Sliders slips into Melbourne for Redoute’s Choice Stakes
With the Sydney Autumn Carnival in full swing and the best two-year-olds looking for black type to add to their potential value, Godolphin has gone the other way and sent Sliders to Melbourne for a stakes race.
The two-year-old daughter of Street Boss runs in the Listed Redoute’s Choice Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Interestingly, the race has undergone a number of name changes over the years after originally starting out as the Blue Sapphire Stakes and won by Black Caviar in 2009 at her second career start.
The Blue Sapphire Stakes is now a race for three-year-olds and run on the middle day of the Caulfield Cup carnival.
After a debut win at Newcastle in November, Sliders went on to finish second at Rosehill on November 28 and at her only run since, Sliders finished fifth to Glistening in the Group 2 Reisling Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on March 6.
A half-sister to stablemate Flit, Sliders was sent to Melbourne by trainer James Cummings a little over two weeks ago.
She had a jump-out over 800m at Flemington last week, winning the hit-out impressively after jumping straight to the front.
Melbourne’s leading jockey Jamie Kah, who holds a 24-win lead in the premiership race, had the ride on Sliders in the jump-out and takes the ride on Saturday.
“She’s a very smart filly and I went there especially for her,” Kah said.
“I really like her after I trialled her and I think if she can relax a bit more then she’s got a big future.”
Sydney two-year-olds are expected to dominate Saturday’s contest.
Sliders shares the second-line of betting at +450 with the Hawkes Racing-trained Hunnam while the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Najmaty, a debut winner at Randwick last month, is the +130 favourite.