Lightly raced Silent Bird earned his third straight victory in his stakes debut, capturing this event to kick off the black-type action on Breeders' Cup weekend. Second in his Dec. 17 debut at Los Alamitos, the bay graduated by a head next out despite a slow beginning here Jan. 18 and showed no rust off an 8 1/2-month layoff with an optional claiming score in Arcadia Oct. 2. Let go as the second choice in this spot, Silent Bird dropped back to run sixth as favored Jazzy Times dictated terms through fractions of :21.97 and :44.51. Drafting in behind horses for the majority of the turn, Silent Bird swung five wide at the top of the stretch and rallied steadily to overtake the chalk at the sixteenth pole and draw away late. “He's an exceptional horse,” said winning trainer Mark Glatt. “He's had to overcome quite a bit and he finally got over his problems. He really wants to go long, and now with a couple of sprints under his belt, if he continues to come back good, and I think he will, you might really see something with this horse going longer. He's a big horse, long-striding, and probably doesn't want to sprint that bad, but he's overcome it because he's such a good horse. We'll see how he comes back and see what's out there for him and maybe we'll look to stretch him out next time.”
DAMASCUS S., $101,035, SA, 11-4, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:22.63, ft.
1–#SILENT BIRD, 123, c, 4, Summer Bird–Rutledge Ballado
(GSP, $108,176), by Saint Ballado. ($40,000 Ylg '13 FTKOCT).
O-Norman Stables, LLC; B-JMI (KY); T-Mark Glatt; J-Fernando
Hernandez Perez. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0,
$135,600. *1/2 to Morgan's Guerrilla (Ghostzapper), MGSP,
$271,002.
2–Jazzy Times, 121, c, 3, Discreetly Mine–Jazzy Melissa, by
Grand Slam. ($45,000 Ylg '14 KEESEP; $460,000 2yo '15
OBSMAR). O-Zayat Stables, LLC; B-RDurham Racing LLC (KY);
T-Bob Baffert. $20,000.[bullet ad=”sgv-grad”][bullet ad=”bluegrass-tbred-consigned-by”][bullet ad=”crestwood-foaledraisedsold”][bullet ad=”eqb-2yopurchase”][bullet ad=”sallusto-albina-yearling-purchase”]3–Navy Hymn, 121, g, 3, Songandaprayer–Nehalennia, by
Giant's Causeway. ($15,000 Ylg '14 KEESEP; $67,000 2yo '15
EASMAY). O-N. Messineo, B. Sands, R. Robershaw, La Vida
Loca Racing & Baltas; B-Masatsugu Otani (KY); T-Richard
Baltas. $12,000.
Margins: 1HF, 1HF, HF. Odds: 3.70, 2.10, 3.90.
Also Ran: Iron Rob, Prospect Park, Cautious Giant, Mach One Rules, Hunt (Ire). Scratched: Kafister.
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