Silver Could Take Step Forward On Soft At Thirsk

Last weekend was a poor one for the blog, with neither horse making the frame. We will never know how Dream Of Dream's might have got on, but the main thing is that he lives to fight another day. I didn't think Fun Mac ran all that badly in the Ebor given that he was slowly away and was forced to challenge from much further back than ideal. He kept on pretty well though, I thought, and back up in trip he will be of definite interest on his next couple of starts.

I have been struggling to find a selection worth putting up this week, and luckily enough the horses that were under consideration all ran poorly. However, there is a very interesting filly going in the fillies maiden at Thirsk at 2.20, and with the ground currently described as soft she could well take a big step forward on the form she has shown so far.

Silver Gleam is a 2yo filly by Zoffany and she is out of a Dalakhani mare that was beaten a length on her only start as a 2yo. She won on good ground over a mile at Leopardstown as a 3yo, but her best form came when placed in successive handicaps on easy ground. Her half brother was a soft ground listed winner as a 2yo (9f soft), so there is no shortage of speed in her pedigree.

Her sire, Zoffany, was a horse that handled all types of ground, but his progeny have a much better strike rate on an easier surface. He is 25% on heavy and 22% on soft, almost double the strike rates of 13% on good and 10% on good to firm. So, as you can see, Silver Gleam is a filly that is not only bred to be a 2yo, she is also bred to relish a bit of cut underfoot.

As for her two races so far, well her debut at Doncaster (7f gd/fm) was when she first caught my eye and she ran better than her finishing position suggests. First of all she was slowly away, and secondly she was green as grass and she was looking around her as Allan pushed her out inside the final furlong.

Having been held up in rear she showed a nice bit of acceleration to slice through the field, and at one stage she looked like she might challenge for a place. I think it was greenness rather than a lack of stamina that caused her effort to flatten out, and she faded into 8th.  However, Allan wasn't overly hard on her in the closing stages, as he likely had other days in mind.

She was stepped up to a mile last time out, again on good to firm at Doncaster, and Cam Hardie came in for the ride. I was surprised to see that jockey booking, and that is the reason I didn't put her up on the blog. She was ridden very differently, pulling hard and up with the pace, and unsurprisingly she finished out with the washing.

Allan comes back in for the ride today, and it is interesting that he prefers this filly to Easterby's other entry, who will be ridden by Rachel Richardson. Even more interestingly Allan rode Anythingknappen on her first two runs, and as stable jockey he surely had the pick. That filly is by Arcano, and his progeny are usually fast ground types.

The rest of the field have it all to prove on soft too, and for this reason I think Silver Gleam could sneak a place. Now obviously it could be the case that she is just out to qualify for her handicap mark, and for that reason stakes should be kept to a minimum. However, odds of 40/1 are too juicy to resist, and from a more than decent draw in stall 3 I reckon she is worth chancing each way.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 2.20 THIRSK-SILVER GLEAM E/W 40/1