Ima Chili, under jockey Nestor Duran, surges through the mud to capture the $44,800 Silver Bullet Stakes for Texas-bred 3-year-olds at Retama Park on Thursday night.

© Jack Coady Photography

By H. David Smith, StallioneSearch

SELMA, TX–JUNE 26, 2025–Ima Chili added a second straight stakes win to his résumé with a powerful performance in Thursday night’s $44,800 Silver Bullet Stakes at Retama Park.

Contested at 330 yards for accredited Texas-bred three-year-olds, the race was run over a muddy, sealed track with a headwind of six miles per hour.

The Zackery Rios-trained gelding broke sharply from post seven and dueled early before driving clear late under jockey Nestor Duran to win by three-quarters of a length in a time of 16.847 seconds, earning a 101 Speed Index.

Owned by Darrell L. Hooper and bred in Texas by Sarah Huskey, Ima Chili is a bay gelding by second-crop sire Chilitos out of Im Not Hillary, by Executive Menace.

The winning connections of Ima Chili accept the Silver Bullet Stakes trophy at Retama Park. © Jack Coady Photography

The win marked his second consecutive stakes score following a victory in the Sam Houston 250 Stakes earlier this month, and the $26,880 winners' purse pushed the double-registered gelding's combined earnings to nearly $121,000.

Frasier, a sorrel gelding by This Is An Eagle out of Zoom In On Me, by Shazoom, finished second in a strong effort under Oliver Martinez. Bred by Tommy and/or Johanna Bullard, Frasier is trained by Abraham Carrillo for Carrillo Racing. He rallied late to grab the runner-up spot and earned $8,960, his first black-type placing. The two-time winner has earned $31,517.

The Leaders An Eagle finished a head behind in third. The bay gelding, also by This Is An Eagle, is out of Cartel Leader by Corona Cartel. Bred and owned by Pete A. Scarmardo, he is trained by John Stinebaugh and ridden by Gilberto Linares. He earned $4,928. The Leaders An Eagle was a $24,000 repurchase at the 2023 TQHAY Sale and has earned $36,964 after lighting the board in seven of eight starts.

Ima Chili returned $3.80 to win, $3.20 to place, and $2.40 to show. Frasier paid $10.60 to place and $7.60 to show. The Leaders An Eagle returned $3.80 to show.

The $2 exacta paid $53.60, the $0.50 trifecta returned $71.10, and the $0.10 superfecta paid $62.25.

The remaining order of finish included Kas Prietito in 4th, followed by Puro Chilitos-5th, One Fine Wine-6th, DM Chasing Money-7th, and Defives-8th.

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