LRL: Keefe hoping added ground the key for Code of Silence
Saturday’s Private Terms continues local route to Preakness
Frank Vespe
March 19, 2026
Patience has been the name of the game thus far for trainer Tim Keefe with his sophomore Code of Silence.
He’ll face his biggest test to date in Saturday’s $100,000, 1 1/16-mile Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park. It’s Maryland’s next step on the road to the Preakness, and it’s the first of those steps around two turns. A Maryland-bred 3-year-old gelding by Blofeld, Code of Silence is the standard bearer for owner-breeder Mary and Ken Holt’s Mount Peru Farm.
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Code of Silence has won two of seven starts, highlighted by a determined score in the Maryland Juvenile Stakes in December, and has been in the money in four others. But it’s not just what he’s done that has Keefe intrigued; it’s how he’s done it.
“He’s just done everything right,” Keefe said. “He’s moved forward with every step. We’ve been very patient and slow with him, and he’s done really everything we’ve asked him.”
Keefe gives credit to the Holts for their patience, likening it to that shown by the late Arnold Heft with his star, Eightttofasttocatch. Eightttofasttocatch, who retired a millionaire in 2014 at age eight, did not win a stake until he was five but went on to win a dozen added-money events, including three editions of the Maryland Million Classic.
“Arnie was always very patient, and Arnie never pushed me to run him in races that he wasn’t ready for,” Keefe said. “And I always attribute that horse’s success to having been owned by Arnold, because Arnie just said, ‘Just do what you need to do with the horse. If you think he’s got talent, you think you can get it out? I’m not in any hurry. Take your time.’ And Ken and Mary are the same way with this horse.”
Code of Silence does make you wait for it. Usually outfooted early – and occasionally struggling to get out of the gate — he tends to lag behind before producing a sustained run through the stretch. That was evident again in his most recent start, a rallying third in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Stakes Feb. 4.
The race followed a familiar script—trouble leaving the gate, some urging from jockey Angel Cruz on the turn, and then a strong late kick that came just a bit too late. Cruz has the return mount Saturday.
“He just has a hard time getting out of the gate and getting himself rolling,” Keefe explained. “But he does have a pretty quick turn of foot toward the last quarter.”
In each of his last two starts, the combination of Code of Silence’s early sluggishness and moderate paces have left him up against it. But rather than fight that style, Keefe and Cruz have leaned into it and are hoping for a different scenario to develop Saturday.
“I don’t want to take him out of his game,” Keefe said. “If we have a good, quick early pace, coming from off the pace and just grinding it out—that’s our hope.”
If Code of Silence has hinted at potential in sprints and one-turn races, his connections believe the real story will unfold with more distance—starting in Saturday’s $100,000 Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park.
The 1 1/16-mile test will mark his first try around two turns, something Keefe has been targeting for months.
“I’ve been anxious to get him around two turns,” he said. “He’s a big horse… and I think he’ll be a little bit closer early, but still running his race.”
The added ground could be key. Even in shorter races, Code of Silence has consistently been strongest late; his TimeformUS late pace figure of 88 is the highest in the Private Terms.
Keefe said he has made only minor modifications to Code of Silence’s training regimen. The gelding has made a pair of five-furlong moves since the Spectacular Bid, most recently going the distance in 1:01 3/5.
“His work the other day was five-eighths, but really it was three-quarters because we worked him out to the mile pole,” Keefe noted. “So I do a little bit farther distance, but he’s got a great bottom on him. He’s going to go forever.”
Code of Silence’s pedigree offers further encouragement. His half-brother Tattooed, by Etched, was a durable, late-developing runner who won a stakes race and earned just over $400,000 across 37 starts. That stakes win came in his six-year-old season.
But Keefe sees a different trajectory here.
“This horse has progressed a lot earlier than Tattooed,” he said. “He’s obviously eclipsed what we had hoped when he first came in.”
That early progression, combined with his physical presence, suggests there may be more upside still untapped.
The Private Terms is part of a larger plan. Keefe and the Holts have mapped out a path that could lead to bigger stages later this spring.
A solid outing in the Private Terms would point Code of Silence towards the Federico Tesio Stakes April 18. And a good effort there could… well, it is Preakness Preview day after all.
“There’s no reason not to take this as our as our next stop in the ultimate quest for a race on Preakness day,” Keefe said. “Whether that’s Preakness, that’s a huge long shot, but you’ve got to reach for the stars sometimes.”
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