Blue Diamond Stakes winner Pride Of Dubai will skip the rich Golden Slipper and head towards the Group 1 $1m ATC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 4.
Blue Diamond winner Pride Of Dubai, yellow, blue cap, will miss the Golden Slipper. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
Pride Of Dubai became the second Group 1 winner for the father-son trainer partnership of Peter and Paul Snowden when he won the $1m Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield last Saturday.
The training combination also won the 2014 Group 1 $1m BECK Caulfield Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield with Shooting To Win.
The connections of the Street Cry colt paid a late entry fee of $55,000 to gain a start in the Blue Diamond Stakes and not being among the entries for the Group 1 $3.5m Tooheys New Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 21, would have to pay another $150,000 to gain a start in the richest two year race in the world.
But Peter Snowden said that the task of getting Pride Of Dubai to contest the Golden Slipper only three weeks after his Blue Diamond Stakes win would have been a tough call.
“It’s not the late fee, it’s more he reached his grand final on Saturday,” Snowden told RSN.
“To me it’s too much to ask a horse to back up in three weeks time. To bring him back up again would be too arduous.”
“I think the speed would be too solid. He can’t get going quick enough and I would think 1400 (metres) or a mile would suit him better.”
“With that in mind I would think the Sires will suit much better. It’s five weeks away and he’ll be better at Randwick.”
Snowden will bring Pride Of Dubai back to his Randwick stable and let him get over his tough Caulfield run before lining up in the Sires Produce Stakes on the first day of ‘The Championships’.
Pride Of Dubai made it back to Blue Diamond Stakes wins for Snowden and jockey Damian Browne after the pair combined with smart filly Earthquake to win last year’s running when Snowden was training under the Darley banner.
Pride Of Dubai was only having his third race start in scoring his maiden win in Victoria’s premier two year old race and the victory took his prizemoney earnings to $650,350.
