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The Golden Slipper is the world's richest race for 2yos plus it was one of five G1s and there was also Winx!
So we headed to Rosehill Gardens and after some recent very soggy weather it was a beautiful day when the horsebox pulled up. We told the locals we had brought them some Canberra sunshine but we may have overdone it as it was actually quite hot. Nevertheless the track was rated as soft.
The day started well for the Kiwis when Avantage under Opie Bosson won the G3 Birthday Card Stakes from favourite Resin who was ridden by fellow Kiwi James McDonald.
Avantage had also been entered in the Listed Darby Munro Stakes but trainer Jamie Richards pulled the right rein when he opted to run in the first race. This left the coast clear for the Victorians to put their mark on the scene when Krone at 20/1 got the win for Damien Oliver and Mick Price in a tight photo finish with Wild Planet and Classique Legend.
The Victorians continued the winning trend when Midterm, by Galileo out of the wonderful mare Midday, won the N E Manion Cup. A Lloyd Williams import he was given a peach of a ride by Jamie Kah, a South Australian jockey now living in Victoria. We had been impressed by her riding before and this race shows that she now is developing into a top class jockey. This was her first ride in Sydney and she wins a G3!
It was now time for the locals to step up to the plate as the first of the G1s, the Rosehill Guineas, saw The Autumn Sun score a very narrow win over Victorian Arrogant. However it was another G1 to Chris Waller even though it probably means that the horse will not compete against Winx in the QEII and instead will either go for a spell or be retired.
And then it was time for The Queen to make her appearance and attempt a fourth win in the George Ryder G1 over 1500m. She looked sensational in the parade - we hadn't seen her in the flesh since she won her forth Cox Plate at Moonee Valley last October, and if anything she was looking even better.
The crowd. many wearing blue and waving Winx flags, were quiet until she came into the straight and Hughie said "go girl" and go she did with that amazing surge of power. The crowd erupted, the noise was deafening and she surged to the front to win by 3 1/2 lengths from Brutal 25/1 who was admirable in second and he was 2 3/4 lengths in front of Dreamforce. Her 32nd consecutive win and world record 24th G1. And then when she was returning home after all the presentations she seemed just as relaxes as she had in the parade and looked as if she could go around again.The sea of blue became a veritable ocean of blue as Godolphin runners swamped the Golden Slipper but not necessarily in the expected order. The winner Kiamichi was the longest priced and second Microphone also not in the top of the market. They gave the quinella to James Cummings with the third home Lyre being trained by Anthony Freedman. Two year old races can be very unpredictable and this race was no exception. To be fair it was probably the first time that most of them had ever encountered a wet track. However the winner Kiamichi had shown a liking for the soft when winning his previous outing on a soggy Randwick track.
Then the Galaxy, the last of the G1s, saw Chris Waller back taking the trophy when Nature Strip won from Pierata, another of these fabulous Pierro products, with Easy Eddie third.
The day closed with the G3 Epona Stakes for the girls over 1900m with the joint favourites Semari and All Too Soon finishing first and third with I'm A Princess finishing between them in second.
And so the horsebox wended its weary way home. With all due respect to the Golden Slipper, the highlight of the day - which is the highlight whenever she runs - has to be Winx.