A wide barrier in the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday holds no concerns for two time Golden Slipper winning jockey Tommy Berry.
Scralet Rain has drawn an outside barrier in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
The Gai Waterhouse trained Scarlet Rain draw barrier sixteen in the original draw and is likely to jump from gate fifteen in the final sixteen horse field if emergency Moqueen, who drew barrier four, fails to gain a start.
Berry has won two of the last three Golden Slippers on Waterhouse trained youngsters and while he had a dream run on Overreach in 2013 from barrier one, Vancouver scored a brilliant win from the outside gate last year.
“Winning the Slipper from the inside and outside gates has certainly taught me a bit about riding in the race,” Berry told The Daily Telegraph.
“The first Golden Slipper rule is you shouldn’t judge a barrier until after the gates open. And at that point there is no time to worry about it.”
“It’s frantic but so intriguing — a race that every jockey wants to win and I’ve been very fortunate to win it twice.”
The ever confident Berry said that you have to go into the race with a positive attitude and he will be using Scarlet Rain’s natural early speed to put her into the race before the first turn.
“You have to be positive and ride like you know you can win. If you’re drawn wide you can’t afford to worry about getting stuck without cover and if you’re drawn the rails you have to believe you will get that gap in the straight,” Berry said.
“Scarlet Rain has a lot of natural speed and will be in the first three horses during the run.”
The prospect of a rain affected track also has Berry smiling after Scarlet Rain led all of the way to win a 1000m Randwick two year old plate on January 23 on a heavy track.
“The weather is looking a bit iffy and she won very convincingly at her only start in heavy conditions,” Berry said.
“Better start doing my Scarlet-rain dance.”
On Wednesday the Rosehill track was rated a Soft 5 with more showers forecast for Sydney in the lead up to the weekend.
Scarlett Rain qualified for the Golden Slipper with her all the way win in the Group 2 $175,000 Les Johnson Memorial Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on February 27 and is rated a $26 chance with Ladbrokes.com.au.
Blue Diamond Stakes winner Extreme Choice heads the market order at $3 ahead of his Mick Price trained stablemate Flying Artie at $5 with Capitalist on the third line of betting at $9.
Golden Slipper market order: $3 Extreme Choice, $5 Flying Artie, $9 Capitalist, $10 Kiss And Make Up, Astern, $13 Good Standing, $17 Calliope, $21 Defcon, $26 Scarlet Rain, Telperion, $31 Yankee Rose, $41 Star Turn, Honesty Prevails, $101 Sweet Sherry, $126 Moqueen, $151 Quick Feet, French Fern.
