Da Silva has confidence in El Tormenta

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Eurico Da Silva said he’s looking forward to riding El Tormenta in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. Trained by Gail Cox, El Tormenta earned a fees-paid berth for the Grade 1 turf event when taking the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile here in September.

“He’s trained very well,” Da Silva said. “Gail’s doing everything right for the horse. I think he’s going to run big. If I didn’t think he had a shot, I would not go.”

Da Silva rode Fatal Bullet to a second-place finish behind Midnight Lute in the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, where he also finished a troubled fourth on Biofuel in the 2009 BC Juvenile Fillies.

“That was the day for me to win,” Da Silva recalled. “A filly Rajiv Maragh was riding came out in front of me and took my chance away [because] he lost his line. I still finished fourth. Biofuel [should have] won.”

Sine Metu wins Turf Endurance Series

Sine Metu failed to win any of the four legs of the Woodbine Turf Endurance Series, but his overall consistency secured him the series title when it concluded last Saturday.

Trained by Debra Rombis, Sine Metu finished second in each of the first two legs in the summer. He was promoted from third to second by disqualification in the third leg, and finished fifth on Saturday. The 23 points the 8-year-old gelding accumulated were two more than Camp Creek, and three more than Prideofdistinction, who won the final two legs after bypassing the first two.

“It feels amazing to win the series,” Rombis said. “This horse so deserves it. He’s been in the series every time. He hasn’t missed a leg since the beginning – the only one.”