HALLANDALE BEACH - Led by such turf standouts as Memories of Silver, Wonder Again, Winter Memories and champion Soaring Softly, trainer Jimmy Toner has enjoyed many special winner’s circle moments over the past seven decades, but his latest might just top them all.

    Joseph Allen’s 7-year-old Siege of Boston, the star of Toner’s modest six-horse stable, split horses in mid-stretch and surged past multiple stakes winner Tank approaching the wire to register a half-length victory in Sunday’s $70,000 Empire Builder overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park, giving the 86-year-old trainer his career 900th win.

    Ridden for the first time by Samy Camacho, Siege of Boston ($7.40) bested six rivals for his sixth career win and first in a stakes, including favored dual Grade 3 winner Making the Cut and multiple stakes winner Prevent in the Empire Builder for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile on the grass. The winning time was 1:33.37 over a firm turf course.

    It was the third starter for Toner since he earned win No. 899 July 5 at Gulfstream with Team of Rivals. He has first-time starter Citizen of London, a 3-year-old Allen homebred, entered in Monday’s finale.  “I feel pretty good right now,” Toner said, flanked by his son, James, and grandsons Stephen, 9, and Charles, 7. “When he got to the wire it was pretty exciting. I’m a little emotional about it now, especially when you have family here with you. It’s pretty special.”

    The Empire Builder was Siege of Boston’s 30th lifetime start, the last 28 coming since joining Toner in the summer of 2022. The bay son of War Front had three seconds and four thirds in 15 prior stakes attempts with three Gr. III placings, including runner-up by a half-length in Gulfstream’s 2024 Canadian Turf. Toner’s last stakes win came in the 2019 Caress at Saratoga with Monimou. 

    “I think it’s pretty neat because this is one of the first horses I got from Joe Allen four years ago. He’s hung in there pretty good since,” Toner said. “It was nice to get it with him, too.”

    Tank set the pace along the rail pressed by Private Thoughts through a quarter mile in 23.57 seconds with 16-1 longshot Prevent and Indecisiveness dueling for third and Siege of Boston settled in behind. The half went in 47 seconds with Camacho and Siege of Boston wedging up between Prevent and Indecisiveness trailing the top two.

    Siege of Boston rounded the far turn with plenty of energy and Camacho looking for room, which came as the field straightened out for home.

    “The horse was doing good,” Toner said. “I thought a mile might be a little short, but [Camacho] rode a beautiful race on him. I told him to stay inside and save ground and when you get to the backside get outside, because he runs his best races outside. He couldn’t have done it any better. Siege of Boston hit a seam between Private Thoughts and Indecisiveness and set his sights on Tank, coming with a steady run to reel in the pacesetter in his first start since a May 30 win at Laurel Park.”

    Tank stayed up for second, 1 ½ lengths ahead of late-running I Know I Know, followed by Missed the Cut, Indecisiveness, Prevent and Private Thoughts.

            “It was pretty exciting,” Toner said. “We got the best turned out [award before the race] and usually what happens when we get the best turned out is, we lose. When they gave it to us, I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ But it worked out good.”



            Toner began working on the backstretch as a teenage hotwalker in the 1950s, running his first horses in 1960. Since that time he has won 54 graded-stakes, 15 of them Grade 1, and banked more than $36.5 million in purse earnings. Among those graded wins are Soaring Softly in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), held at Gulfstream, and 2008 Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) with Sir Whimsey.



Toner is best known for his success with turf fillies, among them Grade 1 millionaires Soaring Softly, the champion grass female of 1999; Memories of Silver, Wonder Again and Memories of Silver’s daughter, Winter Memories, as well as Grade 1 winner Time and Motion, an earner of nearly $968,

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