Pierro Plate winner Ciaron’s Star has been plucked from the spelling paddock and could launch a belated Golden Slipper bid if she wins the Magic Night Stakes at Rosehill Gardens.
After finishing sixth to barn mate Spicy Miss in the Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) last start, the decision was made to pull up stumps and send Ciaron’s Star for a break.
Only, the filly did so well that trainer Ciaron Maher was convinced to bring her back into the stable and give her a shot at making the field for what is shaping as one of the more open Golden Slippers in years.
If she doesn’t get there, the Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m) during The Championships will be strongly considered.
“The original plan was to give her a break after last start, but she had a couple of days in the paddock, and she was feeling very well,” Maher’s assistant Johann Gerard-Dubord said.
“We thought, it’s (Golden Slipper) very open this year, so she will run this week.
“If she happened to win, we could consider the Slipper, but she is second favourite for the Percy Sykes Stakes, so it’s hard to bypass that, especially because she is so well.”
Maher already has Spicy Miss in the Golden Slipper (1200m), while Magic Millions placegetter Tornado Valley is an unlikely runner with the stable keener to stretch him in distance.
“Tornado Valley, he probably goes to a Sires’ Produce Stakes,” Gerard-Dubord said.
“He showed us the other day that 1200 metres is a bit sharp.”
Annabel and Rob Archibald will run debutante Hellenic Belle in the Magic Night Stakes (1200m) after scratching her from an easier assignment at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.
A recent barrier trial winner, the daughter of Hellbent is showing enough natural ability to be thrown in the deep end to start her career.
“We were in (Wednesday), but we have opted to wait and have a throw of the dice at black type first-up,” Rob Archibald said.
“We think she has got ability, whether she’s ready to do it first-up, I’m not sure. But we can’t fault her, and it’s a nice lead in to a race like the Percy Sykes Stakes if she shows she is up to that level.
“We like her, she looks talented, and we will learn a bit more about her on Saturday.”
The winner of the Magic Night Stakes (1200m) and Pago Pago Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill both earn ballot exemptions for the Golden Slipper (1200m) seven days later.
