Chuck Willis was fastest out of the gate, but Caravel, fresh off her Grade 3 win in the Caress at Saratoga, took over in the first quarter of the Highlander, leaving Chuck Willis in second on the rail and Silent Poet in third on her outside. The filly held on to the lead through early fractions of :22.35 for the first quarter and :45.16 for the half-mile, but, as the field hit the top of the stretch, Silent Poet kicked into gear, passing the filly to take the lead with Admiralty Pier out toward the middle of the track mounting his challenge. At the wire, Silent Poet was a half-length in front, with Admiralty Pier passing Caravel for second, the filly holding off City Boy for third. Honey Won't, Chuck Willis, Old Chestnut, and Turned Aside rounded out the field.

The final time for the six furlongs over a firm E.P. Taylor turf course was 1.07.98. Find this race's chart here.

Silent Poet paid $21.90, $9.80, and $4.70. Admiralty Pier paid $9.60 and $5.20. Caravel paid $2.10.

Bred in Ontario by Adena Springs, Silent Poet is by Silent Name, sired by Sunday Silence, out of the unraced mare Cara Bella, by Ghostzapper. Trained by Nicholas Gonzalez, he was ridden by Justin Stein. The G1 Highlander is Silent Poet's first win in three starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of 11 wins in 21 starts.

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The winner, who was 12th in the 2018 Queen's Plate, was last seen checking in fifth when attempting to defend his Connaught Cup title July 18.

This was the first Grade I win for trainer Nick Gonzalez, who was visibly emotional after the race. Gonzalez lost his wife and longtime assistant trainer Martha last October. Silent Poet was one of her favorites.

“[Jockey] Justin [Stein] and I have been talking about it right up until this race,” Gonzalez said of what made the difference Sunday. “'He said 'You know, Nick, we drew two inside post positions his first two starts [this year]… I break, 'Poet' breaks well, and I've got these guys on the outside of me chirping, chirping, chirping, and 'Poet' wouldn't relax.' He used himself a lot more than he would of in the first eighth of the race. And he backed up both times… “When the overnight came out and we had the eight hole, Justin came by in the morning and said, 'Nick, I think we're going to be able to get a nice trip today.' Everything worked out.”

Sunday, Woodbine
HIGHLANDER S.-GI, C$395,500, Woodbine, 8-22, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:07.98, fm.
1–SILENT POET, 124, g, 6, by Silent Name (Jpn)
1st Dam: Cara Bella, by Ghostzapper
2nd Dam: Cargo, by Caro (Ire)
3rd Dam: Aerturas (Fr), by Manado (Ire)
1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Stronach Stables; B-Adena Springs (ON);
T-Nicholas Gonzalez; J-Justin Stein. C$252,000. Lifetime
Record: 22-11-4-2, $873,108. Werk Nick Rating: C.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Admiralty Pier, 123, g, 6, English Channel–Full Steam Ahead,
by Kitten's Joy. ($100,000 Ylg '16 FTSAUG). O-Hoolie Racing
Stable, LLC & Bruce Lunsford; B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Barbara
J. Minshall. C$70,000.
3–Caravel, 118, f, 4, Mizzen Mast–Zeezee Zoomzoom, by
Congrats. ($330,000 RNA 3yo '20 WANOCT). O-Bobby Flay &
Elizabeth M. Merryman; B-Elizabeth M. Merryman (PA); T-H.
Graham Motion. C$35,000.
Margins: HF, 1 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 9.95, 12.45, 0.55.
Also Ran: City Boy, Honey Won't, Chuck Willis (Ire), Old Chestnut, Turned Aside. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Silent Poet becomes the first Grade I winner in the Northern Hemisphere for perennial leading Canadian sire Silent Name (he has a previous highest-level winner in Brazil). The son of legendary Japanese-based breed shaper Sunday Silence has eight graded or group winners altogether. He stands at the Stronach family's Adena Springs North.

Former fellow Stronach colorbearer and stallion Ghostzapper is also the broodmare sire of Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), two more Grade I winners and 15 graded winners overall. The now Hill 'n' Dale resident was represented earlier on the card by GIII Ontario Colleen S. heroine Our Flash Drive.

Silent Poet's unraced dam is a half to Stronach Stable's Red Bullet (Unbridled). Cara Bella sold to Stone Farm for $60,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November sale carrying a full-brother to Silent Poet who would sell for $130,000 two Septembers later. She has a 2-year-old Broken Vow colt and a foal colt by Liam's Map. She was bred back to the latter for 2022.

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Leading that group is Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes winner Silent Poet, with an accomplished record consisting of 10 wins in 18 races. Then there's Ride a Comet, winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in the summer of 2018. Ride a Comet returned from a 25 month layoff last month at Woodbine and won as if he had never been away. Souper Stonehenge is another horse never seeing the back end of Pink Lloyd to date. He's never run in a stakes race but enters the race off a win in his second start back from 11 months off.

Dixie's Gamble has won six of nine races when Pink Lloyd wasn't in the race, including the Overskate Stakes last fall but he has been soundly defeated in four confrontations with the likely favorite. Similarly, Eskiminzin has been defeated in all five matchups against Pink Lloyd and has won six times from 26 other races. Roaring Forties has finished fourth and seventh behind Pink Lloyd this year and was fifth in the Grade 3 Durham Cup Stakes in his most recent start.

Ride a Comet may be the right horse to end Pink Lloyd's perfect four-for-four streak this year. This talented horse won five of his first 10 races, including the Del Mar Derby in September, 2018, defeating multiple stakes winner River Boyne in the process. With whatever put him on the sidelines from that race until his comeback last month behind him, Ride a Comet returned in extraordinary fashion with a visually impressive effort that saw him go from seventh and six lengths behind the leader on the turn to the front of the field by the eighth pole. Considering he was ridden out to victory, it appears there's a lot of gas left in the tank and logically the horse should improve markedly second off the layoff.

Since that race, Ride a Comet has put in three exceptional workouts at Woodbine including one which was the second best of 41 on the day. When he won the Del Mar Derby at the end of his three year old season, Ride a Comet earned a 110 Equibase Speed Figure which is comparable to the 111 figure Pink Lloyd earned winning this race in 2019, and therefore Ride a Comet gets top billing.

Silent Poet and leading Woodbine jockey Justin Stein should be able to take advantage of an otherwise paceless race and go to the front easily at the start of the race. Silent Poet has earned nearly all of his wins when leading or pressing the pace in second from the start, including his last two races. The first of the two was an allowance race with a stakes level $100,000 purse and the second was the Nearctic Stakes at this distance on grass. Those efforts yielded 103 and 104 figures which, with slight improvement, put Silent Poet in the thick of the action down to the wire in the Kennedy Road. I'm not concerned about his duplicating those efforts on the main track as he was second in the Sir Barton Stakes the last time he ran on the main track at Woodbine.

Pink Lloyd's accomplishments speak for themselves, as he's dominated the sprint stakes ranks at Woodbine for many years. With streaks of five in a row in 2019 and five in a row coming into this race, including all four races this year, he's proven to have an attitude about winning which matches his ability. Pink Lloyd was second in the 2016 edition of this race, won it in 2017, skipped it in 2018 and won it again in 2019. Still, except for last year's Kennedy Road in which he earned a 111 figure, his four wins this year earned 103, 102, 92 and 101 figures, which aren't dominant in any way when compared against Ride a Comet (99 last race and 110 before the layoff), Silent Poet (104 last race) and Souper Stonehenge (102 last race). All three of those horses have never faced Pink Lloyd previously and all appear to be as capable of winning as the likely betting favorite. That's not to say Pink Lloyd can't rise to the occasion and win just as he's done time and time again.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures in a similar race, is Dixie's Gamble (105), Eskiminzin (98), Roaring Forties (93) and Souper Stonehenge (102).

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Ride a Comet
Silent Poet
Pink Lloyd

Kennedy Road Stakes – Grade 2
Race 9 at Woodbine
Saturday, November 21 – Post Time 5:28 PM E.T.
Six Furlongs on All-Weather
3-Year-Olds and Upward
Purse: $175,000

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Gonzalez, whose wife, assistant trainer Martha Gonzalez, recently passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer, watched Silent Poet, bred and owned by Stronach Stables, put on a show over six furlongs on a “good” E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

It was Silent Poet who was ushered immediately to the front by Stein in the Nearctic, the 5-year-old son of Silent Name (JPN) engaged quickly by last year's winner City Boy.

The front-running pair took the field of eight (Reconfigure was scratched) through an opening quarter-mile carved out in :23.65. Blind Ambition, in third, and Kanthaka, in fourth, tracked the pacesetting duo.

Silent Poet and City Boy continued their front-end battle through a half-mile clip timed in :46.16. The two continued to go head-to-head around the final turn as their rivals endeavored to keep them in their sights.

As the field straightened for home, it became a two-horse race for all the spoils with Silent Poet to the inside and City Boy to the outside, both digging in for the final push to the wire.

After almost every step of the 1,320 yards run, Silent Poet came out on top a half-length winner in a time of 1:08.57. City Boy finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Kanthaka, who fended off Olympic Runner by a neck for third.

In the last strides, announcer Robert Geller exclaimed, “This one's for you, Martha.”

“It has a lot of meaning,” said Stein, who is enjoying a fruitful 2020 season. “People watching on the outside might not understand, but the family here, the community at Woodbine, I'm sure they were cheering big for this horse for reasons that we all know.”

Stein, who has eclipsed the 100-win mark on the campaign, knew just what to expect from Silent Poet at the beginning of the Nearctic and at the end.

“He just leaves the gate so quick. He hits his stride right away. With a horse like that you get position and just slow him down, save as much horse as you can, and he does the rest. He loves his job, and when you ask him to run, he just gives you everything. He tows you down the lane.”

The win was the fourth from five starts in 2020 for the ultra-consistent dark bay, who now sports a record of 10-4-2 from 18 career starts.

Silent Poet now has three graded titles to his name having won this year's Connaught Cup (G2T) and the 2019 running of the Play the King (G2T).

He launched his career on August 25, 2017, finishing second in his debut before going to win his next two starts the following year.

Silent Poet paid $5.40, $3.70 and $2.80. The 5-8 exactor with City Boy ($10.60, $5.20) returned $51.60 and the 5-8-2 triactor with Kanthaka ($3.20 to show) paid $187.70. Olympic Runner completed a 5-8-2-9 superfecta worth $378.10 for $1.

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The $250,000 Nearctic goes as the ninth of 11 races on a program headlined by the $600,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) and $300,000 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes (G1T). The $100,000 Display Stakes, a seven-furlong main track event for two-year-olds, goes as race 10. First race post time is 1:10 p.m.

Multiple stakes winner Silent Poet, a five-year-old son of Silent Name (JPN), has won three of his past four races.

Bred and owned by Stronach Stables, Silent Poet kicked off his current campaign with an allowance score on June 11. The Ontario-bred took the Connaught Cup Stakes (G2T) next time out, then finished third in the King Edward Stakes (G2T) on August 15.

The Nicholas Gonzalez trainee, who has finished in the top three in 12 of his 13 past starts, heads into the Nearctic off a sharp score on September 27, a 1 ¾-length win over 6 ½ furlongs on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

“He always goes out there and gives you everything he has,” said Gonzalez, of the 2019 Play the King Stakes (G2T) winner. “Even if he's beaten, it never seems to be by much. He's a very versatile horse.”

And a contented one too.

“'Poet' is such a happy horse right now… spoiled with grass and clover, mints and carrots,” shared Gonzalez. “He loves his job and that makes mine so much easier.”

Silent Poet, who has assembled a 9-4-2 record from 17 starts, faces a group of rivals that includes multiple graded stakes placed Blind Ambition, last year's Nearctic winner City Boy, graded stakes champ Guildsman, graded stakes victor Kanthaka, and Royal North Stakes (G2) winner Lady Grace.

City Boy, bred and co-owned by the late Gustav Schickedanz, returned $50.70 for his upset win in the 2019 Nearctic. Trainer Mike Keogh notched his second Nearctic title, having taken the 1999 renewal with Clever Response.

$250,000 Nearctic Stakes (Grade 2) – Race 9

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Reconfigure – Skye Chernetz – Robert Tiller

2 – Kanthaka – Luis Contreras – Graham Motion

3 – Blind Ambition – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

4 – Guildsman – Rafael Hernandez – Brendan Walsh

5 – Silent Poet – Justin Stein – Nicholas Gonzalez

6 – Lady Grace – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

7 – Vanbrugh – Daisuke Fukumoto – Brad Cox

8 – City Boy – David Moran – Mike Keogh

9 – Olympic Runner – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

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The Nick Gonzalez trainee defeated his main opponent in the seven-furlong feature contested on the outer turf, which was listed as soft as a result of recent rainy weather in the Toronto area.

With regular rider Gary Boulanger sidelined due to a training injury, Justin Stein picked up the mount and was impressed with the 5-year-old gelding he had confronted in the past.

“I was really excited to ride him. He definitely showed me his stuff,” said Stein. “When I rode against him, I was on Cooler Mike, and we rolled right up to him like we were going to drive on by and Silent Poet looked at us and laughed, kind of like what he did today.”

Stein said the eight-time winner had the same attitude here, testing Admiralty Pier all the way. “Just so much heart, unbelievable.” 

Silent Poet battled on top with Admiralty Pier through panels of :23.07 and :45.70, with City Boy and Gray's Fable stalking the dueling leaders all the way into the stretch. The top pair pulled ahead, and the slugfest continued down the lane, with Silent Poet ultimately persevering by half a length in 1:23.62.

Blind Ambition finished 4-3/4 lengths behind Admiralty Pier, just edging out Olympic Runner for the show prize, while City Boy and Gray's Fable rounded out the order. The field was reduced to six with the scratches of White Flag and Regally Irish.

“With a speedy horse like [Silent Poet] and another speed horse on the outside – we got the one-hole – you're committed to a very forward position,” said Stein of his front-running strategy. “It depends on how bad the other horses wanted it, but I talked to Nick and he told me the horse was really easy to ride, according to Gary Boulanger, and that gave me the confidence I needed. I saw the horse run a bunch of times and he's a pro.”

Winner of the Grade 2 Play the King Stakes last year, Silent Poet was sent postward as the 7-5 favourite and returned $4.90 to win. After wintering at Palm Meadows, he entered the Connaught Cup fresh off a victory in a 7-1/2-furlong prep on the inner turf when making his June 11 season's debut.

The consistent son of Silent Name out of Cara Bella has missed the board just twice in his 15-race career. Today's victory boosted his bankroll over the $550,000 mark. 

Stein also won the Connaught Cup in 2014 with Ian Black trainee Excaper.

Live Thoroughbred racing continues, without spectators, on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack with post time for the first of 11 races set for 1 p.m.

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