Congratulations Sydney for giving us the exciting Gateway to The Golden Slipper, with Cylinder now the $3.50 Betr favourite for the ‘big one,’ the $5m Longines Golden Slipper Stakes.
As Cylinder drew Barrier 3 of 16 runners, he’ll be carrying 56.5kg, again with James McDonald in the saddle, while its $6 for Learning To Fly on 54.5kg with Chad Schofield next to him in Gate 4.
In first winning the important Sliver Slipper Stakes of 1100m, James McDonald next partnered Cylinder for a strong half-length victory in the Todman Stakes of 1200, in 1:09.7s on a Soft 6 track.
With Cylinder displaying a commanding will-to-win on entering the home straight, it was a ‘star gazing’ Learning to Fly who also scored by half-a-length in the same-day 2yo fillies Reisling Stakes.
In being the first time that Learn To Fly had led into the home straight, she was not focused when challenged by Facile, but still held her off for a neck victory in 1:09.99, with Chad Schofield.
As Cylinder replaced Learning To Fly as the Betr Golden Slipper favourite on the analysis of the two races, it was Learning To Fly’s Inglis Millennium victory that tighten her as pre-race favourite.
In Learning To Fly being near last of 16 runners into the Randwick straight, she stormed down the outside for a half-neck victory, having won her first start by ¾ length in the Widden Stakes.
As James Cummings is seeking his second Golden Slipper winner, having had Kiamichi win in 2019, its Godolphin not only with race-favourite Cylinder, but with Barber at $26 and $51 for Exploring.
It’s Annabel Neasham who’s looking to Learning To Fly as her initial Golden Slipper success, she also has Mounga at $4.20 for the Ranvet Stakes, with Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip at $3.50.
In taking out the $2.8m winner’s purse of the $5m Golden Slipper total prizemoney, it’s both Cylinder and Learning To Fly are eligible for a $1m bonus in having each won two Pathway events.
With Cylinder winning the Silver Slipper Stakes, he next took out the Todman Stakes, while Learning To Fly went onto win the $2m Inglis Millennium, and followed up with the Reisling Stakes.
With this staging of the Gateway to The Golden Slipper having $9.3m in stakes, it was Learning To Fly who opened with the Widden Stakes, while Red Resistance won the Canonbury Stakes.
A week later at Randwick in was Madeira Sunrise winning the Lonhro Stakes also at 1100m, followed by Learning To Fly brilliantly winning the Inglis Millennium of 1100m from Blanc de Blanc.
On returning to Rosehill Gardens, it was Cylinder who took out the Silver Slipper Stakes, and with the remainder of the Pathway series now at 1200m it was Lazzago in the Sweet Embrace Stakes.
Godolphin had Corniche win the Skyline Stakes, while Cylinder returned for a champion style victory in the Todman Stakes, a race that has supplied four winners of the last 11 Golden Slippers.
Learning To Fly achieved her third Pathway success, and third unbeaten start with the Reisling Stakes, and finally Steel City was striking in winning the Magic Night and Shinzo the Pago Pago Stakes.
With both Cylinder and Learning To Fly winning three races that are exempted from the Ballot of the Golden Slipper its, Lazzago who’s in Gate 10 and at $31 for winning the Sweet Embrace Stakes.
With Corniche not accepting for the Slipper, it’s the Magic Night Stakes winner Steel City who’s at $12 for Regan Bayliss from 15 and Shinzo on the rails in Gate 1 at $11 for the Pago Pago Stakes.
Again, it’s the Golden Slipper Stakes that’s become so relevant to our breeding industry, that the home bred Cylinder is by the legendary Exceed And Excel, the family of sires Lonhro, Niello, Albrecht.
As Learning To Fly was a $900,000 Australian Easter Yearling, she’s the first crop of the unbeaten US Triple Crown hero Justify, who his Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert predicted that ‘Justify will be a success as a turf sire in Australia.’
