Spinoff prepped and ready for Sunday Silence Stakes

With a sprint race under his belt, Spinoff will stretch out to his preferred distance of 1 1/8 miles when he runs in Sunday’s $75,000 Sunday Silence Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

After a second-place finish in the Louisiana Derby in 2019, Spinoff, a son of Hard Spun trained by Todd Pletcher, did not fare well in the Triple Crown, finishing 18th in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Belmont Stakes.

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Last August, Spinoff rolled to a 5 3/4-length allowance victory going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga that seemed to have him ready for a fall campaign. But, Spinoff suffered a setback while training toward the Pennsylvania Derby last September and was given time off.

In his 4-year-old debut, on April 25, Spinoff chased a strong early pace, tipped three wide for the stretch drive, but couldn’t match strides with the graded stakes winner Global Campaign late. He was beaten 1 3/4 lengths and earned a solid 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Spinoff.

Spinoff will likely be a stalking presence behind Wind of Change, who is coming off a front-running second-level allowance victory going a one-turn mile March 28.

Phat Man, winner of the Grade 3 Fred Hooper Stakes going a one-turn mile in January, will attempt to stretch out to 1 1/8 miles in the Sunday Silence.

Trainer Kent Sweezey said he was considering running Phat Man in the $100,000 Blame Stakes, a one-turn mile race at Churchill Downs next Saturday, but in looking at the nominations he thought the race would come up extremely tough.

Phat Man has not run since he finished second behind Mr Freeze in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile on Feb. 29. Sweezey said Phat Man suffered a minor setback following that race.

“This is not the ideal comeback race, but he had to chase a 44 half and a 45 half in his last two races,” Sweezey said. “He won’t have to chase anything like that this time.”

Joe Bravo will ride Phat Man.

Just Whistle, a son of Pioneerof the Nile trained by Michael Matz, is coming off a second-place finish to Identifier at 24-1 odds in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope. He has twice won at 1 1/16 miles, including an allowance win 15 months ago at Gulfstream.

You’re to Blame, Eye of a Jedi, and Bid Dollar Bill complete the field.