Such is their respect for Godfather, Team Snowden believe that their colt could have won the Breeders Plate had he not missed the race because of his barrier manners.
Peter and Paul Snowden will watch their Breeders Plate winner, Empire Of Japan, and Godfather contest the opening race at Randwick on Saturday before the smart pair of two-year-olds are put away and unleashed in another three weeks in the $2million Magic Millions.
Empire Of Japan is the early $2.40 favourite with bookies when he resumes, which is no doubt partly motivated by the James McDonald factor, but the stable’s opinion of Godfather can not be underestimated. Nothing could split the pair when they worked together on Tuesday morning.
The Magic Millions picture will become a lot clearer by Saturday afternoon given that the BJ Mclachlan Stakes at Doomben will also sort out which horses deserve to be in the conversation.
“Godfather may have taken Empire Of Japan’s place in the Breeders had he not been barred at the trials,” Paul Snowden said.
“He was ordered to trial again and forced to miss the race.
“He went out and we had to choose a different path. We pulled the pin on the Breeders but still wanted to give him his chance of making it to the Magic Millions. And now here we are.”
Godfather led all the way at Eagle Farm earlier this month when sent out the odds-on favourite on debut. The roguish antics at the barriers he displayed at the trials back in September remains the only time he has misbehaved.
Snowden said the instructions to jockey Ryan Maloney at Eagle Farm were to “take the race by the scruff of the neck” so that there were no hard-luck stories or excuses when returning home, but the camp maintains that the horse will produce his best when camped just off the speed.
Empire Of Japan is a serious horse “who has taken natural progression from his first preparation” and will improve further second-up into the Gold Coast feature next month.
The stable will also start Godzilla in the BJ Mclachlan Stakes, and another smart two-year-old, Snapback, which was rolled as a short-priced elect last weekend at Randwick, will run in Sydney on Saturday week with the hope that he can also make the Magic Millions field. McDonald rode Snapback that day and despite the defeat labelled him a “stakes-quality horse, for sure”.
James McDonald salutes as Empire Of Japan wins the Breeders Plate on October 1. Credit:Getty
“He floated when he got to the front, and that was his undoing,” Snowden said of Snapback. “If you watch closely, he did rally when the other horse loomed.
“He’s got improvement in terms of his race manners and might have some gear on him for his next start in Sydney on December 31.
Platinum Jubilee, which won the Gimcrack Stakes for fillies on the same day Empire Of Japan won the Breeders Plate, will also resume over the 1100m on Saturday.
For all of Gai Waterhouse’s outstanding success with two-year-olds over the years, Platinum Jubilee was her first Gimcrack winner. Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have a healthy respect for Platinum Jubilee, which tuned up for the weekend with an all-the-way trial win.
Like the Snowdens, Bott also had a lot of time for a less-heralded stablemate The Novelist, which won by five lengths on debut and will contest the BJ Mclachlan Stakes. Bott was even entertaining ditching Sydney for Brisbane to watch The Novelist.
Meanwhile, Russian Camelot, the horse that chased home Coolangatta in last year’s Magic Millions, will resume in the Gosford Guineas next Wednesday.
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