Sidestep back to best 2yo form to win Royal Sovereign Stakes

The Peter Snowden trained Sidestep is back to his best two year old form with a dashing win in the Group 2 $500,000 Arrowfield Royal Sovereign Stakes (1200m) at Randwick today.

Sidestep makes it two wins on the trot in Royal Sovereign Stakes.

Sidestep makes it two wins on the trot in Royal Sovereign Stakes. Photo by Steve Hart.

Sidestep took almost twelve months to recapture the form that saw him run second to Overreach in last year’s Group 1 $3.5m Tooheys New Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill.

But the Exceed And Excel three year old made it two wins on the trot after winning the Listed $125,000 Randwick Equine Centre Darby Munro Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill three weeks ago.

Snowden put the winkers back on Sidestep ($4.60) after his Rosehill win and the colt responded with first class display to run down Kiwi Group 1 winning filly Bounding  ($4 favourite) to score by a neck with In Cahoots ($26) also running on to finish third.

Winning rider Kerrin McEvoy had to throw pre-race riding plans out the window when Sidestep was slow to leave the barriers and had to settle near the tail of the field while Mark Du Plessis dictated the tempo in front on Bounding.

But McEvoy was able to secure a run in between horses over the final one hundred metres after being badly held up for a run in the early stages of the straight.

“We wanted to be a bit closer and if he jumped well we would have been. He can step a bit slow which he did today and had to just ride him to settle and finish,” McEvoy said.

“He has got a great motor and he done that well.”

“Peter decided to put the winkers on. He has been running great with big weights. I asked him to do a lot last time from a fair way out and today we had a softer run and I knew that he was going to be full of running.”

“He had horses to aim at and he showed that, he was fantastic in his finish today. He give me a good thrill.”

Snowden said that he had wanted Sidestep to be closer in the run and knew that the colt had plenty of work to do when he entered the straight with a wall of horses in front of him.

Snowden is keen to test Sidestep back in Group 1 company and will back the three year old up against the older horses in the weight for age Group 1 $400,000 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick next Saturday.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.