Blitzburg, the Canonbury Stakes winner, has been ruled out for the autumn campaign due to a bone chip injury, but co-trainers Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou might have an exciting substitute in Warwick Farm victor King Of Pop.

The promising colt, closely related to champion stallion Snitzel, has put himself in the frame for a Golden Slipper berth following his tenacious debut in the Find Your Next G1W @ The Chase Plate (1100m) on Wednesday.

“I always thought he was my best chance in the Golden Slipper,” Ryan said.

“He was supposed to race in December, but he had shin soreness, so we gave him time to recover. Now, we’ll gradually step him up. There are three races we can use to qualify him.

“What I liked about today is he sat back off a hot speed and hit the line well.”

The $800,000 Magic Millions purchase is by 2020 Golden Slipper hero Farnan and has a bloodline that Ryan is particularly familiar with.

The colt’s granddam, Wiener, was a stakes performer and is a half-sister to Snitzel.

“I bought his mother as a yearling, Za Zi Ba, and I bought the grandmother, Wiener and I bought her brother Snitzel, so he’s got a great pedigree,” Ryan said.

Ridden by Jason Collett, King Of Pop ($4.40 fav) finished strongly to defeat Savvy Hallie ($8), with both runners pulling over two lengths clear of third-placed Congressman ($6).

Ryan has yet to decide on the colt’s next target, preferring to keep his options open.

“There’s the Skyline Stakes, Todman Stakes, Canberra (Black Opal Stakes), Pago Pago,” Ryan said.

“He’s a good doing horse and a gross horse so it wouldn’t worry me if he went to the Pago Pago and backed up like Hinchinbrook.”

Hinchinbrook ran third in the 2010 Pago Pago Stakes before coming back a week later to finish fourth in the Golden Slipper behind Crystal Lily.