Five years after celebrating his first Golden Slipper victory with Farnan, Adrian Bott is hoping to relive that success as he prepares two of the stallion’s sons for this year’s race.
Farnan is the sire of Tulloch Lodge colts North England and Farcited, who, alongside Zousain filly Bellazaine, make up the three-horse Golden Slipper team for Bott and his training partner, Gai Waterhouse.
“He’s got three runners in the Slipper, two for us, which is a fantastic achievement in his first season and a positive sign of what’s to come,” Bott said.
North England, drawn in barrier nine, staked his Golden Slipper claims early in the season with a solid third-place finish behind the ill-fated stablemate King Kirk in the Breeders’ Plate (1000m) and a determined victory in the Golden Gift (1100m).
Originally, Waterhouse and Bott planned to give North England two starts leading into Saturday’s feature, but his preparation was interrupted when he was scratched from the Silver Slipper due to an irregular blood count.
He did manage to race again, finishing a brave fifth in the Todman Stakes (1200m). While Bott acknowledged adjustments to his training schedule were necessary, he believes they’ve had enough time to make up for the missed Silver Slipper run.
“We didn’t have to change too much. We knew the adjustments we’d need to make in terms of the program,” Bott said.
“It was more about managing our expectations in the lead-up and what to expect from the final result.
“That said, we’ve been able to get him to where he needs to be now. We just needed that extra time to prepare him properly.”
Farcited earned his place in the $5 million feature due to a high attrition rate at acceptance time. While his primary target remains the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) two weeks later, Bott believes he can still deliver a strong performance on Saturday.
The colt was narrowly defeated by Saturday’s rival King Of Pop, another son of Farnan, in the Black Opal Stakes (1200m) at Canberra, where Bott felt he was left vulnerable late after leading.
Farcited faces a tough challenge from barrier 17, and Bott hinted that he could be ridden more conservatively, depending on their assessment of the speed map.
“We always saw him as a potential Sires’ campaign horse, and if he’d won the Black Opal by a nose, we would have been preparing for this race,” Bott said.
“As it turned out, with the way the field shaped up, this is a great target race for horses aiming for the Sires’. He’s a strong chance to run a big race as well.”
Bellazaine also drew wide in barrier 15, but the stable plans to use her natural speed to overcome the disadvantage.
“She’s one who will push forward,” Bott said.
“We’re not worried about the draw with her. She has the speed to handle it. We’ve seen her absorb and handle pressure in her races. She was in a high-pressure race last start and stuck on well.
“She hasn’t gone backward, and she has the physical strength to cope with that pressure.”
