Colts seek to cement breeding future in world’s richest juvenile race
Golden Slipper has been dominated by fillies in recent years, but a future star of the covering barn could be unveiled today
For the seven colts lining up in today’s Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), the 70 seconds from start to finish is not just a chance to enter the record books, but also an opportunity to stamp themselves as the future of the Australian breeding industry.
No race has had more of an impact on Australia’s stallion ranks than the Golden Slipper. However, the race has been dominated by fillies in recent times and only six colts have won since the turn of the century, with all going on to stallion careers: Stratum (Redoute’s Choice), Sebring (More Than Ready), Sepoy (Elusive Quality) and Pierro (Lonhro) all produced Group 1 winners, Vancouver (Medaglia d’Oro) has his first two-year-olds this season while Capitalist’s (Written Tycoon) oldest crop are yearlings.
Defeat in the Golden Slipper, though, is not necessarily a dampener for a colt’s future stallion prospects.
Australia’s champion sire in the last three seasons, Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), finished 12th in the 2005 Golden Slipper as favourite, having struck his head in the gates.
In addition, three of the leading Australian sires on the world stage – Fastnet Rock (Danehill), Exceed And Excel (Danehill) and Choisir (Danehill Dancer) – were all beaten in the Golden Slipper, finishing fourth, ninth and third respectively.
And who can forget the dramatic 1999 Golden Slipper, when Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) himself was withdrawn on raceday due to travel sickness? Or when Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock) was taken out moments before the start in 2011?
Whatever happens today, five of the seven colts have a home upon retirement as they are already part-owned by studs or those with breeding portfolios – Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa) by Yulong Stud, Hanseatic (Street Boss) by Godolphin, and the other three, Farnan (Not A Single Doubt), Prague (Redoute’s Choice) and Rathlin (Fastnet Rock), by Aquis Farm. For the other two, King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice) and Mamaragan (Wandjina), this is their prime opportunity to pitch their credentials as potential stallion prospects.
King’s Legacy, who was purchased by James Harron Bloodstock for $1.4 million at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, brings in as good a pedigree as one could hope for from a stallion prospect.
“Obviously, he’s a very special colt to us,” Harron told ANZ Bloodstock News last night. “One would almost say he’s a collector’s item for us, being by Redoute’s Choice bred on a very successful Hussonet cross. He’s a three-quarter brother in blood to Not A Single Doubt.
“It’s an incredible pedigree, genetically it’s an outstanding proposition for a horse like that to go to stud. He’s a good-looking horse, he’s medium-sized, a lot of quality about him and he’s shown us tremendous ability so far as well.”
The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained King’s Legacy, who brings together the same connections as 2016 Golden Slipper winner Capitalist, has had three starts, winning the BJ McLachlan Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) in December before finishing off well for fifth in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) in January. Unusually, he enters the race fresh, having had one trial last week in preparation for the Slipper.
“He’s a very clean-winded horse and this has been a long-range plan to attack the Slipper,” Harron said. “We weren’t sure the Gold Coast was really going to suit him. He likes a bit of room in his races, he winds up and he gathers momentum as he goes and that’s not the type of horse at all for the Gold Coast, where you can get cluttered up. It was hard to resist the temptation to run there and we were more than happy with that run.
“The plan since then has been to really have him fresh for the Slipper and we couldn’t be happier with how the preparation has gone. There is usually a lot of speed on, it’s a high-pressure race. He’s drawn inside, he looks a horse that is going to sit around midfield and hopefully he will hit the line well.
“His number one target will likely be the Sires’ but we’re expecting a good, forward showing from him tomorrow. We think he’s got a lot of class and he’s a horse we think will show plenty over the next six weeks, through the Sires’ and the Champagne.”
Last year’s winning rider Damian Lane, coming off a sensational 2019 in which he also lifted the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m), Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) and Arima Kinen (Gr 1, 2500m) among a slew of top-level features, takes the mount on King’s Legacy.
“We’re pleased to have Damian aboard, he’s a patient rider,” Harron added. “He’s had a good feel for the horse, he came down and trialled him last Thursday and got a lovely feel from him. It was a sit and sprint type trial, it doesn’t really suit him but it was a nice pipe-opener. All being equal, I expect him to run a nice race tomorrow.”
Mamaragan enters as the winner of his only start in the Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m). Bought by John Thompson for $180,000 at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the draft of Newgate Farm, the juvenile, who is raced by a group led by Wilf Mula’s Aston Bloodstock, is aiming to become the first horse ever to win the Golden Slipper at his second start.
In the past decade, only four horses have attempted to win the Golden Slipper at their second start.
The late Bart Cummings, never afraid to test the waters and think outside the box, sent out a number of second-time starters in the Golden Slipper throughout his career, including Salade (Snitzel) and Empress Rock (Fastnet Rock) to finish eighth and last respectively behind Sepoy in 2011. That year, Cummings’ former Melbourne foreman Leon Corstens almost upstaged his one-time boss, saddling up future multiple Group 1 winner Mosheen (Fastnet Rock) at triple-figure odds to finish second.
Mick Price is the only other trainer who has attempted the feat, sending out Ready For Victory (More Than Ready) to finish fourth to Vancouver in 2015.
Just like Corstens, Thompson was foreman for Cummings, running his Sydney operation Leilani Lodge for eight years. While it wasn’t necessarily his intention to take Mamaragan into a Golden Slipper off one start, it is apparent that he has the same ability to take chances and think unconventionally.
“We just played the cards we were dealt with Mamaragan. That was when he was ready to run when he won the Skyline and being his first start, I didn’t want to run him again and then back him up into a Slipper,” Thompson said. “I thought, I’ll just go straight to the Slipper and if he’s good enough, he’s good enough.”
If Mamaragan is successful, he would also become the two-year-old to debut closest to the Golden Slipper and win in the history of the race, with his debut 21 days before the feature. That record is currently held by 1975 winner Toy Show (Showdown), who stepped out for the first time 31 days before the Slipper.
Mamaragan will jump from gate one with Nash Rawiller to take the ride.
“For an inexperienced horse it was good to draw the fence. It gives him something to follow,” Thompson said. “If you watch his race the other day, when he was outside the leader he was a little bit new but when he beat it off and went to the fence it gave him confidence and he ran away from them a bit.”
Thompson, who saddles up his first Golden Slipper runner, recalls that his first racing memory is of the 1983 Golden Slipper when Been There (Boucher), trained by his father Vic, finished second to the Les Bridge-prepared Sir Dapper (Vain).
“I reckon Been There, when he ran second, was the first race I can ever remember watching,” Thompson said. “There was a bit of excitement in the family and I remember being at home watching it. I didn’t go, I was only young, but that’s the first race I can ever remember.”
Mamaragan was a $16 chance with TAB last night, with King’s Legacy a $51 outsider in the market headed by Farnan at $4.80.