With the Golden Slipper just seven weeks away, the build up to the $5 million showpiece will crank up another notch at Rosehill on Saturday with the staging of two important lead-up races.
The Canonbury Stakes (1100m) has been chosen as the launchpad for highly-touted Coolmore colt Great Barrier Reef, who has already been backed into $13 for the Slipper despite being unraced.
Peter and Paul Snowden’s Merson Cooper Stakes winner Ebhaar will make her Sydney debut in the Widden Stakes (1100m) for the fillies, and like Great Barrier Reef, she is prominent in early Golden Slipper markets as a $15 chance.
Ebhaar’s co-trainer Paul Snowden says the stable has a healthy opinion of the I Am Invincible youngster, who is a grand daughter of 2003 Sweet Embrace Stakes winner Legally Bay.
“She is pretty good,” Paul Snowden said.
“She just went down (to Melbourne) for that race and came straight back, so she has always basically been in Sydney.
“She has done particularly well and her trial was nice the other day. The next step is the race on Saturday.”
Ebhaar is one of three Widden Stakes runners for the Snowdens, along with Drisana and Revolutionary Miss, who is also an acceptor for Canterbury on Friday night but is likely to take her place at Rosehill.
Snowden sees Saturday’s race as a good starting point for Gimcrack Stakes placegetter Drisana, while Revolutionary Miss, runner-up to Fireburn at her only start, returns after a road trip to the Gold Coast where she was an emergency for the Magic Millions but failed to gain a start.
All three are being given the opportunity to stake their claims for the upcoming juvenile features.
“They have already shown promise and if they haven’t won, they have all weighed in,” Snowden said.
“Unless you’ve got two-year-olds in your system, you’ve got nothing coming through, so it all starts here.
“They’ve all had a good preparation, a great build-up into their races, and now it’s up to them.”
