Honourably defeated but far from beaten, the Silent Witness camp was buoyed by the champion's brave second to Joyful Winner in yesterday's Group One Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup and will now press on to the Champions Mile.
Silent Witness led until the final few bounds when gobbled up by the explosive finish of Joyful Winner ($17.50), who had come from last with a perfectly timed run at the hands of jockey Christophe Soumillon.
Owner Archie da Silva was almost as excited as he's ever been in victory and gave full credit to trainer Tony Cruz for almost pulling off the miracle win.
'I'm delighted because every race, he's been improving,' Da Silva said. 'At his first start back I thought he was about eight lengths below his best. Then in the Chairman's Sprint Prize, I figured he was about four lengths below. Today, he's run better again, and now I think he's maybe 11/2 lengths below his best form.
'What's interesting is that he's getting better as his races get longer, which is exactly what Tony said after his first-up run at 1,000 metres. So next start, we'll go to the Champions Mile.'
The Champions Mile is the race where, last year, Silent Witness met defeat for the first time. He was beaten a nose by stablemate Bullish Luck in near course record time for the 1,600m.
