It’s only been a couple of weeks since Peter Snowden was struggling to convince people everything was fine with Capitalist.
On Saturday at Rosehill he had to make an extra effort to keep his emotions in check when the colt proved him right with a Golden Slipper win to savour.
As the head trainer for Darley, Snowden won the 2011 Slipper with Sepoy but this time it was for him and his son Paul who formed a private training partnership a couple of years ago.
Capitalist was the long-time Slipper favourite after stringing together three wins including the Magic Millions.
But the colt’s lead-up went astray in the Todman Stakes when he was beaten and came out of the race with muscle soreness and had to be vetted to take his place in the Slipper field.
“To be here with my family and grandchildren – to do this with Paul – I can’t describe it,” Snowden said.
“He is a superior colt. We always had faith in him.
“It wasn’t that bad a run in the Todman and he was over his muscle soreness in a couple of days.
“This is amazing.”
Once as short as $3, Capitalist started at $8 and Blake Shinn got him away quickly to put him midfield while the $3.20 favourite Extreme Choice blew the start completely.
Shinn tracked into the race around the turn and stole a winning march with only surprise-packet Yankee Rose ($21) getting to within a half length.
“He travelled up at the 600 (metres) and I was confident,” Shinn said.
“The last 75 metres I knew he had it and I could savour it.”
Extreme Choice’s Mick Price-trained stablemate Flying Artie ($4) finished another 1-3/4 lengths third with the favourite making ground for eighth, 4-1/4 lengths from the winner.
Price, who earlier won the Rosehill Guineas with Tarzino, was philosophical about the race.
“Extreme Choice got pole-axed and then he was on his wrong leg for a while,” he said.
“Then I saw Flying Artie coming and I couldn’t believe it was him.”
Yankee Rose’s trainer David Vandyke almost pulled off the unthinkable with the filly going into the race without a run since November.
“We nearly did it,” he said.
“She will be hard to beat in the Sires’.”
The ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes is over 1400m in two weeks with Yankee Rose now the $4.60 equal favourite with Telperion who flashed home from near last to finish fourth in the Slipper.
Snowden said Capitalist would not go to the Sires’ Produce and would have a well-earned break while the trainer would have a couple of hours to celebrate with his family.
