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Silvertand Goes for the Gold


John M. Silvertand is an interesting fellow. And a real horse lover.

The native Britisher came to this country in 1984 after a 12-year stop in Bermuda, he said when we bumped into each other at Calder Race Course. He has lived for nine years in Highland Beach near Boca Raton, where he operates a furniture design business.

The onetime RAF pilot also owns horses, based at trainer Noel Hickey's Irish Acres Farm in Ocala. He's part owner with Hickey of the 18-year-old stallion Tour d'Or, a grandson of Secretariat.

"His 2-year-olds have had the most wins of any sire in 1999," Silvertand said, pointing to the Leader Board section of the Daily Racing Form. Tour d'Or's siblings posted 34 victories that netted more than $550,000.

Silvertand owns a slew of mares and a half-dozen 2-year-olds. He's especially proud of two juveniles that most likely will race during the 2000 Calder meeting: a filly Lauren's Tour, named for a 7-year-old Romanian girl whot he and his wife adopted 2 1/2 years ago, and Just Like A Man, a colt.

"Lauren's Gold is the best looking of the bunch on the far," he said during a conversation at Gulfstream Park. "We expect great things of her."

The stud fee this year for Tour d'Or is $10,000.

At Irish Acres, horses train on a six-furlong dirt track with a chute, wide turns and a six-inch base of packed red clay with a deep cushion. An underground water system keeps the track in optimal condition.

There's also a turf course and a swimming pool. And young horses learn to break from a starting gate.
The copyright of the article Silvertand Goes for the Gold in Horse Racing is owned by Greg Melikov. Permission to republish Silvertand Goes for the Gold in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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