2015 Golden Slipper Preview
Gai Waterhouse is looking to win a record sixth Golden Slipper, but it will be no easy task with a talented field at Rosehill Gardens.
The Rosehill track is a tight turning track, so saving ground will be very important. The jockey who manages to navigate the shortest way home on the inside rail will give his or her horse the best opportunity to win.
For that reason, the barriers will play a critical role in determining the outcome of the race.
Vancouver will start as favourite and will have his work cut out for him, starting from the widest barrier in 16.
Unbeaten in three starts, the Gai Waterhouse trained colt looks very impressive, however jockey, Tommy Berry must make the choice to go forward or back from that barrier and that decision will have an impact on the race.
Gai tends to send her horses forward, so how they approach this race will be very interesting.
Gai who has five Golden Slipper victories to her name, is just one Slipper win away from matching the record of six, held by her father Tommy Smith. To have five is amazing, but to get six will be something special.
She saddles up three horses in the race, so she has the numbers on her side.
The Godolphin stable has four runners in the race and seemingly, four very good chances of winning.
The most exciting of the horses is Exosphere, who won his last two starts by a combined margin of eight lengths. The two-year-old is a big, strong, striding horse and needs galloping room. If he gets that, he could really feature in the finish.
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The other horse they fancy is their filly, Ottoman. If she can settle in a good position behind the leaders, her strong finishing kick will come into play.
Odyssey Moon is an interesting runner. He is trained in Scone and cost just $25,000 as a yearling. Connections have had to pay a late entry fee of $150,000 suggesting confidence in their runner. The colt will be ridden by the English jockey Ryan Moore, who won the Melbourne Cup on Protectionist. Moore finished 2014 as the world's highest ranked jockey and gives Odyssey Moon's chances a real boost.
When it comes to the roughies, Reemah represents good value. She is yet to win a race but ran a close-up second in the group 1 Blue Diamond at 100-1 and if Kerrin McEvoy can go straight to the rail from barrier 13 she could get the sneaky splits in the straight and be in the finish.
The track at Rosehill looks to be in good condition with a fairly even surface offering no considerable advantage to any of the horses. The stakes are high and pressure will be on from the jump with ‘Luck in running’ to play a big part in which of these star 2YO’s will take home the Golden Slipper and a majority share of the $3.5 million in prize money.