Silmaril ends career with a stakes win

According to bettors, the $80,000 What a Summer Stakes at Laurel came down to the speed of Your Flame in Me, the 1-2 favorite, and the class of Silmaril, the 2-1 second choice.

Score one for class.

Silmaril, a graded stakes winner making the final start of her career, put in her usual strong late run under Jeremy Rose to defeat All Giving by two lengths in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares. La Chica Rica ran third, with Your Flame in Me a pop-and-stop last in the field of six.

The off-the-board finish by Your Flame in Me resulted in show payoffs of $6.20, $15.60, and $15.40. Silmaril returned $6 to win and covered the six furlongs in 1:10.54.

The $48,000 first-place prize pushed the 7-year-old Silmaril past the $1 million mark in earnings, and she retires to the breeding shed with 16 victories, 12 in stakes, and a bankroll of $1,032,973.

"This is it," said Stephen Quick, who owns and bred Silmaril with Christopher Feifarek. "We did what we came out to do today. I hope all the fans appreciated it."

A Maryland-bred by the Mr. Prospector sire Diamond, Silmaril was trained by Christopher Grove.