Randwick trainer Michael Freedman is leaving his smart filly Teaspoon in the mix for both the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill and the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Teaspoon, above in black and gold colours, is still in the mix for the Golden Slipper and the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes. Photo by Steve Hart.
Teaspoon made it two wins from two race starts with her victory in the Group 3 $150,000 Widden Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill on January 28 which followed her debut win in an 1100m 2yo Plate at Canterbury on November 5.
The Snitzel filly sits at the top of the order of entry for the Golden Slipper to be run on March 18 after the second acceptances were taken during the week and Freedman also left her in the mix for the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes on February 25 when he paid the third declaration fee.
Teaspoon has earned $139,750 for her two wins and is rated as a $26 chance while Golden Slipper $6 favourite Houtzen is unable to use her $1.2 million winning cheque from her Magic Millions 2yo Classic victory and is tenth in the order of entry with $80,400 eligible prizemoney.
While The Golden Slipper is Freedman’s preference at this stage, he is not completely ruling out a start in the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes for Teaspoon who is marked at $34 with Ladbrokes.com.au.
“She won the Widden last Saturday, which was a really tough win,” Freedman told Racing.com.
“She’s come through it really well.
“We’ve got the option to stay here in Sydney and run in the Magic Night or the Riesling as a lead-up to the Slipper but we thought we’d leave her in the mix down there.”
“The Blue Diamond for me this year has been more of a keep-in-the-mix sort of thing.”
“It’s always difficult when you have to pay up early for these races because if you leave them out, then there is nothing surer than they come out and do something.
“So it’s more a function of keeping them in the mix for as long as you think you need to until you know you’re not going to run.
“These are possibilities if not probabilities.”
Early Golden Slipper market order at Ladbrokes.com.au: $6 Houtzen, $8 She Will Reign, $13 Khan, Menari, Chauffeur, $15 Invincible Star, $17 Dinnigan, From Within, Tulip, Veranillo, $21 Lizee, Condor Heroes, Jorda, Kanga’s Eye, $26 Exceeds, Lucky Louie, Luiza, Oscietra, Madeenaty, Serena Bay, Single Bullet, Vinland, Teaspoon, $34 or more the rest.
