Turning Silver Into Gold

The Grindstone mare Seeking the Silver never made it back to the races after switching hands in a $20,000 seller when last of five at the Big A back in April 2004. But for her new owner Vincent S. Scuderi, there was certainly a 'Silverlining' that day.

“Actually, it was a bad claim,” Scuderi reflected. “I did like her pedigree, but I wasn't thinking of breeding her at the time. We sent the horse to Kentucky and Dr. [Larry] Bramlage advised us after he did some work on her knee–I think we took a chip out–that she may not make it back [to the races]. But he said, 'She's bred pretty well, you ought to leave her here.' So we decided to breed her and she's turned into quite a really great broodmare.”

It's a good thing Scuderi follows doctor's orders. After producing three winners from her first four foals, Dads Caps (Discreet Cat) carried Scuderi's black-and-red silks to a pair of GI Carter H. victories and seven figures in earnings. Seeking the Silver's 4-year-old Paulassilverlining (Ghostzapper), named after Scuderi's sister, has kept the momentum rolling for the family and will become the 60-year-old's first Breeders' Cup starter in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. She punched her ticket to Southern California with a game victory in the GII Gallant Bloom H. at Belmont Park Oct. 1.

“She's been really good to us,” Scuderi said of his 16-year-old broodmare. “It just kind of fell into place. It's been great. I had a lot of minor success in the claiming game, but now I have a chance for major success. Hopefully, she can send me a couple of more presents.”

Seeking the Silver, a $4,800 OBSAUG yearling turned $50,000 OBSAPR juvenile, won four of 17 career starts, good for $90,758 in earnings. The stakes-placed Liza Too (Olmodavor) and Conga Bella (Congaree), a winner of 15 races and $457,032 in earnings, quickly helped get Seeking the Silver established as a producer. Represented by six winners from seven starters, she also has an unraced juvenile colt named Dwizard (Macho Uno); and a weanling filly by Ghostzapper. She was bred back to Awesome Again.

Her current star Paulassilverlining, meanwhile, has also captured this term's GIII Distaff H. at Aqueduct Apr. 17 and GIII Vagrancy H. at Belmont May 21 and came within a neck of annexing Saratoga's GII Honorable Miss H. this summer. Trained by Michelle Nevin, the bay has posted a record of 16-7-4-2 and bankrolled $843,950 in earnings.

“I'm excited–I know it's a hard race, a different racetrack and maybe not her optimal distance, but she's going into it in good form and she earned it by winning that last race,” said Scuderi, a married father of two. “I probably wouldn't have gone [to the Breeders' Cup] if she didn't win the Gallant Bloom.”

It all began for the native of New York by frequenting the harness races at the former Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island.

“I'm glad they closed that place down,” Scuderi said with a laugh. “As a young kid I used to go in there with a couple of buddies, who are still friends of mine today, and we just liked it. It was action. My father's cousin and my father took me there a couple of times, too. I think I was lucky or maybe unlucky to hit the first couple of times I went and thought it was easy… I guess it's in my blood.”

Scuderi currently has four horses in training. Seeking the Silver is his lone broodmare. Endless Circle (Precise End), claimed by Scuderi for $14,000, won a trio of stakes races, including the 2010 GIII Fall Highweight H. He also campaigned Classic Endeavor (Silver Buck) in partnership to a pair of graded wins in 2004 after claiming him for $50,000. Poor But Honest (Nasty and Bold), a multiple graded winner for Scuderi out of the box, was another success story.

“Right now, I have as few as I've ever had,” Scuderi said. “I lost a few horses that I haven't replaced, a couple got hurt, and I retired Dads Caps. So, I actually shrunk my operation down. Not intentionally, though, but I'm not going to expand just for the sake of expanding. But I'll probably get back up to that 10-12 range, where I usually like to be.”

Scuderi is the third-generation president of his family's Brooklyn-based business, Van Blarcom Company. VBC has been manufacturing child-resistant closures for the pharmaceutical and health-care industries since 1924. The company employs more than 300 people.

“It's been a good business and thankfully that's why I probably haven't sold many of my horses because my business keeps me satisfied and I enjoy racing,” Scuderi concluded. “I was offered a lot of money for 'Paula,' and I probably made a mistake by turning it down. But I don't know. I really like racing them. I get a lot of pleasure out of it.”