After a superb stretch run involving four horses in a ding-dong battle, Silent Mission, under a well-timed ride from jockey Omar Walker, got up in the nick of time to beat rivals in the native-bred three-year-olds (non-winners of two)/imported three-year-old and upwards (maiden) Restricted Allowance II (fillies and mares) contest at Caymanas Park yesterday.

Bred by Savoy Stomp out of the Shuffling Madness mare Lady Mandi, the Classic-placed Silent Mission got the better of Alexa’s Secret, A Gift From Ben, and Thirtyonekisses, in that order, by a neck in a titanium tussle to the wire in the six-furlong (1,200m) event, the main attraction on the trophyless nine-race card.

Trained by current leading conditioner Jason DaCosta, Silent Mission, running with both the blinkers and figure-8 off sat in midpack at the off and allowed Berlino’s Choice (Samantha Fletcher), A Gift From Ben (Dick Cardenas), and Alexa’s Dream (Chris Mamdeen) to set the early fractions of the race, bouncing along in 23.1 and 47.2.

Navigating the half-mile (800m), Silent Mission slowly got into groove and made up ground on the field horse as the top four continued to alternate on the front end. Turning for home, Walker positioned his mount on the inside rails as Silent Mission made up ground while challenging A Gift From Ben, Thirtyonekisses, and Alexa’s Secret for control.

With none of the four runners giving up, a battle for supremacy then developed, but Walker kept his mount well-balanced on the inside of runners and Silent Mission responded well and got up for the win at the wire. Silent Mission, who is owned by Busy Racing Stables, won the contest in a time of 1:14.0.

It was the second winner on the card for DaCosta as he saddled Thegoodlife (Chris Mamdeen) in the opening event, also over six furlongs.

Racing continues at the weekend with races on Saturday and Sunday.