By Craig Kerry
Peter Snowden is confident he already has a Golden Slipper runner, and he’s not counting on Memo giving him a second, even if she finally breaks through on Saturday in the Magic Night Stakes at Rosehill.
The Randwick trainer has Memo, a maiden with $616,475 in prizemoney from just five starts, in the final Golden Slipper qualifier for the fillies, but he did not accept with Quietly Arrogant in the colts and geldings equivalent, the Pago Pago Stakes.
Memo (right) comes down the outside to finish third on debut in the Gimcrack Stakes at Randwick in October.Credit: Getty Images
Snowden, who won the Slipper with Sepoy (2011) and Capitalist (2016), believed Quietly Arrogant, with $121,350 in eligible prizemoney, will make the 16-horse field for the following Saturday’s $5 million race for two-year-olds at Rosehill.
Quietly Arrogant was 22nd in the latest order of entry for the Slipper, but several nominations ahead of him were spelling or out with injury.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll get in,” Snowden said. “We’ve done the math and we’re pretty sure he’s 14 as we stand now, and if we do get two fresh horses in, he’ll make 16.”
Snowden said the Capitalist colt was “in great shape” after his most recent effort when a neck away in third behind Rivellino in the Skyline Stakes.
Quietly Arrogant (second from left) runs third behind Rivellino (far right) in the Skyline Stakes at Randwick.Credit: Getty Images
Memo, meanwhile, is out of contention on prizemoney because most of her earnings have come through Magic Millions races.
Snowden said, even if Memo won on Saturday to qualify, he “might decide not to run her in the Slipper”.
“I hope she runs well, and we’ll head towards the fillies race, the Percy Sykes,” he said. “I’m not thinking about the Slipper with her at all.”
Memo, another progeny of Capitalist, has placed four times in five starts, including a third on debut in the Gimcrack Stakes in October and second in the Magic Millions Classic. That runner-up effort gave the $350,000 buy $540,000 in stakes.
She returned from a freshen up to finish eighth in the Sweet Embrace Stakes on March 1 and Snowden expected an improved effort on Saturday. Kerrin McEvoy rides from gate 10 in the group 3.
“She’s come on nicely from her first-up run,” he said. “She was a bit fresh and wasn’t beaten far at all. She’ll improve for the run.
“She’s drawn a bit awkward, but it’s not the end of the world because she gets back midfield anyway, so it’s a matter of slotting in somewhere. She’s good to go and she’ll run well.
“If she runs top three, I’ll be rapt with that because I reckon her next run after that will be her best one and hopefully that will be in the Percy Sykes.”
Memo is $12 (Sportsbet) in the Magic Night market, which was headed by the Bjorn Baker-trained Strada Varenna ($2.90) and John O’Shea and Tom Charlton’s Artistic Venture ($4).
Snowden’s other runners at Rosehill are Flying From Above ($101), a pick up from the defunct Anthony Cummings stable, in the group 2 Phar Lap Stakes and Behtar ($91) in the last.
“He’s a nice enough horse,” he said of Flying From Above. “It’s a pretty big jump in class from a maiden to stakes race like that, but he seems well and has worked nice.
“He’s got a bit of presence about him. I’m not sure about Saturday, but I’d say there will be a nice race for him some time in the carnival.
“I think what [Behtar] really will appreciate is soft ground. Unfortunately last preparation they were rock-hard tracks in Melbourne, so we tipped him out. But he’s had two good trials here. It’s too short for him Saturday, but it won’t surprise me to see him run well.”
