No Silent will point to BC Turf Sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. – No Silent, who won his first graded stakes Saturday in the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes at Santa Anita, could start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31 if the gelding can earn a berth in the field.

Trainer Gary Mandella said he is making plans to take No Silent to Kentucky but expressed reservation the BC Turf Sprint could oversubscribe.

“If we can get in, we’d like to try it,” he said.

Owned by Jerry and Jan Hawthorne, who race as Double JH Stable, No Silent won his third consecutive start in the Eddie D Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside. At Del Mar during the summer, No Silent won consecutive races at five furlongs on turf – a $50,000 claimer Aug. 5 and an optional claimer Sept. 3 in which he was eligible to be claimed for $62,500.

No Silent has won 7 of 23 starts in his career. An appearance in the BC Turf Sprint would be the first in a Grade 1 for No Silent.

“We’re going to consider it very strongly,” Mandella said. “Some of the things that I thought would be necessary to talk about didn’t seem to be a concern. We talked about expenses. The Hawthornes have been playing the game for 10 years. If he can get in, we’d like to try it.”