Adrian Bott says it is a case of ‘job not done yet’ as he and training partner Gai Waterhouse prepare a team of seven youngsters for the richest two-year-old race in the world.
While most racing fans only ever dream of having a runner in the $5 million Golden Slipper (1200m), Waterhouse and Bott will saddle-up at least six at Rosehill on Saturday, seven if emergency Espionage can sneak into the field.
The pair has been enjoying a phenomenal season, producing the winners of 21 juvenile races, eight of them at black-type level.
Leading the charge is undefeated colt and popular favourite Storm Boy, who is ably supported by stablemates Straight Charge, Prost, Shangri La Express, Fully Lit and Lady Of Camelot.
It is a line up to hang your hat on, but Bott says qualifying youngsters for the race is only step one.
Apart from Lady Of Camelot, their remaining runners are colts whose values will increase dramatically if they can salute in the stallion-shaping race, none more so than Storm Boy’s.
“Like any business or competition or sporting event, you want to be competing at the highest level and at the pinnacle of the sport,” Bott said.
“To an extent, that has got to be the Golden Slipper for racing and two-year-olds.
“So to be here is certainly satisfying, but it’s not fully complete unless we can get the job done and be winning at the top level.
“Sometimes just being here is not close enough. We’ve still got a big job to do on Saturday.”
Waterhouse has won a phenomenal seven Golden Slippers, her most recent coming in 2020 when Farnan outclassed his rivals.
It marked Bott’s first success in the juvenile showpiece, but it came in front of empty grand stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown rules.
Celebrations were muted, but Bott said that didn’t make it any less special.
“Right up until the Slipper, everything was normal, and then the Sipper was the first meeting where there were no crowds,” Bott recalled.
“But it’s nice to win it any year, setting or no setting. That hasn’t changed my feeling toward the race having won it then, and it would be very special if we could do it again.”
Storm Boy is a solid $2.30 favourite with betting apps to give Waterhouse an eighth Golden Slipper and Bott a second and most of the focus has been on the market leader.
However, Bott is upbeat about the stable’s remaining runners, adamant all will arrive at Rosehill in top shape, including their next two most highly rated in the market, the well-backed Lady Of Camelot ($10 into $7.50) and Straight Charge ($12).
“We saw a very sharp trial from her in between runs and she’s got the perfect draw (barrier 5) to try and execute, very similar to how she did in that trial,” Bott said of Lady Of Camelot.
“She is certainly flying under the radar to an extent.
“Straight Charge….he has been there every step of the way, and he has hardly put a foot wrong.
“He has run in all the right races and he’s got a very good racing pattern so he is going to give them something to catch as well.”
But can any of the other 15 runners beat Storm Boy?
Maybe not, and for Bott and Waterhouse, that would be ‘job done’.
