Silvano sidesteps World assignment

Bold Silvano will miss the Dubai World Cup after he pulled out sore today following a workout yesterday.

South African trainer Mike de Kock has withdrawn the five-year-old from the world’s richest race at Meydan on Saturday for which he had been second favourite at at a top-priced 5-1.

“He worked very well but seems to have tweaked or pulled something,” De Kock told racingandsports.com.au.

“We cannot actually put our finger on it immediately but it is enough to rule him out.

“It is a great shame as he is a genuine World Cup horse.”

Bold Silvano had shown his World Cup credentials when landing an impressive success in round two of the Al Maktoum Challenge in February.

De Kock still has Musir and Golden Sword amongst the 14 possibles to stand their ground for the race, with Henry Cecil’s Twice Over the ante-post favourite.

Gitano Hernando is still in the reckoning for Marco Botti while Aidan O’Brien is planning to run Cape Blanco.

Goldolphin can pick from Poet’s Voice, Monterosso and Prince Bishop with Gio Ponti trying to improve on last year’s fourth for Christophe Clement.

Fly Down, Richard’s Kid and Japanese runners Buena Vista, Victoire Pisa and Transcend complete the contenders at this stage.