Silent Poet seeks end to nine-race winless streak
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The durable millionaire Silent Poet scratched out of a tough spot last Sunday in favor of Thursday’s seventh race, a five-furlong inner-turf dash combining conditioned allowance types with $50,000 claimers.
Silent Poet has been the most successful turf sprinter at Woodbine the past five years, winning the Grade 1 Highlander in 2021, the Grade 2 Connaught Cup and Grade 2 Nearctic in 2020, and the Grade 2 Play the King in 2019.
Silent Poet is winless in nine starts since the beginning of 2022, but he ran several strong races in graded stakes last year, including a third behind the future champion Filo Di Arianna and March to the Arch in the Connaught Cup.
In his April 2 season opener at Gulfstream Park, Silent Poet rallied outside for second behind a rejuvenated Shekky Shebaz. Most recently, he was outfinished for the win by Souper Watson after a three-wide stalking trip at this level here on the Tapeta.
Trainer Nick Gonzalez will give Justin Stein a leg up on 8-year-old Silent Poet, who was withdrawn from a conditioned allowance with a large field on the main course Sunday.
The speedy Bushido, the lone 3-year-old in the five-horse field, is making his first start as a gelding.
Bushido broke like a bullet in both of his juvenile outings going five-eighths on the inner turf, winning each race decisively. After romping in a Sept. 4 maiden special, the son of First Samurai took the Ontario Racing Stakes with an 85 Beyer Speed Figure in October.
When coming off the sidelines in the Palisades Stakes on April 16 at Keeneland, Bushido set a fast pace before fading to finish 10 1/4 lengths in arrears in eighth.
Rafael Hernandez will ride Bushido, who breezed a half-mile in 47.60 seconds on the turf training course here May 28 under the direction of trainer Darwin Banach.
Masseto, a 4-year-old trained by Mark Casse, placed in Group 2 and 3 company in Ireland at 2. He also was a slow-starting fourth in a 17-horse, Group 2 fixture at the prestigious Royal Ascot meet in England in 2021.
Masseto has raced twice on this side of the pond. He wound up fifth in a stakes at Kentucky Downs in 2021 before a victory in a first-level allowance in his last start here a year ago under Patrick Husbands.
Napa Spirit was claimed from a victory for $32,000 here last fall by trainer Mike Dunslow and went on to be competitive against $35,000 claimers and $50,000 starter types at Gulfstream. When returning here April 23, he ran gamely up front to beat allowance/$32,000 claiming opposition in his first Tapeta excursion, earning an 87 Beyer under Emma-Jayne Wilson. ]
Rounding out the field is longshot Spite Store, who’s unraced since he went over the top late last fall.
Post time for the eight-race card is 4:50 p.m.
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