Silence Please bidding to uphold Irish dominance in absence of Passion

2.10 York
Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Middleton Fillies' Stakes (Group 2) | 1m2½f | 4yo+ | ITV4/RTV

Irish domination of top-level racing in Britain has grown rapidly over the last couple of years and was no more prevalent and documented than at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, where 23 of the 28 first-place trophies went back across the Irish Sea.

Although not as marked, that supremacy has continued at the start of the Flat season with the Jim Bolger-trained Poetic Flare (2,000 Guineas) and the Aidan O'Brien-trained Mother Earth (1,000 Guineas) winning the first two Classics.

Add those to Armory's win in the Group 2 Huxley, Japan plundering the Group 3 Ormonde and Falcon Eight taking the Chester Cup on the Roodee last week, and it's been pretty much one-way traffic since the start of May.

With Passion a non-runner, the Irish rely on Silence Please, who both has sound claims on her three-year-old form.

Queen Power: has form figures of 4423432 since her last successCredit: Mark Cranham

Silence Please has an unbeaten record when fresh and the Jessica Harrington-trained filly may have had the edge over Passion anyway.

Furthermore, she is owned by leading US connections Gary Barber and Team Valor, and it would be no surprise to see her pretty far forward in her preparation with a high possibility of shipping to the US looming large at some point.

The home contingent is led by Queen Power. Insanity is described as doing the same things over and over again without seeing different results, and that's what punters have faced in backing this well-bred filly since her Listed win in May 2019.

Queen Power, who is often keen in the early portion of her races, has regularly been the bridesmaid and not the bride as proven by form figures 4423432 since that success. She was sent off favourite on four occasions.

Her desire to win isn't questioned, she just seems to bump into a better horse each time. There have to be better-value plays.

Cabaletta, Chamade and Freyja are all interesting propositions with rain-softened ground playing to their advantage. The latter needs to bounce back from a poor display, but the other pair don't have too much to find on ratings and have solid records after a layoff. Value hunters need look no further.
Race analysis by Tom Collins

Harrington hoping Silence can make some noise to break her York duck

Jessica Harrington has achieved almost everything there is to achieve in racing, be it on the Flat or over jumps, but a York winner has yet to be ticked off her bucket list.

She has had a dozen runners on the Knavesmire but is still waiting to hit the back of the net. One Voice was the closest she has come – finishing third to Love in the Yorkshire Oaks last August – but in Silence Please she has a filly more than capable of making some noise.

The daughter of Gleneagles was unbeaten at two and kicked off her three-year-old campaign by beating the aforementioned One Voice in a Listed event at Navan.

She held her form together well for the rest of the campaign and signed off for the season by chasing home the smart colt Tiger Moth in a Group 3 on Irish Champions Weekend. An official rating of 103 puts her right in the mix here.

Harrington reports Silence Please to be in rude health for her return but wants the rain to stay away.

The trainer said: "Silence Please is in really good form and this is a nice place for her to start off. I hope she will run very well. The one thing I would say is that she wouldn't want too much rain. The better the ground the better her chance.

"She should be fine over the trip, but would probably be better over a little bit further, so she'll have no problem staying anyway."

What they say

Roger Varian, trainer of Cabaletta
This looks a nice starting point for her and her work has been consistently good in the build-up. She will be a mile-and-a-half filly later on but should run a nice race and won't mind any ease in the ground.

Silvestre de Sousa, rider of Queen Power
She has a run under her belt which will help her and we've always thought she has a nice race like this in her. She's consistent and is pretty versatile as regards to ground.
Reporting by David Jennings

Read more Thursday race previews:

3.10 York: time to find out if High Definition can bring clarity to Derby picture

2.40 York: will the 'unluckiest horse in Newmarket' enjoy a change of fortune?

3.40 York: Acklam Express adds Group 1 stardust to cracking Listed sprint

Watch live races through the Racing Post. Log in to your bookmaker account and look on the racecards for eligible races. Click the red 'Watch live now' icon and they're off! Find out how here