Gulfstream News & Notes: Silent Heart Set for Stakes Debut in $200,000 Colonel Liam

By David Joseph —-

Silent Heart; Ryan Thompson Photo
March 1, 2024

Gulfstream News & Notes

Silent Heart Set for Stakes Debut in $200,000 Colonel Liam

Multiple Stakes Winner Congruent Ends Layoff in San Cristobal

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Terry Hamilton’s homebred Silent Heart, riding a two-race win streak, looks to make it three in a row and join his sire, Heart to Heart, as a stakes winner at Gulfstream Park when he faces eight rivals in Saturday’s $200,000 Colonel Liam.

The Colonel Liam for 3-year-olds, scheduled for one mile on the turf, is the first of nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.85 million in purses on a blockbuster 14-race program anchored by the $400,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2), the last local prep for the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) March 30.

Silent Heart will be making his stakes debut in the Colonel Liam, named for the back-to-back winner of Gulfstream’s Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) in 2021 and 2022. After running second in a pair of maiden special weights in the Midwest to open his career, one each on grass and dirt, Silent Heart graduated by 2 ¼ lengths sprinting five furlongs on the Gulfstream turf Dec. 7.

In his subsequent start, Silent Heart was a popular half-length winner racing on the all-weather Tapeta for the first time when the five-furlong optional claiming allowance was moved off the turf.

“It’s a step up into the stakes category,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “I’m very protective of that sire. I want his progeny to do well, so I wouldn’t throw him in there if I didn’t think he’d fit. I really think he’s a nice little horse in the making and I’m excited about running.”

Lynch was particularly pleased about Silent Heart’s last race, one where he overcame crowding on the turn into the homestretch after being outsprinted for the lead by Esperon before dropping in behind the pacesetter through sizzling fractions of 20.85 and 43.35 seconds. Needing to find room, jockey Luis Saez eased Silent Heart off the rail and split horses to beat a stubborn Esperon in a final time of 55.42 seconds.

“I thought he was game. He chased a fast, fast pace and finished with plenty of interest,” Lynch said. “He’s starting to show the heart of his father.”

Heart to Heart, also owned by Hamilton and trained by Lynch, was a multiple Grade 1 winner of more than $2 million in purses who dominated on the turf at Gulfstream between 2016 and 2018 including a victory in the 2018 Gulfstream Park Turf (G1), predecessor to the Pegasus Turf. Silent Heart is his most successful offspring to date.

“We talked about if he could be a bit of a clown like his dad,” Lynch said. “He certainly doesn’t look like him, but he certainly has the heart.”

Lynch has enjoyed an outstanding Championship Meet at Gulfstream, ranking sixth with 18 wins from just 61 starters, a 30 percent success rate. His most recent came Feb. 25 with second-time starter Hello Hollywood, a 3-year-old daughter of Oscar Performance. Lynch trained Oscar Performance to eight wins, four in Grade 1 stakes, and $2.3 million in purses earned from 2016-18.

“I’ve been training these Oscar babies and Heart to Heart babies,” he said. “It lets you know you’re getting older, but I guess it shows you you’ve done a little good in the game.”

Other contenders in the Colonel Liam include Tocayo, winner of the one-mile Dania Beach Jan. 6 and third in the 1 1/16-mile Kitten’s Joy (G3) Feb. 3, both over the Gulfstream turf; Freedom Principle, winner of the 2023 Armed Forces on Gulfstream’s Tapeta Nov. 4; and stakes-placed Triple Espresso, a last-out maiden winner at Gulfstream from the barn of Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who also trained Colonel Liam.

could bring us back to some of the big races we always want to be in.’”

For the Flag Makes Return to Races in G3 Honey Fox

Late last summer, trainer Jimmy Toner’s instincts kicked in. Told it was time to give For the Flag a break, he relied on his 64 years of experience on the racetrack and paid heed to those inner feelings.

Saturday, he hopes that pays off when For the Flag returns to the races after 25-plus weeks away.

For the Flag, owned and bred by Joseph Allen, runs in the $150,000 Honey Fox (G3) going one mile on the grass on the undercard of Gulfstream Park’s Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) program.

When last seen, the 5-year-old mare finished second in the One Dreamer at Kentucky Downs Sept. 7. It was her fifth race of the year, all of them coming at different tracks. She also made stops at Gulfstream, Keeneland, Belmont Park and Ellis Park.

“She ran at all these different tracks, and it took something out of her,” Toner said. “We needed to get her back to her old self again. We didn’t run her in the fall. We just wanted to give her a real good freshening.”

For the Flag had three wins and two seconds last year. She does her best running on the front end.

Toner has had success with the distaff set before. Among those that have called his shedrow home over the years include Memories of Silver, Wonder Again, Soaring Softly and Winter Memories. All of them were Grade 1 winners, all of them retired as million-dollar earners.

The Honey Fox will be the first time For the Flag has run in stakes company.

“We want to get some black type in her,” Toner said. “That is why we are starting off in this spot. She does things so easily. I think she is a top-quality horse. I have had some nice fillies in my time, and she could rank up there with some of them.”

For the Flag started her career in the barn of Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey. After three starts, For the Flag was out for 15 months before resurfacing in Toner’s barn.

“She was in good order,” he said. “I didn’t know much about her but as we started to train her, we realized that this filly was ok. The more we worked her, the more we opened our eyes. We thought she could be a good filly and it turns out she is.”

Walsh Pleased with Outside Post for Gilmore in G2 GP Mile

Despite having his horse break from outside each of his rivals, trainer Brendan Walsh has no problem with the post position assigned to his 4-year-old colt Gilmore in the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The son of Twirling Candy, to be ridden by jockey Tyler Gaffalione for the first time, will begin from outermost Post 8.

“That’s a good draw for us,” Walsh said, “I think the outside will work to his advantage. Hopefully, he can get away from there and be as up close as he can to the pace. The one-turn mile at Gulfstream should suit him.”

Walsh expects a turnaround from Gilmore on Saturday. When last seen in the Fred Hooper (G3) at Gulfstream Jan. 27, the grey colt was never a factor. After being bumped at the start, he encountered traffic trouble. End of story.

Owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan, Gilmore was a late-running second in the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector (G3) at Gulfstream Dec. 23.

“He ran very well in the Mr. Prospector,” Walsh said. “Once he had two horses pinched in front of him [in the Fred Hooper], he was dead in the water.”

Gilmore has two wins, three seconds and three thirds in 12 career starts, all but two coming on the main track. Seven of his last eight starts have been against graded competition. He hasn’t won any of them but ran second in the Mr. Prospector and Bay Shore (G3) at Aqueduct and third in the Woody Stephens (G1) at Belmont and Pat Day Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs.

Multiple Stakes Winner Congruent Ends Layoff in San Cristobal

Tami Bobo and Lugamo Racing Stable’s multiple stakes winner Congruent ends a nine-month break between races in his return to Gulfstream Park and first start for Championship Meet-leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. in Saturday’s $100,000 San Cristobal overnight handicap.

The San Cristobal for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the all-weather Tapeta course is followed by nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.85 million in purses on a blockbuster 14-race program headlined by the $400,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2).

Congruent has gone unraced in 274 days since finishing sixth in the 1 1/8-mile Pennine Ridge (G2) on the Belmont Park turf last June 3, his lone race for trainer Chad Brown. Prior to that the 4-year-old Tapit colt won three of 10 starts for Gulfstream-based Antonio Sano.

Two of Congruent’s wins came in stakes – the off-the-turf Laurel Futurity going one mile at Laurel Park in October 2022 and 1 1/16-mile John Battaglia Memorial on Turfway Park’s all-weather surface last March. The Laurel Futurity launched Congruent to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), where he ran eighth, while the Battaglia earned him a date in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), running sixth before changing barns.

Congruent has breezed 10 times at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, since Dec. 23 for his return. His last two have been standouts, both on the grass – five furlongs in 59.45 seconds Feb. 16, fastest of 23 horses, and a half-mile in 45.60 Feb. 23, ranking first of 67 horses.

“Saffie is positive about him,” Lugamo’s Luis Gavagnano said. “I think he is in good shape. He needed the time off. We decided to send him to Tami’s farm after his last race. We still think he is a very good horse and we are looking forward to his comeback race.”

Edgard Zayas, aboard for Congruent’s August 2022 maiden victory at Gulfstream, has the riding assignment from Post 9 of 10. They are rated the third choice at 4-1 on the morning line.

The narrow 3-1 program favorite is Raroma Stable’s Skyro, who owns two wins, one second and one third in five tries over the Gulfstream Tapeta. Winner of the 1 1/16-mile Sabal Palm Dec. 2, the 6-year-old gelding was most recently third by a half-length in the one-mile, 70-yard Carousel Club Jan. 27 on the undercard of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series.

Rockemperor, who captured the 2021 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) and 2022 Bowling Green (G2) on the grass, and stakes winners Armstrong, Lure Him In and Legacy Isle are also among the entrants.

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