KINGSTON, Jamaica - Speechless, an industrious looking chestnut filly raised her voice, not to a crescendo, but loud enough to be heard when she removed her maiden tag with a smooth 10-length victory in a Maiden Condition event going five furlongs (1000 metres) round on Saturday at Caymanas Park.
Trained by Gary Crawford for owners M&S Syndicate and ridden by jockey Robert Halledeen, the chestnut filly, who was bred in utero by Glen Mills, was running for the second time and established her dominance from the off. Speechless was never challenged at any stage of this encounter.
When the winning post arrived, Speechless had already careened her eight rivals in a time 1:01.2 to reply to her three-parts of a length, narrow lost to Suasion in her opening salvo on December 19, 2019.
Speechless by Chitu - Fast Action by Monbrook went off as the 1-5 favourite and was followed back to the line by the 23/1 chance Redford ridden by Reyan Lewis, Rashid at 28/1 with Conrod Ellis up was third with Big Big Daddy at odds of 5/2 ridden by Anthony Thomas finishing fourth.
Trainer Crawford, responding to the filly’s win, said: “What pleased me most is how she won. Speechless won nicely and impressively but judging from a time aspect, it was not as good as she can perform but she was not running against anybody and she is still not ready for fierce competition. I am still taking my time in bringing her along. They were all maidens, so there was no need to rush her as racehorses need time to develop.”
Crawford, who has been in the racing game for a long time starting with his father Fitz, gave some of his thoughts on conditioning horses.
“Never you force a racehorse. Let them (horses) take their time. This is how I have been patient with Speechless in her development. She seems to have good ability and patience is the operative word when they are this young,” the second-generation trainer pointed out.
The sire of Speechless, Chitu , serves for US$4,500 per live foal in Ocala, Florida, USA.
