The Magic Night and Pago Pago Stakes will be the last chance saloon for a host of juveniles clamouring for the final spots in the Golden Slipper, including top fancy Warwoven.
The colt is 18th in the order of qualification, but with two horses expected to be paid up as late entries and the winners of Saturday’s brace of lead-ups earning automatic berths, Warwoven’s trainer Bjorn Baker doesn’t want to risk missing a start.
The youngster finished a close fourth in the Skyline Stakes (1200m) after being controversially scratched from the Magic Millions Classic at the Gold Coast in January when Racing Queensland veterinarians deemed he was lame.
Baker, who also has equal Slipper favourite and last weekend’s Todman Stakes victor Paradoxium, says Warwoven will strip much fitter for his last run.
“He is going to come on, no doubt about it,” Baker said.
“He’s probably even got a touch more improvement from where Paradoxium is at the moment.”
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott will have a quartet of runners across both races, By Choice and Lumbini representing Tulloch Lodge in the Magic Night Stakes (1200m) for the fillies, while Plagiarism and Drumfire line up in the Pago Pago Stakes (1200m) for the males.
By Choice has been around the mark in all four starts, including a third in the Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m), and Bott says she just needs the right race shape to get another win on the board.
“She is going to appreciate high-pressure races, and appreciate a bit further in time,” Bott said.
“But she has been so honest throughout her career. She’s tough, she puts herself up on pace and she has drawn to do so again.”
He expected Lumbini to be an improver after getting “cluttered up” when unplaced in the same race last start, but admitted he would want to see one of them win impressively to consider backing up in the Golden Slipper.
It is a similar scenario for Plagiarism, who has been in the mix in all three appearances, including when fifth and less than a length from winner Campione D’Italia in the Skyline Stakes (1200m)
“I’d like to think we’re seeing nice, gradual improvement from him at each stage of the prep and he’s another one, he’s on a path to give himself a potential opportunity to have a look at a Slipper,” Bott said.
“All those three would be outside the field at present and would need to be winning their way in, and we’d be wanting to see the right performance from them as well to be starting.”
Drumfire is a late arrival on the two-year-old scene after making a winning debut at Muswellbrook last Sunday, and despite the quick turnaround, Bott is keen to see how he measures up.
“It’s different form lines, and he is a really natural two-year-old type,” he said.
“He did it pretty easily at Muswellbrook and he’s open to nice improvement. He has pulled up really well and that gave us a chance to have a look at Saturday.”