Trainer Anthony Cummings’s chances of having a Golden Slipper runner will most probably come down to a horse which isn’t even nominated for the race.
Confirming Todman Stakes flop Never Can Tell will miss the Golden Slipper, Cummings said he would now rely on last week’s Warwick Farm winner Scandiva to fill a void for the stable.
With more than $100,000 in earnings, Never Can Tell was almost assured of a Slipper start until he faded to sixth in the Todman Stakes.
“He has a got a muscle strain in his back which explains why he didn’t finish his race off last week,” Cummings said.
“If we can get him right, we’ll run him in the Kindergarten Stakes.”
Scandiva was among 13 fillies to accept for the Magic Night Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday – one of two Golden Slipper ballot-exempt races on the Rosehill Guineas card.
She races with a profile much bigger than most midweek-class winners because of her breeding as she counts Black Caviar, All Too Hard and Magnus among her relations.
In spite of her envious bloodlines, Scandiva wasn’t included among original Golden Slipper nominations.
A Magic Night win and an accompanying $150,000 late entry fee will put her into the field but Cummings said there was much to play out before any decision on the Slipper was made.
“A start in the Golden Slipper is certainly up for discussion and if she won on Saturday that will provoke it’s own question and we’ll go from there,” Cummings said.
Cummings is thinking deeper into the autumn carnival with his two colts engaged in the Pago Pago Stakes, Drago and One Step Beyond.
“They are not Slipper horses and Drago especially is more heading towards the Champagne Stakes,” he said.
