Every once in a while, a horse will come along and exhibit both talent and tenacity on the racing track. Silver Patriarch is one such horse, who dominated the 1997 St Leger by emerging victorious. This horse was foaled in Ireland, where he competed for most of his life. Patrick James John Eddery, popularly known as Pat Eddery, an Irish flat racing jockey and horse trainer, rode the horse in all his races but three.
Silver Patriarch was bred in the British Isles of Ireland by Saddler’s Hall another Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. The horse was trained in Britain by John Dunlop, an English racehorse trainer based in Arundel, Sussex. Right off the bat, he was a talented horse, proving this by winning two of his four starts at two years old. He won the two races at the Newmarket and Pontefract racing venues, finishing third at Sandown Classic Trial before emerging victorious at the Lingfield Derby Trial.
Over his following races, Silver Patriarch started favourite including the Great Voltigeur Stakes, where he finished the race at a close second, being beaten by a mere half a length by Stowaway, a thoroughbred sired by Slip Anchor. Silver Patriarch won his next race at St Leger at Doncaster which started to shape the future of the horse, paving the way for more wins.
Silver Patriarch’s Glory Days
By the time Silver Patriarch was four years old, he had already joined the ranks of some of the famous race horses by emerging victorious in major races between 1996 and 1999. In the 1998 Jockey Club Stakes, a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain, he came in at a close second to Romanov. Later that year in June, he went back to reclaim his glory at the Coronation Cup from his rival, Swain at Epsom.
Silver Patriarch recorded a consistent performance throughout the rest of his racing career, although he was beaten once again by Swain, in the 1998 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the Ascot racecourse. At five years old, in 1999, the horse emerged victorious in the Roaring Lion Jockey Club Stakes and the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury where he came in second the previous year.
Silver Patriarch’s last race was held in Hong Kong on the 12th of December 1999, where he finished in 2 minutes and 30 seconds, after which, he hung up his horseshoes, so to speak.
Silver Patriarch recorded some major wins throughout his career as well as some major earnings. The racehorse died of natural causes in 2009, at age 15 at the National Stud in the English county of Suffolk, Newmarket.
