Golden Slipper Day: Pure racing with five Group 1s

I love Golden Slipper Day. If it’s not my favourite raceday of the year, it’s not far off. And it’s here on Saturday!

There’s five Group 1s (Golden Slipper, BMW, George Ryder, Storm Queen and Queen of the Turf) and more prize-money (over $7.5m) than any other meeting in Australia. But I loved Slipper Day before I knew anything about that.

You can go to the races 100 times in a season in Sydney and not much will change. But from the moment you enter Rosehill Gardens on Slipper Day; you know it’s special. For Sydneysiders, this is racing’s Grand Final Day. You can smell it in the air.

2013 will be the seventh Slipper meeting in eight years run on a wet track. When it rains in Sydney in early April, racing fans know what it means – the Slipper is here.

It wasn’t always the case. In 1997, good weather greeted Rosehill for the Golden Slipper. And after Octagonal won the BMW (2400m, Group 1, weight-for-age), ‘O’ was written in the skies above Rosehill.

It was ‘the Big O’s’ last win. And one of my first racing memories. My first Slipper.

Slipper Day is about competitive racing. The Slipper (1200m, Group 1, two-year olds) itself is usually rough. To win world’s richest two-year old race (of $3.5m) you have to save ground. Not since Catbird in 1999, has a horse circled the field to win the Golden Slipper.

And even then, Catbird only just won. Perhaps, he was lucky to win. On Slipper morning, Redoute’s Choice – the hot favourite – was scratched from the big race with an elevated temperature.

Redoute’s, soon to be one of racing’s most influential stallions and once valued at over AU$220m, cemented his future at stud with an epic victory in that year’s Caulfield Guineas (1600m, Group 1, three-year olds).

Along with the Caulfield Guineas, the Golden Slipper is Australia’s premier stallion-making race. A winning colt automatically has an eight-figure value attached to their neck.

But sometimes, the stallion-maker is a horse that doesn’t win. Octagonal was second in the Slipper in 1995. He went on to produce Lonhro. And the great lineage continued when Lonhro sired 2012 Golden Slipper winner Pierro.

Perhaps the best sire produced in a Golden Slipper is Fastnet Rock.

Among his progeny are the unbeaten mare Atlantic Jewel and multiple Group 1 winners Mosheen and Sea Siren.

Fastnet Rock – an eventual dual Group 1 winner – finished fourth behind Dance Hero in the Slipper of 2004. And, there isn’t a race meeting that I look back at more fondly than Slipper Day 2004.

The scenes during and after Lonhro’s victory in the George Ryder (1500m, Group 1, weight-for-age) were unforgettable. The western Sydney crowd came to watch western Sydney’s champion.

The ‘house full’ sign was put up and ‘the Black Flash’ didn’t disappoint. The race was over at the furlong pole and as Lonnie coasted to the post, he received a cheer that Black Caviar would be proud of.

The 2004 Slipper was a great race. Dance Hero went on to win the two-year old Triple Crown (comprising the Slipper, Sires Produce at 1400m and Champagne at 1600m).

He beat Charge Forward, who has produced two Group 1 winners at stud, and Alinghi – one of my all-time favourite fillies – was third.

After the Golden Slipper I was lucky enough to give Alinghi a big pat at the raceday stalls. I thought I was touching a champion. I didn’t want to wash my hands.

And the filly didn’t let me down. She finished her career in America, having amassed four Group 1s during her career.

That’s the beauty of Slipper Day. It’s a day for old champions and up-and-coming superstars. And it’s always great racing.

They call the 1986 Cox Plate the race of the century. But I’m happy to argue with anyone that the 2003 BMW was better.

In the ’86 Cox Plate, Bonecrusher and Our Waverly Star battled it out for the last 800m of a 2040m race. In the 2003 BMW, Freemason battled it out with Northerly for the last 1500m of a 2400m race.

This was racing’s David and Goliath battle. But it was a better contest than David and Goliath.

Darren Beadman, aboard Freemason, rode the best tactical race I’ve ever seen. Freemason was a plugger; a real handicapper. And it was going to take a miracle ride to beat Northerly – the Caulfield Cup, dual-Cox Plate winning champion – at weight-for-age.

Northerly, chasing his maiden victory in Sydney, led. Beadman settled Freemason last. But, perhaps in the greatest move in his illustrious riding career, ‘the Dazzler’ made the call to send Freemason to the lead at the 1800m mark.

Patrick Payne on Northerly was happy to let Freemason take up proceedings but when Beadman slacked the tempo, Payne sent Northerly up to Freemason to attack. And from the 1500m, these two horses went hammer and tong.

Beadman welcomed the heat. The constant pressure weakened the finish of Northerly, and Freemason out-toughed ‘the fighting Tiger’ in the last few strides of the race.

It was the probably the best indication we’d ever get – trainer Fred Kersley’s decision to bypass the 2002 Melbourne Cup with Northerly, who would’ve carried 60kgs, was a wise one. I don’t think the West Australian would’ve stayed two miles.

When this race was run, I was in year eight at school and remember having a $1 win bet on Northerly at odds of around $1.4.

But, it is the only time I’ve cheered against the horse I backed. At the 250m mark, I realised one of the great thoroughbred contests was being played out before me and emotion took over.

I began to cheer for the underdog – in hindsight; it was a bit harsh on Northerly who deserved to win a big race in Sydney. But it doesn’t really matter, I’m just happy to say I was there!

The roar of the crowd was deafening and when I think about that race, it makes me salivate.

It encapsulates everything I love about Golden Slipper Day.

Very rarely do you get an all-star cast assembled – this is not Royal Ascot or the Breeder’s Cup – but it’s even more seldom that you go away from Slipper Day without a memory that sticks.

Bring on Saturday!