Was It Ghost Bike or Silky Sullivan?

In the mid-1959s, Silky Sullivan rocked the racing world with a series of legendary finishes from out of the stratosphere, including one from an estimated 40 lengths behind in the 1958 Santa Anita Derby. He wound up his career with a record of 12-1-5 in 27 starts with earnings of $151,700 in an era before purses began climbing.

Ghost Bike looked like a Silky Sullivan double at Mahoning Valley on Monday in a race at a flat mile with Elijah Greenridge in the saddle. The 6-year-old gelding by Neolithic broke alertly, but by the time the field reached the backstretch, he had fallen many lengths behind, at its worst point, 15 or more lengths. But Greenridge revved him up, and Ghost Bike closed like a rocket, caught the pack at the top of the stretch, then surged between horses and drew off to score by 3 1/2 lengths, clocked in 1:40.83.

Ghost Bike, who was bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds, Geoff Roy and Tom Fitzgerald, paid $9.20 after winning for the second time in his last three starts. He collected $7,800 for owner /trainer Gerald Crawford, increasing his earnings to $78,637 on a record of 6-3-7 in 36 starts.