Quality colt Sejardan has reaffirmed his Golden Slipper claims while unheralded filly Seven Veils has announced hers with the pair taking out the two juvenile races at Randwick.
Sejardan bounced back from his sole defeat in the Inglis Millennium, coming with a sweeping run to overhaul Boyfriend and win the Todman Stakes (1200m) by a half-length with Shalatin another 1-1/4 lengths away.
The victory was a relief for trainer Gary Portelli, who admitted to some last-minute anxieties about whether his horse would be able to come from the back and win on the very heavy track.
“I had this bad feeling he was going to get beaten today because the track was so ‘gluey’,” Portelli said.
“I watched the previous race when the backmarkers didn’t come into it, so I was mentally prepared for him to plod into third or fourth spot and then bounce into the Slipper.
“But what he has done today shows me he is the real deal.”
Portelli also has Sweet Embrace Stakes winner Fireburn qualified for the Golden Slipper, which is just a fortnight away, and he says both youngsters are outstanding chances.
Jason Collett faces a tough choice on which one to ride, although he is leaning towards sticking with with Sejardan.
“I did love the filly’s win last week, but this colt keeps stepping up,” Collett said.
“They are both good chances and I will talk it over with Gary.”
Sejaradan has firmed to $8 for the Slipper, behind only undefeated filly Coolangatta ($5), who is almost clinging to favouritism by default as she has not raced since the Magic Millions in January.
Seven Veils’ Slipper odds were slashed from $51 into $17 after she led throughout to win the Reisling Stakes (1200m) for the fillies, accounting for Dashing Legend by 1-1/4 lengths with Ojai a half-length away third.
The filly was having just her second start after being narrowly beaten in a midweek race on debut but trainer Mark Newnham said it was no surprise to see her measure up against the better two-year-olds.
“She made a few mistakes on debut and it just cost her the win,” Newnham said.
“It was our plan to come here if she had won that midweek maiden and I was buoyed by the fact the form out of the race has been quite strong and she has shown good natural improvement from her first-up run.”
Reisling favourite Russian Conquest made some late headway to finish fourth, but jockey Tommy Berry said she struggled in the heavy conditions.
“(She) just didn’t handle that heavy 10. She travelled really well through it like she did in trackwork on Tuesday, but you never know until you let them off the bit and it found her out,” Berry said.
The Todman and Reisling Stakes have historically been key Golden Slipper pointers with 25 of the past 50 Slipper winners contesting one of them in the lead-up.