Ben Ali entrant Silver Dust closing in on Millionaire status

Tom Durant’s veteran Silver Dust can inch closer to the million-dollar mark in earnings Saturday should he capture the 1 1/8-mile, $150,000 Ben Ali (G3) and its $90,000 top prize.

Trained by Bret Calhoun, the 7-year-old Silver Dust is a three-time Grade 3 winner with four other placings in graded events in his career that began in the fall of 2016. Silver Dust owns a record of 32-6-7-5 for earnings of $885,677.

“Last year, he was all dressed up with nowhere to go because of the pandemic,” Calhoun said. “There were a lot of races that went away and now there are plenty of races for older horses.”

Silver Dust will be making his second start of the year Saturday after closing 2020 with a 10^th-place finish at Keeneland in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

“I ran him on the grass at Fair Grounds (March 7) because he could walk right out of his stall and not have to ship for a dirt race,” Calhoun said. “He got enough out of it that it set him up well for this spot. This is the right spot at the right time.”