Adding to an already moving and wonderful day for fans at the Queen’s Plate, SILENT POET‘S upset win in the Grade 1 Highlander Stakes left nary a dry eye among the racing community. Stronach Stables’ Ontario-bred son of Silent Name (Jpn) is trained by Nick Gonzalez whose wife, Martha, passed away last year at the age of 58 from cancer. The Highlander was Gonzalez’s first Grade 1 win and first win of the season.
Silent Poet, showing a new dimension after disappointing front-running tries in his first two starts this year, rallied from just off the pace and held off an onrushing Admiralty Pier to capture the $395,500 Highlander by a diminishing half-length with Justin Stein aboard. (Watch the race replay here.)