Melbourne filly Thurlow has jumped to the top of the Order Of Entry for the 2015 Group 1 $3.5m Tooheys New Golden Slipper (1200m) following her win at Sandown on the weekend.
Thurlow heads the Golden Slipper Order Of Entry after winning the Chairman’s Stakes at Sandown. Photo by Adrienne Bicknell.
The Robert Smerdon trained Thurlow took her prizemoney earnings to $189,500 after winning the Group 3 $150,000 Chairman’s Stakes (1000m) last Saturday.
Thurlow was wearing the blinkers for the first time when she beat the David Hayes and Tom Dabernig trained Haybah and Gai Waterhouse’s Brooklyn in the 1000m sprint for the two year old.
Saturday’s win was Thurlow’s second from three starts after the Sebring filly won her second race start when she beat Miss Gidget and Mesa in the Listed $120,000 Santa’s Magical Kingdom Stakes (1000m) at Sandown on November 15.
Her other appearance saw Thurlow finish second on debut behind Antelucan in the Group 3 $150,000 Emirates Airline Plate (1000m) at Flemington on November 4.
Smerdon also has his other smart filly Fontiton placed fourth in the Golden Slipper Order Of Entry with $90,750, but that is likely to change after the weekend with the Blue Diamond Stakes favourite ready to step out in the Group 2 $200,000 Blue Diamond Prelude (F) (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
But the Caulfield trainer is concentrating on preparing his fillies for the Group 1 $1m Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 28 before he commits them to a start in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill three weeks later.
Smerdon rates Fontiton the better of the two fillies and is happy to be going into a Group 1 with two strong chances.
“Whatever they do, Fontiton does it better,” Smerdon told Racing.com.
“She’s got a margin on her, so this does make you think we’re on the right track.”
Second on the Golden Slipper Order Of Entry is Waterhouse’s unbeaten colt Vancouver who took his earnings to $150,800 after he won the Group 3 $150,000 Canonbury Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill on January 31.
At his only other start the Medaglia D’Oro colt won the Listed $100,000 NSW Thoroughbred Breeders’ Plate (1000m) at Randwick last October.
The John O’Shea trained Anteculan is on the third line of the Golden Slipper Order Of Entry with $91,500 for her win over Thurlow in the Emirates Airline Plate at her only race start.
The Domesday filly is also ready to kick start her Autumn Carnival campaign in the Blue Diamond Prelude for the fillies on Saturday.
While Thurlow is well down the market order for the Golden Slipper with Ladbrokes.com.au at $51, her stablemate Fontiton is more fancied at $11.
The John O’Shea trained Ottoman, currently equal fifteenth in the order of entry with $48,750 in the bank, shares favouritism with Vancouver at $7, while Ottoman’s stablemate Furnaces, also on equal fifteenth, is on the second line of betting at $10.
