Surprise contender Thermosphere is trainer James Cummings’ only hope of winning back to back Golden Slipper‘s after last year’s winner Kiamichi was the best of his five runners.
Thermosphere has entered Golden Slipper calculations following her narrow win at Rosehill on Saturday. Photo: Steve Hart.
Cummings quinellaed the race last year with Kiamichi and Microphone but Thermosphere will be his sole runner in the 2020 Group 1 $3.5 Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
The lightly raced Thermosphere only gained a place in the Golden Slipper field after winning the Group 3 $175,000 Antler Luggage Magic Night Stakes (1200m) on rain affected track at double figure odds at Rosehill last Saturday.
“She turned up the heat in the G3 Magic Night on the weekend and proved she could handle the pressure,” Cummings said.
“The team are excited to see if she has what it takes, to improve enough in the Golden Slipper, the hardest two-year-old race on the calendar.”
Tommy Berry replaces Magic Night Stakes winning jockey James McDonald on Thermosphere who has drawn barrier ten in the sixteen horse field Golden Slipper field.
Thermosphere will start at double figure odds again and is currently marked at $21 at Ladbrokes.com.au while James McDonald’s mount Hungry Heart is a $26 chance.
The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young trained Tagaloa (Michael Walker) was elevated into the top spot in the betting at $5 after drawing barrier six while the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Farnan (Hugh Bowman) lost his spot at the top of the market order after drawing fourteen in the original draw and is now the $5.50 second favourite.
On the third line of betting at $6.50 is the Anthony Freedman trained Hanseatic who drew barrier nine and will have the services of new jockey Kerrin McEvoy, replacing Tim Clark who was aboard the colt when he ran second to Tagaloa in the Group 1 $1.5m Neds Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 22.
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