Having captured three Golden Slippers in the past decade, Tommy Berry has a decent insight into what type of horse it takes to win the world’s richest two-year-old race.
On Saturday at Rosehill, he will test the credentials of Cythera in the Group 2 Silver Slipper (1100m) after partnering the I Am Invincible filly to a promising debut victory over the previously undefeated Lady Laguna in the Lonhro Plate.
Berry has liked what she has shown him so far, particularly her ability to win off a limited preparation.
“She did that off one trial, which is very impressive, and she has got plenty of improvement,” Berry said.
Berry combined with Gai Waterhouse to win two Golden Slippers aboard Overreach in 2013 and Vancouver two years later, before adding another aboard the Michael and Richard Freedman-trained Stay Inside 12 months ago.
Given those experiences, he knows what he is looking for when it comes to finding his next star.
Berry says a two-year-old needs to be mature and professional, but they also need something that is harder to find.
“When you ride these two-year-olds, they’ve got to have an x-factor feel about them,” Berry said.
“You are looking for a horse that can show a bit of natural speed early, can put themselves into the race a little bit, which makes it easier and gets them out of a bit of bad luck, and can sustain a strong gallop.
“There are a lot of two-year-olds that can run a strong 1000, 1100 (metres) but 1200 is a different ball game.
“You need something that is going to put itself there, switch off and do the little things right.”
The past 10 renewals of the Silver Slipper reveal an intriguing statistic when it comes to Golden Slipper winners.
While four horses have captured the double during that period – Farnan, She Will Reign, Mossfun and Pierro – the Rosehill lead-up has also been a key pointer when it comes to the battle of the genders.
If a filly has triumphed in the Silver Slipper, a filly has won the Golden Slipper and vice versa for the males, with the only exception during the past decade being in 2019 when Time To Reign won the pre-cursor and Kiamichi the juvenile showpiece, which was held on a bottomless track.
The girls appear to have the wood on the boys based on times and results this season, including in the Magic Millions when Coolangatta led home a trifecta for the fillies.
Only four females will line up in Saturday’s edition of Silver Slipper (1100m) and they are all rated at $10 and under with Berry’s mount Cythera an $8 chance, while Widden Stakes winner Queen Of The Ball heads Silver Slipper betting at $2.60.