NYRA/Coglianese Photo

Tale of Silence wins first career stakes in blanket finish in G3 Westchester

by Brian Bohl

Charles Fipke's Tale of Silence made a strong stretch-drive move up the rail, capturing a thrilling blanket finish with three challengers a head apart to win the 90th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester for 4-year-olds and up in the last of three stakes on Saturday, Kentucky Derby Day, at Belmont Park.

Tale of Silence stayed off the pace in the five-horse field as Conquest Big E surged to the front with a quarter-mile in 22.91 seconds and the half in 45.92 with 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing and multiple Grade 3 winner Tommy Macho giving chase.

Out of the turn, jockey Dylan Davis moved Tale of Silence to the inside, gaining ground on a dueling Cloud Computing and Tommy Macho while Vulcan's Forge continued to challenge from the outside. The foursome nearly hit the wire simultaneously, with Tale of Silence eking out a victory by a nose over Vulcan's Forge in completing one mile in 1:36.14.

"In the last couple jumps, I thought I had it," Davis said. "I did a little fist bump when I just got up. We just let him break out of there, let him come out there running across the chute and let him get comfortable. I just let him get into his own stride because it was hot up front. I knew he was comfortable. He was just going his own way. He got into stride, switched leads and picked it up a little bit. I was inching him along and just using him [in the turn]. Turning for home, there was a big gap down on the inside and he shot right through it. He paid it no mind. He knew what he had to do today."

Tale of Silence won for the first time in seven starts and posted his career stakes win for trainer Barclay Tagg. The Tale of the Cat colt, who was returning to stakes company after finishing third against allowance company last out on March 9 at Gulfstream Park, has finished on the board in five of his last six races. All three of his career wins have come on Belmont's Big Sandy.

"He's never had a bad problem or anything like that, but he likes this track," Tagg said. "He likes the big, wide turn. I don't think he likes tight turns. One mile, one turn is his game, and this track is so big, he's got a lot of freedom, he just doesn't like tight turns, but he got it today."

Off at 12-1, Tale of Silence paid $26.60 on a $2 win bet, improving his career earnings to $376,272.

Vulcan's Forge, trained by Todd Pletcher, finished a nose ahead of stablemate Tommy Macho for second while Tommy Macho was a head apart from Cloud Computing to finish on the board.

Conquest Big E rounded out the field while Moe Trouble was a late scratch.

Earlier in the card, Chilean-bred Robert Bruce won the Grade 3, $150,00 Fort Marcy in Race 10, triggering a Pick 6 carryover of $44,298 heading into Sunday's slate at Belmont.

A consolation payout of $1,969 was awarded to bettors who had five of six winners.

Live racing at Belmont will resume Sunday with the Pick 6 starting with Race 5 at approximately 3:41 p.m. First post is at 1:30 p.m. Gates open at 11:30 a.m.

Wagering on the Pick 6 is available through NYRA Bets, on-track, at Belmont Café, as well as simulcast facilities across the country.