It is the biggest week of the Autumn Carnival as Rosehill hosts no less than 5 Group 1s, the most of any racecard in the Australian calendar for Golden Slipper Day.

Down south at Moonee Valley the William Reid Stakes has been moved to Saturday from Friday night and is well supported by the $500,000 Alister Clark Stakes and the $200,000 Alexandra Stakes.

Strap in BTX team. It’s the biggest week in the history of our existence.

Jon Bon Rises to Group 2 Grade this week

Group 2 Test Awaits as BTX Reach Uncharted Waters with Jon Bon

3YO gelding Jon Bon has headed south and will tackle the Group 2 $500,000 Alister Clark Stakes at Moonee Valley on Saturday as one of the key chances for the Waterhouse and Bott team.

The race has a well-credentialed honour roll with the likes of multiple stakes winners Cliffs Edge, Nonconformist and Bank Maur.

Conducted over the famous Cox Plate trip of 2040m, the race provides Jon Bon with the opportunity to showcase his ability, and having had a solid piece of work on the track on Tuesday, the team are confident he will handle the unique parameters of the track, that has brought talented larger horses undone. The track gallop allows Jon Bon to accustomise to the unique surroundings including the pre and post-race routine.

The race is not only run for outstanding prizemoney at a high level, but the trip will no doubt bring on Jon Bon leaps and bounds in regards to maturity, and should he run well, the team will have great confidence in him handling a big occasion like the Australian Derby.

Good luck to all owners, who along with BTX Racing are stepping up to Group 2 level for the first time in the company’s history.

Yes Lulu

Yes Lulu Adds Black Type To Pedigree Page

Yes Lulu’s close third on Saturday when stepping up to listed level in the Redoute’s Choice Stakes has earned the filly valuable 2 year black type form which no doubt solidifies her place at stud in the future. The daughter of Yes Yes Yes was well positioned by in-form hoop Jamie Kah and was given every chance to perform in the 1100m contest.

Settling behind race favourite and eventual winner Bold Bastille, Yes Lulu was outpaced from the 400m mark but fought back to go down by just over a length, with a bob of the head relegating her to 3rd.

The team are thrilled with her constitution and will continue to the Thoroughbred Breeders Plate at Group 3 level on the 30th of March at Flemington. The race looks like a suitable option with Bold Bastille potentially looking elsewhere and further 2YO black-type performance would leverage her residual value.

South Australian Prizemoney Push A Major Move For Clarken

South Australian breeders and trainers have effusively welcomed news of a seven-year sponsorship deal bringing an immediate doubling in prize money for the state’s four group 1s, saying it will bring many benefits, including improvements to the state’s broodmare band.

Racing SA and the South Australian Jockey Club announced a partnership with Sportsbet that will initially boost prize money to AU$1 million for the Australasian Oaks (G1) and Robert Sangster Stakes (G1) April 27, the SA Derby (G1) May 4, and The Goodwood (G1) May 11.

The increase to the G1 prizemoney comes off the back of a 15 per cent increase in prizemoney across the remainder of the racing program.

The announcement was well received by the Will Clarken and Nikki O’Shea team along with their strong team of Group 1 aspirants for the South Australian carnival. The team have a number of rising 2, 3 and 4-year-olds who will not only take advantage of the hype around South Australian Racing in the next 6 months but will benefit richly from the 15% prizemoney increase over the next 7 years.

The announcement is no doubt key to BTX Racing-owned Nikolsky. The daughter of Smart Missile is the exact type of horse that SA Racing has been working hard to give better opportunities to not only expand their prizemoney offering but also provide an opportunity to create residual value as a broodmare prospect.

Nikolsky is currently undertaking full training in preparation for the now lucrative South Australian Carnival and now is the time to get involved.

Josh’s Saturday Preview

Firstly, congratulations to the few BTX Racing loyal readers who picked up Absurde at $11 in the Cheltenham Carnival when he won handsomely on Saturday night last week coming off a solid run in the Melbourne Cup in November.

Goes to show what can be achieved from reading to the end of the email.

The focus this week is the Golden Slipper Carnival!

The Greatest Slipper Ever?

Never has a Golden Slipper created as much public interest as this year, as the stars have aligned for a number of big players in what could be a vintage crop of 2YOs.

The 2023 Slipper crop has failed to live up to expectations with only one managing to win at Group 1 level outside of their own age and sex when Cylinder won the Newmarket Handicap two weeks ago.

This group don’t appear to have the same weakness. In any other year, $4.50 second pick Switzerland would be an odds-on favourite. The unbeaten $1.55M colt, purchased by Coolmore from the Arrowfield draft and by the 2023 Golden Slipper sire Snitzel has been impeccable thus far but is still unwanted due to the early dominance of Storm Boy.

Again, should Switzerland not be in the mix we would be arguing that $1.50 is value for Storm Boy who currently sits at a perhaps generous $2.10 and on paper presents as the strongest pre-race Golden Slipper candidate since Sepoy.

Then there’s the plethora of undercard options, with Straight Charge, Bodyguard, Lady Of Camelot, Manaal and Holmes A Court all with near impeccable breeding and purchased by some of the industry’s heavy hitters.

At face value, the only underdog story in the field is Blue Diamond winner Hayasugi who is by a little-known stallion in Royal Meeting, a small farm in Leneva Park and a minuscule service fee of $11,000.

This year is the Battle of the Titans. A group of horses that reflect not only their trainers and jockeys but more so their breeders and owners than ever before. A perfect ‘Storm’ of Australian Racing’s heaviest hitters, all doing battle in the one race. With the prize being a guaranteed place on any stallion roster or broodmare band in the country.

Easter Yearling Sale Trends to Shape Up On Saturday

The Inglis Easter Yearling Sale is just over 2 weeks away and the next 2 weeks of racing action will have a major effect on the purchase price of some of Australia’s highest-quality yearlings. Siblings to 175 individual stakes winners will enter the ring at Riverside from April 7-8 including siblings to the likes of Switzerland, Militarize and Golden Mile among many others who are racing this weekend.

While racing results throughout the year no doubt have an extreme influence on the attention paid to each yearling. The black-type results at such an influential and affluent time of year have more impact on the eventual sale price.

It will be fascinating to see what Switzerland’s full brother from the Arrowfield Draft sells for should he triumph on Saturday afternoon.

The Stallions Day In The Sun 

Everywhere you look on Saturday there is a stallion looking to solidify his place on some of Australia’s top rosters. We take a look at key chances and the farm they are associated with.

Darley: 

Cylinder – William Reid Stakes

Aft Cabin – Galaxy

Tom Kitten – Rosehill Guineas

Golden Mile – George Ryder

Coolmore: 

Storm Boy – Golden Slipper

Switzerland – Golden Slipper

Newgate: 

Holmes A Court – Golden Slipper

Militarize – George Ryder/Rosehill Guineas

King’s Gambit – Galaxy/William Reid

Red Resistance – Darby Munro Stakes

Ozzmosis – Darby Munro Stakes

Widden: 

Buenos Noches – Galaxy

Yulong: 

Straight Charge – Golden Slipper

Veight – George Ryder

No Association Yet: 

Schwarz – Darby Munro Stakes

King Colorado – Rosehill Guineas