For clubs in the Thames valley but not on the Tideway, the Page Trophy has by far the smallest entry of the three geographically distributed prizes. with twenty crews from ten clubs on the first provisional draw compared to sixty-three and fifty-three for the Jackson and Vernon trophies respectively. This narrows further when you discount the four Masters crews entered.
These sixteen open crews are no strangers to each other as their narrowly defined region has led to the athletes having crossed paths several times so far in the head season and will know where they have stood relative to the others as the season has ramped up towards the biggest head race of them all.
Molesey BC
Molesey Boat Club have a strong history in this event. Since 1998, only the no-longer-eligible Leander Club have beaten them to this prize, and their recent dominance extends to their second crew being undefeated by this competition since 2009. To this end the two open aged boats on the start list this year will have no intention of giving up this record and have set to make sure of that through the season so far.
The depth of their squad was demonstrated at Fours Head with five crews taking top ten finishes in their respective event and the only boat which failed in this feat placing twelfth in the prestigious and loaded Championship Coxless Fours Event. In the big boats they have also had success as at the last major Tideway head before this at the Quintin Head in January they placed two boats in the top twenty, with their first finishing among what they see as their peer group who call the embankment home. They will want to ruffle some feathers this weekend as they look beyond just this trophy and towards the club event as a whole.
Upper Thames RC
Third place in the Page Trophy and twenty-eighth overall twelve months ago, Upper Thames RC have not had the most comfortable season so far. Second place in Championship Pairs at the Pairs Head back at the start of October was the only notable result so far this season and results at major events since have been rather disappointing for the Henley-based squad: deep in the middle of the pack at both the Wallingford and Quintin Head races and their smaller boat work at the Fours Head lead to event placings in the teens.
This squad will hope that they have been able to take strides since their last race at the Reading University Head, but I fear this crew may struggle to match their bow number on the final time sheet.
Marlow RC
Under new senior men’s coach Jamie Axon, Marlow RC have been hitting this season hard. Collecting victories on their rival’s home water at Upper Thames Autumn Head before picking up a pair of good results in the more recent string of races between Henley Fours and Eights Head and Reading University Head. They stumbled at Quintin Head, the largest event this calendar year, but if you discount their penalty for lateness they pace within the top table of clubs from across the South of England.
Having moved up the results list in the last few runnings of this race they will be wanting to continue this trend and if they can improve their punctuality from their last race on this stretch, they seem poised to do just that.
City of Oxford RC
Much farther upstream than the other clubs entered into this event, City of Oxford RC have been ramping up their speed through the start of 2023. A win in the less-entered afternoon division at Upper Thames Autumn Head highlighted an autumn stretch which did not include Fours Head. In the new year, a underwhelming showing at the Quintin Head in January gave way to more positive results in the two Divisions at Reading University Head at the tail end of February – managing to get ahead of Upper Thames by the later division of the day. They will be hoping that this rising speed, combined with the staying force they demonstrated in Reading will help them succeed over the 6.8km course.
Prediction
The dominant force in the wider Thames Valley all season and for a very long time, Molesey Boat Club will be expecting to dominate their way to the victory in this event and this is reflected in the start order as they provisionally starting nineteen spots ahead of any other club eligible for this trophy. I would expect them to deliver this victory but perhaps fail to achieve the one-two finish they have earned in this field over the past decade or so. Marlow have been quick all spring and managed to get ahead of the Molesey second boat at Quintin Head before receiving a time penalty. This will likely have served a good warning for the men in red and I would predict Marlow to beat the Black Death to the second-place finish in this event.
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