Win, lose or draw, the high pressure nature of a Golden Slipper can often be a taxing assignment for two-year-olds, but Chris Waller says that hasn’t been the case for emerging colt Campione D’italia.
“You wouldn’t know he’s had a run,” Waller said.
The Snitzel youngster produced arguably the best performance of the Golden Slipper when he came from last on the home to storm home for fourth, just two lengths behind winner Guest House.
It followed a narrow victory in the Skyline Stakes (1200m) when he also powered to the line from back in the field, suggesting the 1400m of Saturday’s Group 1 Sires’ Produce Stakes at Randwick will be even more to his liking.
“The Golden Slipper was only his third start in a race and he’s getting more tractable each time he runs,” Waller said.
“And he’s learning all the time. He’s coping really well with his racing.”
Campione D’Italia has drawn gate three in Saturday’s 14-horse field, while stablemate Fireball has an awkward alley to overcome in 12.
The latter finished midfield in the Slipper, and while he never shaped as a winning threat, Waller believed that like his barn mate, he was looking for further.
“He wasn’t beaten far and I thought he raced like a 1400 metre horse too,” he said.
Five of the 14 Sires’ Produce Stakes runners competed in the first leg of the juvenile triple crown, which also comprises the Group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m) run at Randwick on April 18.
The other Slipper runners stepping out in the Sires’ are Blue Diamond Stakes winner and Slipper second placegetter Streisand, Zambales (ninth in Slipper) and Paradoxium (eleventh).
