Tomorrow at Rosehill in Sydney, the premier two year old neddies in Australia, go head, to head, to head, to head etc, in the $3,5000,000 G1 Longines Golden Slipper, run over the 1200m trip. Favourite is the boom Queenslander Houtzen, already the winner of $1,325,600 and unbeaten in four starts. The bonny little thing is yet to race outside her home state and will have to over come a terrible barrier draw. In a wide open race, the next two in betting are the local star She Will Reign and the Victorian Catchy. The state of the track is going to throw a spanner in the works though when it comes to form. It's rated at a Heavy 9. The form below is without the 3 emergencies. Barriers adjusted. 1. 122 PARIAH. (4) C. B Shinn. 56.5. 9-1. Peter And Paul Snowden. Bolted in first up in G3 Canonbury. Trapped wide, 4 deep on corner, then exploded clear. Fav and nice 2nd in G3 Blue Diamiod Prelude before valiant 2nd in G1 Diamond last up. Had the race won until last few strides. Will probably get back which is not ideal in a Slipper. The state of the track is a great unknown for him, but has stacks of ability. 2. 123 VERANILLO. C. (10) B Avdulla. 56.5. 40-1. John O'shea. Won Lonhro Plate before attempting Group company last two. 2nd behind She Will Reign G2 Sliver Slipper, but no match for winner. Then 3rd close G2 Todman behind Invader on Heavy 9. Has pace but some quicks drawn under him. Not here you'd think. 3. 141 TRAPEZE ARTIST. C. (5) T. Clark. 56.5. 30-1. Gerald Ryan. Won an up country race with a leg in the air. Taken straight to Sydney where 4th behind Invader after torrid run, then won G3 Canberra Black Opal. Showed real zip to sprint away down the running. Won easing down by 3.5L. Will race on the speed from good alley. A big run wouldn't surprize. 4. 231 SINGLE BULLET. C. (3) T. Angland. 56.5. 30-1. Gary Portelli. 2nd on Heavy 8 2yo handicap when on pace, then 2nd G2 Skyline on Heavy 8 behind Diamond Tathagata before nice win G3 Pago Pago. Raced on the speed. Placed on deep ground, but never met this class of field before. 5. 2x1 DIAMOND TAGHAGATA. C. (6) G. Schofield. 56.5. 50-1. Mark Newnham. 2nd in the $500,000 Inglis Nursery behind She Will Reign. wasn't all that quick from stalls and was a little unlucky in running, but still well beaten. Then won G2 Skyline. Led then headed, came wide on corner on Heavy 8 and wore down leader in final strides. likes the mud, but again, a major step up in class. 6. 1x2. TREKKING. C. (16) William Buick. 56.5. 33-1. John O'shea, Won a 2yo Plate from just off the pace before going to Canberra for the G3 Black Opal where he finished a nice but well beaten 2nd to Trapeze Artist. Began well but had to ward hard from being wide on corner. Ran on solidly. A win would surprize. 7. 512 INVADER. C. (13) H. Bowman. 56.5. 17-1. Peter And Paul Snowden. 5th beaten 3L behind the brilliant Houtzen in $2m Magic Millions. Knuckled at start then ran on. Won 2yo handicap when he just scraped home. Last run in G2 Todman on Heavy 9, settled nice and close for Moreira and ran home hard to just miss. Alley against him, but rider in form. 8. 125 MENARI. C. (1) C. Brown. 56.5. 22-1. Gerald Ryan. Had nice easy win in Plate first up. Came from midfield, and while a little green, was too good. Then went to G3 Canonbury where he reefed and pulled in midfield before finishing finishing with a whirl wind. He was unlucky, but could he have beaten pariah on the day? Who knows. Came out as favourite in G2 Todman but got away badly and had to settle well back. Swept wide on corner and looked a real chance at the furlong, but run petered out and was beaten nearly 6L. Had ability, but will need to put it all together if he's to figure here. 9. 111 CATCHY. (7) F. (7) C. Williams. 54.5. 4-1. David And B Hayes And T Dabernig. Boom Victorian filly who's unbeaten in 4 runs down there. Won 2yo plate in Mel when she took awhile to find top gear. Next up started fav in the G2 Blue Diamond Prelude. She settle 4-5L off them and drove hard to just snatch it on the line. Lost a plate in running. In that states premier 2yo event, the G1 Blue Diamond, she settled well back and had to come 5 deep on the corner. Swept down the outside to nail Pariah on the line. Has not raced on a bog track before, so has to be taken on trust. Wonderful filly though. 10. 113 FORMALITY. F. (2) Ryan Moore. 54.5. 30-1. David And B Hayes And T Dabernig. Another Victorian. Won in the bush by big margin so sent to city next up for the G3 Chairman's Stakes to test her. Raced to the front on straightening, then headed but kicked again to win well as fav. This earned her a crack at the G1 Blue Diamond. Settled 2nd but was rounded up by Pariah at the furlong who in turn was nailed by Cachy. Formality was beaten just over 2Ls on the line. She's a nice solid filly with a wonderful draw and a sensational rider. Outside chance. Again the mud asks questions of the form. 11. 241 TULIP. F. (9) K. McEvoy. 54.5. 8-1. David And B Hayes And T Dabernig. 2nd in the G2 Blue Diamond Prelude. After stumbling at start, settled 4th, raced to front in straight but just caught near line. Ran bold race G1 Diamond coming from midfield to finish 2.5L from winner. Then taken to Sydney to test the reverse way in G3 Magic Night. Late support for her in betting was well justified. On a Soft 7, she came very wide from midfield and easily beat a field if 16. On a fast track, those who beat her in the Blue Diamond might have the wood on her, but she's had a taste of the mud and liked it. Can she round this lot up? Your guess is as good as mine. 12. 112 SHE WILL REIGN. F. (11) B. Melham. 54.5. 8-1. Gary Portelli. Won the Inglis Nursery by 4L on Heavy 8. She jumped sideways and hit the fence before mustering speed to take lead. Huge effort. Next up in the G2 Silver Slipper, slow away and settle near last as a 3s on shot. Chased hard to hit front front at the furlong and come away. Last run in the G2 Reisling on a Heavy 8, she went off a 2-5 fav and over raced in midfield. Hit the front at the furlong, but went down to Frolic. Top flight filly who'll run well despite the bad alley. 13. 211. FROLIC. F. (15) T. Berry. 54.5. 10-1. Michael Freedman. Second in a maiden on a Soft 5 at Canterbury, beaten easily. Then stepped up nicely in the Inglis Classic for a nice win after settling near rear. Then in the G2 Reisling settled near last and came with a withering run best She Will Reign on a Heavy 9. Another filly with a great chance to roll the lads this year. 14. 113. TEASPOON. F. (12) D. Dunn. 54.5. 40-1. Michael Freedman. Jumped straight to the front and won first up in a Plate before taking out the G3 Widden Stakes where she led. Was challenged but fought back strongly to just get home. Then went to the G2 Sweet Embrace where she found a Heavy 8. Raced midfield and came wide, but could only finish third. Has her work cut out here. 15. 111. HOUTZEN. F. (14) J. Lloyd. 54.5. 7-2. Toby Edmonds. Unbeaten Queensland filly. Won as a 3s on shot on the Gold Coast three runs back on a Soft 6. On pace and bolted in. Then in the $2m Magic Millions she left the gates with a wing on every foot. Led all the way, but tied up in the shadows of the post and vetted. Resumed a couple of weeks ago in Brisbane and after leading came right away on a soft 5. The alley is a horror. If she had to ridden hard, it could be the end of her. Rabid support for her in Queensland. We all have our fingers crossed. 16. 132. MADEENATY. F. (8) R. Bayless. 54.5. 80-1. David And B Hayes And T Dabernig. Won in country NSW where she beat Single Bullet by a half length. Then went to the Magic Millions where she ran a nice third after contesting lead. Then to Melbourne where she sped to lead in a Festival of Racing event. Showed great speed to lead and kick clear on straightening, but run down 50m out. The speed will be handy, but doe not appear strong enough here.
Still raining in Sydney. The track's been down graded to a Heavy 10. It's certainly thrown a spanner into the program. $7,250,000 up for grabs and the going is abysmal.
Next up is the G1 George Ryder over the 1500m. Another race for the fans of the mighty Winx to suffer through. The expectations for the mare are so huge that the fear of defeat sits heavily in us all. She'll be looking to make 16 on the trot. The state of the going is throwing up serious problems for horses, and form is taking a bit of a beating. With 20 minutes to go, Winx is 5s on. Her main danger in the betting is Chautauqua, a horse not long ago rated as the best sprinter in the world, but who's wet form is a bit suspect. Winx has won on a Heavy 10, but not as bad as this. This is her home track so she'll know every blade of grass on it. The one negative aspect of today's race, is despite that Winx is further into her preparation, she's stepping back half a furlong. Le Romain could run a race too.
