Never Silent adds Lasix for main turf sprint

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Never Silent should make some noise with the addition of Lasix in Thursday’s Woodbine headliner for fillies and mares, scheduled for 6 1/2 furlongs on the main turf.

Never Silent started three times last year at 2 for trainer Catherine Day Phillips. She aired on debut in a 5 1/2-furlong Tapeta dash in July, scoring by 5 1/2 lengths with a 66 Beyer Speed Figure.

When switching to the turf in the open Catch a Glimpse Stakes in August, Never Silent wound up third after a wide trip while receiving a solid 80 Beyer. She was bet down to 9-5 in another main turf sprint on Sept. 24 in the restricted Victorian Queen Stakes, in which she finished a flat fifth behind War Painter and Olivia Rose.

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Off a 10-month break on July 27, Never Silent came from an early stalking position to assume command on the turn before giving way late to fill out the exacta. She breezed a half-mile in 48.20 seconds last Thursday and looks poised to fire her best shot under the hot apprentice Pietro Moran. Willow Pond Stable owns and bred the daughter of venerable Ontario sire Silent Name.

A field of 10 was drawn for the nonwinners-of-two hybrid event that combines Ontario-sired allowance types with $40,000 claimers. Among them, Friends for Life, Miramichi, Encourageachother, and Prima all have some appeal.

Friends for Life, another Silent Name filly, is changing surfaces off a fade job on the Tapeta. The erratic 4-year-old earned second money in the 2022 Victorian Queen, but is winless in nine starts since then. She had a wide journey when third behind favored Blameless Ghost and Miramichi two back on the grass, after which she came up empty on the Tapeta.

Friends for Life is losing some weight with apprentice Fraser Aebly taking over for trainer Stuart Simon.

Miramichi ran big in two of her four turf outings at the meet. The daughter of Silent Name graduated over six furlongs on May 24 and finished a lapped-on second to Blameless Ghost after prevailing in a front-end battle when going seven-eighths on July 6.

Miramichi couldn’t keep up most recently in the Thunder Bay Stakes for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies, but salvaged fourth money in the quality six-horse field. Leading rider Sahin Civaci picks up the mount on her, his first for trainer Alexander Patykewich.

Encourageachother ran hot and cold in a pair of maiden special weight routes on the main turf in June. When favored most recently on the drop to Ontario-sired/$40,000 company in a Tapeta sprint, the daughter of Street Sense rallied four wide to prevail by two lengths with a 68 Beyer. Rafael Hernandez will ride her again for trainer Kevin Attard, a potent combo.

The John Mattine-trained Prima wound up fourth in her lone turf outing in a challenging six-furlong allowance in June. She was a minor player in two subsequent Tapeta starts at this level.

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