John Smith's Silver Cup Stakes Guide 2021

A Sea The Stars colt for Owen Burrows, Hukum was very lightly raced as a 2 year old before bursting onto the scene with an impressive performance to win the King George V at Royal Ascot last year.

He took group 3 honours at Newbury after that and looked a solid 12 furlong horse.
Moved up in trip for the St Leger, he was very well backed in the market but couldn’t go with the principles and finished a respectable 5th place.

Experimenting with distance saw him well beaten over 10 furlongs at Sandown on reappearance behind Waldkonig but he bounced back to form with a listed win over a mile and half at Goodwood.

Last seen putting in a gutsy performance in the Hardwicke Stakes behind wonder mare Wonderful Tonight, he was staying on well but collared for a bit of finishing pace by Broome.

With Broome only narrowly getting the better of him and boosting the form by winning a group 1 recently, Hukum is well worth another chance at this longer trip now he’s 4.

Roger Varian’s 7 year old is very lightly raced for his age and can’t have been easy to keep sound.

n some low level runs he looked smart enough but really came into his own when winning the Copper Horse handicap at Royal Ascot last year with ease over 14 furlongs.

Staying trips looked his bag and he defied a mark of 108 to win the Ebor in a brilliant weight carrying display.

A shade unlucky in the Irish St Leger, he just couldn’t give away 3lbs to Search For A Song and a tilt at the BC Long Distance Cup seemingly exposed his stamina capabilities on soft ground.

He’s well worth another go back at this trip and dropping to group 3 level puts him bang in the mix. The highest rated in the field on official figures, he needs to be taken seriously.

The 4 year old Ilaraab strung together an impressive sequence of wins. Never winning by wide margins he always seems to just do enough to get the job done.

Saving a bit back for himself saw him continue to progress through the handicap ranks scoring 6 races in a row.

Taking his chance moving up in grade for the Hardwicke Stakes at Ascot last month, it seemingly found him out for quality and he languished back in 8th of the 10 runners.

Moving up in trip could yield yet more improvement from this lightly raced colt and dropping back in grade will make him more competitive.

Unexposed over 14 furlongs he could have a big say in the finish and goes on any ground.

Johnny Murtagh brings over Sonnyboyliston from Ireland. A taking listed winner of his most recent run over at Limerick over 12 furlongs.

He graduated from handicapping well but disappointed when moving up into group company for the first time at the end of last season.

On reflection 10 furlongs was probably too sharp for him and he’s fared well this season moving up in trip.

Coming 3rd in the Ormonde Stakes at Chester behind Truesham and Japan is decent form on paper and he confirmed the promise he showed up North when winning a listed race last time out.

Stamina looks to be his bag and he finished powerfully over 12.5 furlongs last month so is well worth trying at this longer trip. He’s not been disgraced in a deep group 3 race before so is well worth a shot at this level again.

In with place claims.

Royal Ascot winner Quickthorn is looking to make the transition from handicaps to group company here for Hughie Morrison.

It took Quickthorn three attempts to break his maiden but he did it in fine style on his first start as a 3 year old. He moved into handicap company after that but was beaten off a mark of 82.

Gelded and put away until this season he came back with a devastating display at Haydock to notch his second career win and to make a mockery of a handicap mark of 84.

Last seen in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Ascot he shrugged off the 13lb rise the handicapper gave him with ease.

Clearly more capable than just handicaps, another 6lbs hike in the weights makes a move into higher company the logical step.

Unexposed at this sort of trip he showed an immense engine to cut through the deep ground at Ascot and is likely going to get the trip.

King Power racing and Andrew Balding saddle Morando. The 8 year old has been highly tried over a variety of tips in his career but has looked his best between 12 and 13.5 furlongs.

A multiple time group 3 winner he’s not tasted success since October of 2019. Plenty of trip experimentation has seen him try as far as 2 miles and 5.5 furlongs when last seen in the Queen Alexandra Stakes but the trip asked far too much of him.

Only beaten 1.75 lengths by Hukum at Goodwood earlier this season, he didn’t have the clearest of passages and would’ve been closer if granted a clear route.

He’s of the quality for this kind of race and the trip is probably just about right now he’s 8 years old. Younger legs just might get the better of him however.

Ismail Mohammed’s 5 year old gelding Away He Goes comes here after last being seen coming 3rd behind Subjectivist in Meydan.
The form of that has worked out well with Subjectivist winning the Ascot Gold Cup in great style last month.
A solid 3rd place in a group 2 event would put this 5 year old firmly in the mix. He looked to have plenty of stamina for 2 miles so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares dropping back down in trip.
He’s gone well over 12 furlongs previously and comes off a strong pace powerfully. He’ll be hoping they go hard in front and he can pick up the pieces late.

Martin Dwyer takes over in the plate for Hollie Doyle here on Loughanini.

Only 7 runs to this 4 year olds name, he got off the mark at the first time of asking as a 2 year old and followed up in handicap company as a 3 year old.

Coming back to the course as a 4 year old in a handicap at Pontefract in April, he was well fancied to give Waldkonig a race when in receipt of 8lbs but looked grossly outpaced. He trailed home last of the 5 runners.

Dropped in class and moved up in trip to 12 furlongs he put in a career best to easily defy a mark of 93 to a third career win.

Stamina certainly looked his game and we haven’t seen this Roger Charlton trained runner since. The handicapper has nudged him up to a mark of 100 so he’s well within his rights to be competitive at this level.

Unexposed over a long trip he could have plenty of improvement left in him and seems versatile for going conditions.

This 6 year old has been busy for Archie Watson this year having already notched up 9 runs since the turn of the year.
Tried over a variety of trips in his career he looked really smart when beating St Leger winner Logician at Newmarket in a listed race over a mile and half.

He hit the front easily enough and kept finding for pressure under Doyle’s urgings to hold off the classic winner.

He’s narrowly been beaten over this trip before when being denied by a neck by King’s Advice in the Summer Handicap at Goodwood 2 years ago.

He’s got the stamina for 14 furlongs and handily dispatched a classic winner on his last run. Maybe slightly overlooked in the betting.

At the bottom of the betting is Max Vega for Ralph Beckett.

An impressive winner of two of his juvenile starts earned him group 3 honours in a race that has worked out really well since.

He hasn’t managed to hit the same heights that he did as a 2 year old. His 3 year old campaign’s highlight came when he came 2nd to Hukum in the 13.5 furlong group 3 at Newbury.

Moved up in trip for his last two runs of the season he failed to land a blow over marathon trips.

Coming down slightly in trip will certainly suit but he’s got plenty to prove on reappearance after a long lay off. A gelding operation over the winter needs to have improved him significantly to reverse the form with Hukum.