Just a few weeks ago, Michael and Richard Freedman weren’t sure they would have a two-year-old good enough for the Golden Slipper.
Fastforward to Saturday at Rosehill and they suddenly find themselves with a genuine prospect in improving filly Queen Of The Ball.
Runner-up at her only start in October, Queen Of The Ball ($15) was fitted with blinkers for her return and responded in kind, making a mess of her Widden Stakes rivals to take out the Group 3 fillies’ feature by 3-3/4 lengths.
Revolutionary Miss ($11) finished second with Pantonario ($8.50) another length away third.
The Freedmans’ won the Golden Slipper last year with Stay Inside and while co-trainer Michael was not getting carried away, he said Queen Of The Ball had at least earned a shot at the juvenile showpiece.
“I was thinking a couple of weeks ago we might be a little light-on for a Golden Slipper horse,” Michael Freedman said.
“I’d say off the back of that, you’d have to be thinking she is somewhere in the mix anyway.
“There’s not much of her but she is as tough as old boots, as big an eater as we’ve got in the stable and just loves her racing.”
Queen Of The Ball sped around the 1100 metre circuit in 1:03.53, more than half a second faster than Best Of Bordeaux clocked in annihilating his Canonbury Stakes rivals a race earlier.
Given the steamy conditions at Rosehill, Freedman said he would see how the winner came through the run before deciding where she would appear next.
Asked whether the fillies’ might have the wood on the colts and geldings this season, Freedman said it was difficult to get a true line on how they measured up but felt Queen Of The Ball’s smart time was a good sign.
“The only formline I can get is Ojai ran third to Gary Portelli’s colt (Sejardan) in the Golden Gift and we got beaten narrowly by it first-up,” he said.
“When they’re winning like that and running that sort of time, it suggests they are going to be in the mix somewhere.”
King was upbeat about the filly’s effort and expects her to continue to make her presence felt through the autumn carnival.
“She has done everything right so far and if she can just keep doing that, I don’t see any reason why she can’t keep stepping up,” King said.
The race was a tough watch for Peter and Paul Snowden despite the second placing of Revolutionary Miss.
Stablemate Drisana was pulled up shortly after the start with jockey Kerrin McEvoy saying he felt something was amiss, while favourite Ebhaar over-raced and finished second last.
“I just think she pulled herself into the ground,” jockey Sam Clipperton said when questioned by stewards over Ebhaar’s below par performance.