Silverkode

Silverkode put up another nice performance to win the seven-furlong handicap at The Curragh on Saturday.

Settled towards the rear of the field through the early stages of the race by Gary Carroll, Joe Murphy’s horse travelled nicely through his race but he had plenty of horses in front of him at the three-furlong pole as the pace started to pick up. His rider half explored a route up the inside rail on the run to the two-furlong marker but, when it was obvious that that would be a precarious passage, he moved off the rail towards the centre of the track. Gary Carroll obviously felt that he had enough horse under him to take him off the rail, and he did. Silverkode picked up nicely in the centre and, no better than sixth passing the furlong pole, he finished off his race really strongly to get up and win by a length from St Brelades Bay, with Fior Cliste just behind in third.

It was a nice performance by Joe Murphy’s horse in a race in which the pace held up well. He and Fior Cliste both came from the rear of the field, but he had to come even from even further back than Jim Bolger’s horse did.

Unraced as a juvenile, the Kodiac gelding was completing a hat-trick here on just his fourth ever run. Winner of his maiden over five furlongs on soft ground at The Curragh in mid-June, he stepped up on that when he stepped up in trip to seven furlongs back at The Curragh on Derby weekend, when he stayed on strongly to beat Severus by a neck in a four-way dash for the line. The form of that race is working out well with runner-up Severus and fourth-placed Elusive Time have both having come out and won since. The handicapper raised Silvercode by 4lb for that win to a mark of 88, but he made light of his new mark on Saturday.

The handicapper has raised him by another 9lb for this win to a mark of 97, but that is still a mark off which he will be interesting in a better handicap. He is lightly raced and he is seriously progressive. There could still be more to come, and he would be well worth his place in a listed or Group 3 race.

29^th July 2017