Form analyst Daniel O’Sullivan has Extreme Choice on top of his 2016 Golden Slipper tips, but he believes that Kiss And Make Up is the value selection in the Group 1 event at Rosehill Gardens this afternoon.
Kiss And Make Up is one of the leading chances in the 2016 Golden Slipper. Photo by: Steve Hart
Kiss And Make Up made his racing debut with a fighting win over Detective in a maiden at Canterbury on February 17 and he stamped himself as a genuine Golden Slipper contender when he upset Capitalist to take out the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on March 5.
O’Sullivan told Racing Active that there was a great deal of merit in the Todman Stakes victory of Kiss And Make Up and he believes that trainer Gai Waterhouse will have the son of More Than Ready ready to peak in the 2016 Golden Slipper this weekend.
“He is one with a chance and a bit of a value edge there around that $9 or $10 mark,” O’Sullivan said.
“He is obviously a rapid improved – what he did in that maiden win was solid, but then he really went to another level when he won the Todman there and easily handled Capitalist.
“There was plenty of merit in the figures there and it took him to a level just below what will be needed to compete with Flying Artie and Extreme Choice.
“One think that I learnt with Gai Waterhouse is her ability to time the preparation of her horses for the Golden Slipper is second to none and if you look back at her history with colts in the race, since 2005 she has started nine colts in the race for three winners and five placegetters.
“If you strip that down even further to those colts that were given a genuine chance in the market at $10 or less three of those have won and five have run a place.
“When she gets a colt to the race that has reasonable credentials to be considered a chance by the market, her record is outstanding.
“Kiss And Make Up deserves a stack of respect here.
While O’Sullivan believes that Kiss And Make Up is excellent value in the Kiss And Make Up, he admits that Extreme Choice is still the horse to beat in the world’s richest race for two-year-olds.
O’Sullivan said that Extreme Choice’s win in the Blue Diamond Stakes was one of the most impressive in the past 25 years of the race and he is confident that the colt will produce a similar effort this afternoon.
“Extreme Choice has to run something near to his peak again, but he has all of the attributes to do so,” O’Sullivan said.
“He has good early speed, relaxes well in his races, is drawn perfectly, has experience the Sydney way of going, is bred to handle sting out of the ground and has not been overly taxed so far in his career.
“He’s impossible to fault in the race.”
Extreme Choice is currently available at 2016 Golden Slipper odds of $3.20 with Ladbrokes and he is a clear favourite from Flying Artie ($5), Kiss And Make Up ($8.50) and Capitalist ($8.50).
