Silic initially stood in Kentucky from 2001 to 2006 before moving to California in 2007.

Bred in France, Silic was out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Balletomane, from the family of Horse of the Year Azeri. He began his racing career under Pascal Bary’s guidance in France, where he was a Group 3 winner, but flourished once transferred to the U.S. for a new ownership partnership headed by Terrence Lanni and Bernie Schiappa. Trained by Julio Canani, Silic won four graded stakes races from 1998 to 2000, culminating with back-to-back Grade 1 scores in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Gulfstream Park and the Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile at Hollywood Park. Silic retired with eight wins from 15 starts and $1,422,299 in earnings.

At stud, Silic sired 77 winners from nine crops of racing age who have earned $7,377,633 to date. His best runner by far, Gladiatorus, was a Group 1 winner in Italy and Dubai, earning over $3.7 million while taking 10 of 17 starts. Silic also sired U.S. stakes winner P D Q Kiddo.

“Silic was always an ‘officer and a gentleman’ around the breeding shed,” the Davises said in a release. “He genuinely enjoyed people and would always come over to greet any person willing to walk by his paddock and engage him, including children. … We were honored to have a stallion of his ability during the last three years of his life.”