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Is The Golden Slipper Still The Biggest Race In Sydney?

Craig Newitt riding Extreme Choice. Photo: Getty Images

The Golden Slipper is one of the biggest races on the Australian racing calendar and was once the clear highlight of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, but in recent years the importance of the world’s richest two-year-olds race has been diminished.

Racing New South Wales and the Australian Turf Club have become obsessed by the concept of The Championships and there has been more advertising for the Country Championships and the Provincial Championships than for the Golden Slipper.

This is easily the earliest in the year that the Golden Slipper has ever been contested, but thankfully the lack of advertising and the early start has not taken the quality out of the race.

Extreme Choice is currently a clear favourite in the 2016 Golden Slipper betting market with Ladbrokes and a number of form experts believe that the two-year-old may be the most talented juvenile since Sepoy after he stamped his quality with an outstanding performance in the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes.

It takes a special horse to win both the Blue Diamond Stakes and the Golden Slipper – John’s Hope (1972), Manikato (1978), Bounding Away (1986), Courtza (1989) and Sepoy (2011) himself are the only horses to achieve the feat – but the smaller gap between the races this year is sure to help Extreme Choice and he is clearly the horse to beat.

Flying Artie finished a gallant second behind his stablemate in the Blue Diamond and there is no reason that the Mick Price-trained duo couldn’t run the quinella again in the Golden Slipper.

The Artie Schiller colt looks even better placed in races like the Sires Produce Stakes and the Champagne Stakes, but if he is able to settle closer to the speed in the Golden Slipper than there is no reason why he can’t turn-the-tables on Extreme Choice.

Six-time winner Gai Waterhouse looked as though she might be without a genuine Golden Slipper contender in 2016, but in the last fortnight she has produced both Scarlet Lady and Kiss And Make Up.

Scarlet Rain looks a limited filly, but she has proven a very tough horse to run down in her three race starts to date and you never know what she might be able to achieve if she gets away with a soft lead.

Kiss And Make Up had his Golden Slipper odds slashed after he upstaged Capitalist to win the Todman Stakes and the post-race interview with Gai and owner John Singleton would be worth the price of admission at Rosehill Gardens next weekend.

Team Snowden and Godolphin are the other stable with multiple chances in the Golden Slipper.

Capitalist may have already peaked and will need to improve on his Todman Stakes effort to be any chance, with Defcon potentially the Snowden’s best chance in the race after he came from the tail of the field in the Black Opal Stakes.

John O’Shea has won numerous Group 1 events since he took over as head trainer of Godolphin’s Australian arm, but he won’t be considered a success until he wins a Golden Slipper.

The likes of Astern and Calliope have not had an ideal preparation and O’Shea may have to wait for another year to win the race that is his holy grail.

There are currently 9 horses rated at less than $20 in the Golden Slipper betting market with Ladbrokes and you can use the brand new Ladbrokes Odds Boost to increase the price of any runner in the race.

When you throw in the likes of Good Standing, Yankee Rose, Weatherly, French Fern and Honesty Prevails we are set for one of the most exciting Golden Slippers in years – if only Racing New South Wales and the ATC made sure everybody knew it was on!