After the acceptances and barrier draw for the $3.5 million Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m), taking place as the highlight event on a bumper Rosehill race programme this Saturday, the jockeys for all the horses in the Golden Slipper field have now been confirmed.
When the 2011 Golden Slipper barrier draw was released at midday, four of the runners vying for the richest two-year-olds’ prize in the world were still without a fixed hoop for Saturday’s showdown.
The Bart Cummings-trained Salade will be ridden by Luke Nolen in the Golden Slipper on Saturday
Craig Williams has now been announced as the jockey for the Lee Freedman-trained Masthead, the Blue Diamond Stakes placegetter drawn ideally in barrier four but still a roughie in the Golden Slipper odds at a quote of around $67.
Luke Nolen will be aboard Bart Cummings’ 11th hour hopeful Salade, despite Hot Snitzel’s jockey Corey Brown making a last minute bid to swap Golden Slipper rides.
Promising Snitzel colt Salade is out to make history as the most lightly-raced Golden Slipper winner of all time.
Saturday will be just the second career start for Salade, the colt coming into calculations for the Slipper after an upset win by an impressive 2 ½ lengths in the Group 2 Pago Pago Stakes (1200m) last Saturday at Rosehill.
For the Pago Pago Salade was ridden by Corey Brown.
Brown had previously committed to riding Gerald Ryan’s gelding Hot Snitzel in the Golden Slipper on Saturday, leading Luke Nolen to gain the ride on $15 shot Salade.
Brown tried to get a release from the ride on the Triple Crown Sydnications-owned Hot Snitzel, the horse coming off a close second in the Group 3 Skyline Stakes and drawn in barrier seven for the Slipper, in favour of reuniting with Salade.
He was denied but didn’t draw out the issue.
“Corey wanted to continue his association with Salade but we asked him to honour his commitment to Hot Snitzel,” Michael Ward from Triple Crown said.
The two other recent jockey confirmations are for Danny Nikolic to ride Mosheen from barrier one in the Slipper and Steven Arnold being booked to ride Do You Think if the Bart Cummings-trained first emergency gains a start.
Below is the complete list of hopeful horses engaged for the 2011 AAMI Golden Slipper along with their barrier draws and confirmed jockeys.
| # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEPOY | Peter Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 10 | 56.5 |
| 2 | SMART MISSILE | Anthony Cummings | Glen Boss | 5 | 56.5 |
| 3 | RUNNING TALL | Danny O’Brien | Ben Melham | 8 | 56.5 |
| 4 | FOXWEDGE | John O’Shea | Nash Rawiller | 11 | 56.5 |
| 5 | MASTHEAD | Lee Freedman | Craig Williams | 4 | 56.5 |
| 6 | SALADE | Bart Cummings | Luke Nolen | 12 | 56.5 |
| 7 | HOT SNITZEL | Gerald Ryan | Corey Brown | 7 | 56.5 |
| 8 | SATIN SHOES | Clarry Conners | Hugh Bowman | 2 | 54.5 |
| 9 | ELITE FALLS | John O’Shea | Jim Cassidy | 16 | 54.5 |
| 10 | KARUTA QUEEN | Neville Layt | Tommy Berry | 13 | 54.5 |
| 11 | ALTAR | Peter Snowden | Joshua Parr | 14 | 54.5 |
| 12 | SHARED REFLECTIONS | Gai Waterhouse | Damien Oliver | 6 | 54.5 |
| 13 | SARAMENHA | Gerald Ryan | Nathan Berry (a) | 15 | 54.5 |
| 14 | FAST AND SEXY | Chris Waller | Glyn Schofield | 17 | 54.5 |
| 15 | MOSHEEN | Leon Corstens | Danny Nikolic | 1 | 54.5 |
| 16 | EMPRESS ROCK | Bart Cummings | Michael Rodd | 3 | 54.5 |
| 17e | DO YOU THINK | Bart Cummings | Steven Arnold | 9 | 56.5 |
