3 minute read
How does this year’s Golden Slipper stack up with past years?
Gai Waterhouse got her eighth Golden Slipper and her second with Adrian Bott, but it certainly wasn't the one she was watching.
Punters on the other hand, didn't leave Lady Of Camelot out of calculations, sending her around as third pick in the market and one of just three horses in single figures.
She's run (as you'd expect) a new peak rating, coming in at 118, up from her 112 in the Blue Diamond.
118 is right on par for a Golden Slipper winning filly, especially in recent years.
Since 2000 there have been 13 fillies to win the race (edging out the boys), with the best of those Crystal Lily (122) in 2010.
Other fillies to have cracked the 120 mark are Miss Finland (120), Forensics (120) and Overreach (121).
Since Overreach, every filly to win the race has either rated 118 or 119 with the past three all at 118, so Lady Of Camelot sits alongside Estijaab, Kiamichi and Fireburn.
Given her four-pound sex allowance factored into her rating, she would, at weight-for-age, rate alongside Stay Inside, Farnan and Capitalist (122) as recent male winners and ahead of Shinzo (120).
Storm Boy was perhaps a bit unlucky, forced back to the inside after being slowly away but it wasn't any fault of Ryan Moore's – plenty was made pre-race about the draw and his tendency to be slow into stride.
He's still run a slight new peak, also coming in at 118 (given he carried 2kg more than the filly), up from 116 in his Magic Millions win with Slipper runner-up Coleman afforded a mark of 120.
Whether Storm Boy would've won with a slightly better run in transit is a bit of a stretch, but to me he looked like he simply wants more ground.
If they press on to the Sires at 1400m, he's still very comfortably the horse to beat as he'll likely have less pressure and be able to get on speed and keep rolling.
