Webster be happy if Clapper second again
Happy Clapper (blue) is again expected to run second to Winx (blue/white) in the Chipping Norton.
Happy Clapper has finished second to Winx four times and his trainer Pat Webster will be content if it happens again in the Chipping Norton Stakes.
First markets on Saturday’s Group One feature at Randwick indicate the result will be the same as it was in the Apollo Stakes last Saturday week with Winx $1.10, Happy Clapper $11 and the rest $26 and longer.
The Chipping Norton (1600m) will be Happy Clapper’s lead-up to the $5 million All-Star Mile at Flemington two weeks later with the triple Group One winner gaining the first wild card to the race.
But first he needs to get through the Chipping Norton and Webster admits the bleeding attack which ended the triple Group One winner’s spring carnival plays on his mind.
“Once they’ve had a bleed you do worry that it could happen again,” Webster said.
“So I do everything I can to take care of him . He came through the Apollo Stakes well and hopefully he can run second to Winx again. He can’t beat her on what she showed in the Apollo.
“If he runs second he is on target for other races including the All-Star Mile.”
Happy Clapper, Aloisia and Tavago are the only three among the 10 Chipping Norton nominations taken on Monday that are not trained by Chris Waller.
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained 2017 Thousand Guineas winner Aloisia finished seventh of eight in the Apollo while 2016 Australian Derby winner Tavago has been sidelined with injury for 18 months.
The other Waller nominations are Brimham Rocks, D’Argento, Egg Tart, Libran, Patrick Erin and Unforgotten.
Winx will be aiming for her 31st consecutive win and her 23rd at Group One level.
If she wins her fourth Chipping Norton Winx will equal the feat of Tie The Knot who won the race from 1999 to 2002.
She will also become the first horse to win two Group One races on four occasions, the Cox Plate being the other.
Winx could then make it three different races with her next assignment, all going as expected, the George Ryder Stakes.