The BMW 2015: Quick Back-Up No Issue For Silent Achiever

Silent Achiever will have her second race start in the space of the week when she contests the 2015 The BMW at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday and trainer Roger James believes that the quick back-up may actually be a positive for his star mare.

Silent Achiever will defend her title in the 2015 The BMW at Rosehill Gardens this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart

Silent Achiever will defend her title in the 2015 The BMW at Rosehill Gardens this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart

Silent Achiever was well-backed in the lead-up to the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens last weekend and she hit the line solidly to finish fourth behind Contributer, Tosen Stardom and Lucia Valentina.

James told Racing Ahead that he was satisfied with the Ranvet Stakes performance of Silent Achiever, but he believes that she could have finished closer to the winner if she was given a more aggressive ride by jockey Kerrin McEvoy.

“I am really happy with her,” James said.

“Her form is consistent and I would like it be a bit better, but I cannot fault her.

“It developed into a little bit of a sprint home, which doesn’t suit her because staying is the name of the game with her and I think when I watched the replay I thought that he probably could have let her slide forward a little more.

“He had quite a handful of horse at the half mile and maybe he would have been better to have used some of that and make it more of a staying test.

“I’m not saying that it was a bad ride at all, but with a different ride she might have been a little bit closer.”

Silent Achiever has never raced on a quick back-up previously, but James is confident that the O’Reilly mare will have no problem returning to the races for The BMW this weekend.

James said that Silent Achiever has absolutely thrived coming out of the Ranvet Stakes and he believes that she is ready to run a big race over her favourite trip of 2400 metres on Saturday.

“I haven’t done much with her, but she is absolutely bouncing,” James said.

“On Monday and Tuesday morning she came off the track with her tail in the air, snorting and leaping through the air, so I have no problem with the back-up.

“When she is at peak she lets you know and we hadn’t seen that all autumn, but since the run she has been on top of the world.

“If anything it could be the advantage because we went three weeks into the Ranvet and I was having to pour a bit of work into her.

“The back-up doesn’t worry me at all; she will be hard-seasoned and ready for the mile and a half.”

The Group 1 Prix  De l’Arc De Triomphe (2400m) has always been the major target for Silent Achiever in 2015 and she is certain to make a trip to Europe at the end of the year to begin her breeding career, but James admits that she will need to perform extremely well in The BMW this weekend to be worthy of a shot at the world’s most prestigious race.

“The owner is very keen to do so,” James said

“She is going up there to be mated and he would like to include a small European campaign as a swansong, but to be realistic she has to hold her hand up on Saturday for me to get serious about it.

“He is talking about mating her there for three seasons for southern hemisphere time and he has mentioned Sea The Stars, Galileo and Frankel at this stage.”

Silent Achiever has the chance to join Tie The Knot (1999 and 2000) and Octagonal (1996 and 1997) as the only horses to have won The BMW in back-to-back years.

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.