An home town advantage for Sydney filly Snitzerland is what jockey Corey Brown hopes is needed to lower the boom on unbeaten Victorian Samaready.
Brown is ceratin Snitzerland, who is trained at Rosehill, will handle the Sydney way of going and sees that as a distinct advantage over the Victorian filly.
The two fillies are to clash in the Group 2 $300,000 Jacobs Creek Reisling Slipper Trial (1200m) at Rosehill tomorrow in a race that has the potential to reshape the Golden Slipper market.
Samaready is currently heading the betting at $3.10 but if Snitzerland was to put pressure on or even beat the Mick Price trained filly her quote of $12 would shorten dramatically.
Snitzerland has returned to her home base and even though the Gerald Ryan trained filly has not had a race start in Sydney, all of her preparation before her two Melbourne campaigns have been there.
Blue Diamond winner Samaready is unbeaten from three starts but is facing her first trip away from home and Price is approaching the situation with caution.
“She’s obviously going well but she has to have the trip to Sydney with no hiccups, and settle in and race, and race well, and come on from it which I have tried to allow for,” Price said.
Ryan took Snitzerland to Flemington for her first race start when second to Applegate in the Listed $100,000 Emirates Airline Plate (1000m) then sent her for a short break.
The Snitzel filly was then sent back to Melbourne where she won her next two starts and stayed on a bit longer to escape Sydney’s wet weather.
Snitzerland was very impressive in winning at Mornington in the $250,000 Inglis Premier Stakes (1200m) on February 15 then was just as dominant in winning down the straight at Flemington in the Group 3 $125,000 TBV Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (1200m) on March 10.
“Snitzerland has done most of her training here at Rosehill and Gerald only sent her to Melbourne because there were suitable races for the filly,” Brown said.
“There is no doubt she will get around the Sydney way. I’ve ridden her in trials and trackwork and it is natural for her to go this way. Samaready is very good but she still has to prove she can handle the Sydney direction.”
Brown was full of praise for her wins at Mornington and Flemington and was more than happy to stick with in the Reisling Slipper Trial.
“She didn’t beat much at Mornington but it was more about the way she won that race that impressed me,” Brown said.
“Then at Flemington, she won as she liked. I didn’t ride her when she ran second on debut up the straight where she got very lost that day and I was expecting more of the same last start. But she went as straight as a gun barrel and ran the same last 600m as Hay List did in the Newmarket.”
Ryan deliberately bypassed the Blue Diamond to concentrate on the Group 1 $3.5m AAMI Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill in two weeks and Brown believes the plan is starting to take shape.
“I like the way Gerald is building momentum with Snitzerland towards the Golden Slipper,” Brown said.
“We haven’t got to the bottom of her yet, she has a lot more to offer.”
On Tuesday morning Price sent Carig Newitt out on Samaready to work the reverse way at Caulfield to prepare for her debut Sydney run.
“She hummed around the reverse way on the steeple grass and Craig was very excited, he’s always excited though, and he was quite complimentary with her work,” Price said.
