Silence in with a shout up in trip
Tom Taaffe's six-year-old went off a heavily-backed odds-on shot that day, but proved hugely disappointing.
After attempting to make all the running, Breaking Silence buckled tamely in the straight, going under by two and a half lengths to Wishwillow Lord.
It seems reasonable to forgive this former smart novice hurdler that below-par effort. In retrospect there were two factors against him at Tralee. Firstly, the surface was particularly testing and he has shown in the past he likes better ground. As well as that stepping up six furlongs in trip is a big plus.
Feature event is the Guinness Handicap Hurdle and the nod here falls on Tony Martin's Stage Manager. Admittedly, he has to defy a whopping 20lbs rise in the weights, for two easy wins in moderate contests, and this is altogether a different type of test. But since Stage Manager began his winning streak off a low base anyway, he could still be nicely clear of the handicapper.
The John and Terry Moriarty Memorial Novice Hurdle has only six runners, but has a fascinating appearance all the same.
The vote falls on Jessica Harrington's Dreamy Gent, who showed he is capable of sustaining a strong gallop from the front when scoring in a canter at Galway.
Another who likes to bowl along near the front, Cuchulains Son, he cruised to victory at Ballinrobe last time, gets the vote in the Bumper.
