NEWS
Silver Whistle wears down pacesetter Ramazutti to win Pan American
Posted: Saturday, April 01, 2006
Silver Whistle used a determined stretch run to get past Ramazutti in the final strides and earn his first graded stakes win in the $150,000 Pan American Handicap (G3) on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Stretching out to 1 1/2 miles for the first time, Silver Whistle dug deep after entering the stretch in second, a half-length behind Ramazutti, the runner-up who saved ground while setting the pace.
"It took him all the way to the wire to finally win one of these," Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. "He had a nice trip inside. We knew he would be able to step up to this level of competition."
Silver Whistle rallied to win in 2:24.35 on firm turf after dropping back to fourth, more than 1 1/2 lengths behind Ramazutti, one mile into the race. Jockey Edgar Prado and Silver Whistle quickly closed ground and moved up on the outside of Ramazutti, the leader by a half-length in early stretch.
Go Deputy rallied from last in a field of eight to finish third, two lengths behind Ramazutti.
"It worked out great," Prado said. "I was able to stay behind the speed and bide my time. So it worked out beautiful because I was able to run down [Ramazutti] the last part of it."
Stronach Stables's Silver Whistle earned consecutive runner-up finishes in the '05 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2) and Pan American Handicap (G3). The son of Alphabet Soup is out of the Polish Numbers mare Polish Polka.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
