Ride a Comet nears record time in Kennedy Road

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Ride a Comet flirted with Pink Lloyd’s six-furlong synthetic track record while beating that imposing champion in an impressive display under Patrick Husbands in Saturday’s Grade 2 Kennedy Road at Woodbine.

As expected, the turf expert Silent Poet led the way, setting fractions of 22.77 and 44.79 seconds, as the favored Pink Lloyd raced wide in fourth on the backstretch.

Ride a Comet ($6.90) saved ground near the back of the seven-horse field before looming into contention on the turn. Husbands angled him wide for the drive just inside of Pink Lloyd, and he kicked in strongly to prevail by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:08.25, a time that was .20 off the record.

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Souper Stonehenge finished second to give trainer Mark Casse a sweep of the top two positions. Pink Lloyd saved the bridge-jumpers by salvaging third, as Silent Poet faded to fourth.

Husbands was also aboard Ride a Comet, the 2018 Del Mar Derby winner, when he won a second-level allowance nicely off a two-year layoff in October.

“This is my favorite horse of all time,” Husbands said. “He showed he’s all class. The last time when I rode him, he broke sharp and I eased him back, because it was his first (race) in a long time. I told Mark I’m gonna (beat) Pink Lloyd the next start.”

Ride a Comet, a 5-year-old son of Candy Ride, banked $105,000 of the $181,650 purse for the partnership of John Oxley and My Meadowbrook Farm.