Front running tactics are not pencilled in for Victorian colt Written By in the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
Written BY, above, doesn’t have to lead in the Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
Written By set the pace when he ran smart time against the colts and geldings in winning the Group 3 $175,000 Café Culture + Insitu Pago Pago Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill last Saturday but trainer Grahame Begg said that the Written Tycoon colt doesn’t have to lead after drawing in close at barrier four in the capacity sixteen horse Golden Slipper Stakes field.
“The horse doesn’t have to lead to win – he’s got good gate speed, he can roll up close, absorb a bit of pressure,” Begg told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“There seems to be good speed inside and outside – look, it’s a Golden Slipper, so it’s going to be a high-pressure race.
“Everyone’s worrying about the ground – we’ll worry about that when it comes. We’ll work off a Good track for now, and worry about it when it [the forecast rain] comes.”
Written By is on the second line of betting at $4.80 with Ladbrokes.com.au behind the Tony McEvoy trained Sunlight who is the $4.20 Golden Slipper Stakes favourite.
Sunlight also won from the front last Saturday but ran just over half a second slower than Written By when she beat the fillies in the Group 3 $175,000 Canadian Club Magic Night Stakes (1200m).
Sunlight has drawn barrier five with Luke Currie to ride again while Written By’s regular jockey Jordan Childs is in the saddle again.
Written By’s early preparation was in jeopardy when he was regarded as a barrier rogue, but Begg and his team successfully re-educated the colt who went on to win the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 24.
Begg then had to freshen up Written By to embark on a Golden Slipper Stakes campaign and the colt is now a couple of days away from claiming a second Group 1 victory in his juvenile year.
“It’s been quite a long build up! We’ve had a few issues with the horse getting him up to this stage to being able to compete in these big races,” Begg said.
“We had a few issues early on with his barrier manners.
“The break between the Blue Diamond and the Golden Slipper’s been really good for him.
“We gave him a soft time between the Blue Diamond and the Pago Pago last Saturday – he only had one gallop in three weeks.
“The race on Saturday has brought him on.”
The Rosehill track was rated a Soft 6 on Wednesday morning after receiving 14mm of rain in the last twenty-four hours.
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