Golden Slipper Class of 2012

Saturday's Golden Slipper marks 56 years since Todman ran away with Australia's inaugural two-year-old sprint, during which time the race has grown into the world's most lucrative juvenile contest.

If the market is spot on this year, the 2013 renewal could offer up a similar result with a potential wet track currently posing as the only danger to Gai Waterhouse's Overreach. So the punters believe anyway.

Last year the big money was on boom Victorian filly Samaready, but she could only manage third behind Waterhouse superstar Pierro and star sprinter Snitzerland.

Eight horses have come out and won again since running in that Slipper, a downgrade on the 2011 renewal which had already produced nine subsequent winners by the time this race rolled around 12 months ago. Smart Missile, scratched at the barriers in 2011, also went on to win again.

Pierro clearly emerged the best horse from last year's race – he went on to win the juvenile Triple Crown, and has won six times since claiming the Slipper. His two career defeats were a narrow loss to All Too Hard in the Caulfield Guineas and a third-placed finish in last year's Cox Plate.

Snitzerland has won five times since, and ran second in last weekend's Group 1 Galaxy.

One of the major success stories has been Epaulette who failed to beat a single Slipper runner home, but went on to win the Group 1 Golden Rose in the spring.

1st - Pierro
Trainer Gai Waterhouse declared Pierro the Slipper winner following his victory in the Listed Breeders Plate back in October 2011.  He remained unbeaten leading into the Slipper, and interestingly he didn’t start favourite in the Golden Slipper or the subsequent Group 1 Sires Produce. Jockey Nash Rawiller pressed forward from the rails draw to sit just off the speed, and waited patiently along the rails before making a run up the inside to challenge Snitzerland in the straight. Fighting strongly over  the concluding stages he proved too good pulling away to score by three-quarters of length.  Pierro went on to complete the two-year-old triple crown winning the Sires Produce and the Champagne Stakes, stamping himself as one of the greatest two-year-olds to ever race in Australia. He resumed in fantastic order in the spring but tasted his first defeat at his ninth start when going down to All Too Hard in the Caulfield Guineas before a game performance to finish third in the Cox Plate. While some questioned whether or not he would reach those heights again in the Autumn his performance to defeat More Joyous in Group 1 Canterbury Stakes reinforced that he was well on track to cement himself as one of our champions of the turf.

Best run since the Slipper: While many will argue his recent performance to defeat More Joyous in the Canterbury Stakes has been his greatest performance since the Slipper, on ratings it still failed to reach the heights of his performance when taking out the Group 1 Champagne Stakes.

2nd - Snitzerland
Looked the winner of last year’s Slipper 300m from home after she kicked well clear in the straight, but Pierro ground her down. She’s clearly the second best galloper to have come out of the race too, given she’s won five times since then. Of the five, four have been at Group level. She’s run twice in Group 1 company since the Slipper, running fifth in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) behind Nechita over the spring, and finishing second in the Galaxy (1100m) last weekend.

Best run since the Slipper:
Her resuming effort in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Rosehill last month was enormous, and landed her a peak Timeform rating of 121. Snitzerland finished 2.8L clear of Decision Time, beating home the returning Hay List in the process.

3rd - Samaready
Very talented filly who was unable to defy history and become one of few horses to complete the Blue Diamond-Golden Slipper double. From the wide draw she was forced to settle well back in the field and despite working home strongly down the outside was unable to reel in the two front runners. Unfortunately she has only been seen once since the Slipper having failed to run on in the wet in the Listed Quezette Stakes at Caulfield.

Best run since the Slipper: The Quezette Stakes run has been her only start since and she was clearly not right beaten 8.5L. Given the quality of the two she finished behind in last year’s Slipper, you can’t help but think Samaready is a potential star in the making.

4th - Doubtfilly
The feel-good story of last year’s Slipper after the owners paid up the late entry fee. Her gutsy fourth placing more than covered the Mackay filly’s expensive trip to Sydney and confirmed her standing as Queensland’s best juvenile (until Sizzling came along and dominated the winter). Unfortunately, Doubtfilly hasn’t been able to recapture her two-year-old form and is winless in all four starts since. She ran fourth resuming in open three-year-old grade late last month at Doomben, and hopefully she can rediscover her best.

Best run since the Slipper:
Was beaten a head resuming in the early spring at Doomben last year carrying 57kg about four-and-a-half months after her Slipper performance.

5th - Raceway
Was the early Golden Slipper favourite following his impressive victory at Randwick on debut when running scintillating time. Unfortunately he was never able to improve further from that performance and despite looming up in the run home he was never really a winning hope.  Has really failed to come on in his next preparations with his arduous two-year-old campaign appearing to have taken its toll.

Best run since the Slipper: Put up a game showing in the Sires Produce Stakes when attempting to lead all the way only to be run down and finish fourth to his star stablemate Pierro.

6th - Driefontein
The Magic Millions winner who missed the kick in last year’s Slipper and was the real eye catcher late on where she sped home into sixth spot. Had she left the barrier a bit sooner it could’ve been a much different race entirely. She’s been busy since – she finished second under 60.5kg in the Keith Mackay a fortnight on from the Slipper before spelling. She ran second to Snitzerland in the San Domenico, her only run over the spring, before returning to the paddock. This time in she’s had six starts since December for three minor placings.

Best run since the Slipper:
Her last few as a three-year-old have all been respectable, but it’s impossible to go past that effort in the Keith Mackay on Doncaster day last year. She carried the grandstand, led all the way and was only pipped late on by Single Style. It was a big ask and a big effort, which may have done her more harm than good.

7th - Shelford
Created a big impression on debut when running early Golden Slipper favourite Raceway to a head in the Listed Canonbury Stakes.  Followed up that performance with another strong showing when finishing third to Pierro in the Group 2 Todman Stakes. Unfortunately his chances of winning the Golden Slipper took a big blow after he drew barrier 15. Settling towards the tail of the field his performance had plenty of merit when making steady down ground down the outside after turning the widest. Having only recently broken his maiden status at Newcastle he may yet reach the heights of his prior form as he is still only very lightly raced.

Best run since the Slipper: After showing plenty of ability in his maiden preparation he has proved a somewhat disappointment with his best performance to date a fifth-placed finish in the Listed Brian Crowley Stakes at Randwick behind Better Than Ready.

8th - Cavalry Rose
 Found herself a little outclassed in last year’s Slipper but deserved her spot in the field nonetheless following her narrow second placing to Ichihara in the Magic Night a week earlier. She was spelled after that race and came back in the spring, winning one race in amongst four unplaced effort. That win came in the Group 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes (1200m) on Caulfield Guineas day.

Best run since the Slipper:
Easily her effort to win the Thoroughbred Club Stakes at Caulfield over the spring. Led all the way and just held out a handy field including the likes of Mareeza, Elite Elle and Hoss Amor.

9th - Amorino
Started the Golden Slipper as a 100-1 shot and many will argue he ran accordingly. Showed good early promise and was the subject of a betting plunge going amiss after he proved very unlucky in the Gold Coast Magic Millions Classic. Has only had a handful of runs since and looks to have come back in good order after a pleasing return in the Listed Munro Stakes when finishing a close sixth behind Chiaramonte.

Best run since the Slipper: On ratings his best performance post the Golden Slipper was his unplaced finished in the Group 1 Golden Rose when finishing seventh behind Epaulette.

10th - No Looking Back
Lost the Magic Millions on a protest, ran second in the Blue Diamond then could only manage 10th in the Slipper off a six-week freshen up. Resumed on New Year’s Day with a narrow win in the Carrington Stakes (1100m) then was comfortably held in the Magic Millions Guineas 11 days later. The daughter of Redoute’s Choice hasn’t been seen since. She seems to have been well looked after so don’t be surprised to see her win more races.

Best run since the Slipper: Winning the Carrington Stakes resuming was a solid performance, but she fell in more than anything. Don’t discount the performance though, she beat home Skytrain to win that race and he’s gone on to win the Listed Canterbury Classic (1100m) and the Group 3 Southern Cross Quality (1200m).

11th - Faustus
Appeared a shade of out of his depth in the Golden Slipper when punched up to sit up on the speed before fading out of contention in the straight. Went on to the Sires Produce and was never really a factor. Spent a long time on the sidelines before making his return last weekend in the Listed Munro Stakes when finishing at the tail of the field.

Best run since the Slipper: Finished 5.5L away in the Darby Munro Stakes last weekend, a performance well below the potential he displayed as a two-year-old.

12th – Ashokan
Magnificent looking colt who jumped from out wide in last year’s Slipper which hurt him in the final furlong. Has been solid since then without winning, always managing to bump into a couple better. Ran third in the Golden Rose (1400m) over the spring but was well held in the Caulfield Guineas (1600m). He’s been okay since resuming this campaign too but is now winless in more than a year.

Best run since the Slipper:
His effort to run third in the Golden Rose earned him a peak rating. Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to maintain that level of performance. In an interesting new development, the horse has switched from John O’Shea to Gai Waterhouse. Perhaps the change of environment will do him the world of good.

13th - Narcissus
One of two Darley runners to contest the Golden Slipper who upon reflection went into the race with pretty good formlines having finished third to Raceway on debut before finishing second to both Ichihara and to All Too Hard in his following performances. Settling towards the tail of the field the son of Exceed and Excel never played a factor as he failed to run on in the straight. Was next seen again when resuming as the heavily supported odds-on favourite at Kembla Grange only to again prove disappointing. Broke his maiden status in December last year and has since switched stables to join Lennard Max Treloar's team on the Sunshine Coast.

Best run since the Slipper: His best performance post the Slipper was his debut for his new stable when finishing a narrow second at Eagle Farm in Open company.

14th - Later Gator
Finished the furthest back of Gai Waterhouse’s four Slipper runners, beaten 5.5L by stablemate Pierro. In fairness she was simply outclassed. She’s since switched to Peter Moody’s Melbourne stable and resumed back in February after almost a year off. A win at Cranbourne last month has headlined the next chapter in her career.

Best run since the Slipper:
That win at Cranbourne was only against Restricted 68 opposition – her best run since the Slipper was actually last start at Caulfield where she was only beaten 0.4L in Saturday company. She’ll win her share of races down there if she maintains that level of performance.

15th - Jade Marauder
Very impressive Group 3 Sweet Embrace victor who simply failed to live up to expectations in the Golden Slipper. Having unfortunately drawn the widest barrier in the feature race, Glyn Schofield had no choice but to settle her at the tail of the field after she was slowly away.  Upon making the turn into the straight she was unable to show the same dash as she had in her start prior and subsequently made up little ground. While never really far away since that maiden preparation, she hasn't been able to salute the judge in seven starts.

Best run since the Slipper: On ratings her best performance post the Slipper was seen when finishing a close third behind Dear Demi in the Group 2 Furious Stakes at Warwick Farm.

16th – Epaulette
One of the success stories from last year’s race, despite failing to beat a single runner home. Came back a stronger horse in the spring to in the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) en route to a third placing in the Caulfield Guineas stoush between All Too Hard and Pierro. Won a recent Rosehill trial and there looks to be more wins in the offing this year.

Best run since the Slipper:
His Golden Rose win was absolutely enormous. Epaulette settled at the rear with stablemate Albrecht and the pair rattled home out wide in a photo finish. It also provided jockey Tommy Berry’s first Group 1 win.