Earthquake and Mossfun are the 2014 Golden Slipper tips of Dominic Beirne; with the leading form analyst confident that the favourites in betting have a substantial edge over the rest of the field in the Group 1 event.
Mossfun is one of the 2014 Golden Slipper tips of leading form expert Dominic Beirne. Photo by: Steve Hart
2014 Golden Slipper betting markets are currently dominated by Earthquake and Mossfun, with the leading duo the only horses available at single figure odds, and Beirne believes that is a fair assessment; indicating that they are the only two-year-olds in the field with the rating figures required to win the Golden Slipper.
“The computer has Mossfun at $4.30 on a slightly rain affected track and the $6 I thought was wrong,” Beirne told RSN this afternoon.
“She has kept firming in the betting and I wouldn’t be surprised if they finished much, much closer together than even the current prices.
“The key to this year’s Golden Slipper is that I have a baseline in the last twenty years that a filly or colt has had to reach and the only horses predicted to reach that figure are the two fillies.
“If either one of them turn up the rest can’t wait and if they both rate down a little bit they might still get there because it is a low rating Slipper.
“The other thing in their favor is that they both have very good patterns to improve and they didn’t rate their personal best at their last run.”
Mossfun and Earthquake have taken different form lines into the 2014 Golden Slipper; with Earthquake taking out the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) in Melbourne, while Mossfun raced exclusively in Sydney.
Beirne believes that it takes an exceptional horse to win both the Blue Diamond Stakes and Golden Slipper and said that it is an advantage staying in Sydney in the lead-up, but is not ruling out Earthquake in what he believes is one of the weakest Golden Slipper fields in recent years.
The former bookmaker said that it is hard to split his 2014 Golden Slipper tips at their current prices and encouraged punters to take the small win on offer by backing both fillies in the race.
“It is definitely an advantage to have stuck to Sydney.
“We have only seen one horse in the last 20 something years win the double and he (Sepoy) was a superior two-year-old; he rated quite a lot in front of Earthquake.
“On paper if you took Earthquake out it would be the weakest Slipper I have ever seen.
“It is quite possible that the market place objects to Earthquake in some ways and that you can probably win backing the two.”
Earthquake ($2.50) remains a narrow favourite in 2014 Golden Slipper betting markets, but Mossfun is the clear market mover at a quote of $4.80.
