Golden Slipper The Target For Furnaces

Trainer John O’Shea has confirmed that the 2015 Golden Slipper will be the target for talented colt Furnaces when he returns to racing next year.

Furnaces made his racing debut with an impressive victory at Rosehill Gardens on October 25. Photo by: Steve Hart

Furnaces made his racing debut with an impressive victory at Rosehill Gardens on October 25. Photo by: Steve Hart

Furnaces stamped himself as a horse to watch when he won a barrier trial over 800 metres at Warwick Farm on October 10 in good style and he proved that effort was no fluke when he led from start to finish to record a dominant six and a half lengths win in the Primo Moraitis Plate (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on October 25.

The Exceed And Excel was sent straight to the spelling paddock following his debut win, but O’Shea told Sky Racing HQ that the two-year-old will return to his Warwick Farm-based stable next week to begin preparations for the Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m).

“He is back in the stable next week,” O’Shea said.

“He had the luxury of having a nice break and I didn’t feel that we needed to have him back in too soon.

“He is probably only going to have a couple of runs into the Slipper and if he is good enough he will get in there and if he can’t win either of those two races to qualify then he probably doesn’t deserve his place.

“He has had a good spell, he will come in with nice fresh legs, he has a little bit of money in the bank and if he can win another race he will find his way into the Slipper.”

Godolphin have dominated the early two-year-old races that have been held in both Sydney and Melbourne; with the likes of Calaverite, Mesa, Igraine, Antelucan, Sampeah and Bantam all stamping themselves as horses to watch next year.

O’Shea is confident that Furnaces is currently one of the most talented two-year-olds in the Godolphin stable and he believes that the debut winner still has plenty of improvement in front of him.

“He is one of our top five two-year-old colts,” O’Shea said.

“He has produced a good performance and he did a good job because he was a November foal and was a little bit behind the others in terms of his physical appearance and still very open in his knees.

“It was important that we gave him as long out as we could and he seems to have furnished and grown.

“He will come back in hopefully a much improved horse.”

O’Shea is still chasing his maiden Group 1 win since taking over as head trainer for Godolphin Australia, while the leading racing operation is chasing their third win in the Golden Slipper after taking out the 2007 edition of the race with Forensics and Sepoy in 2011.

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.