Lesser Lights Steal The Show As Slipper Sensations Continue
The Age
Monday March 29, 1999
Golden Slipper day at Rosehill is never ordinary. It has a different feel about it from other feature race days and each year seems to heighten its slightly surreal quality.
In 1997, Rosehill was a sea of pink, or more correctly, cerise, as Jack and Bob Ingham's superstar Octagonal, on his final tour, appeared not to get up in time to win his second Mercedes Classic, but won the race anyway, upstaging his stablemate Guineas in the Golden Slipper, the world's richest race for two-year-olds.
Last year it was the turn of Nick Moraitas' champion Might And Power to take the spotlight in the group one Mercedes Classic, returning to his best form after a setback in Melbourne early last autumn had him underdone in the Ranvet.
It was hard to know what to expect on Saturday; there were no Might And Power or Octagonal, just the expectation of a big Danehill colt called Redoute's Choice who had been taken into the hearts of Sydney racing fans sight unseen, which in itself is bizarre enough.
The 24,000 racegoers who made it to Rosehill - no easy task given the obstacles of a New South Wales state election, the Show down the road at Homebush, traffic tangles and a rail system that defies description - were hoping to see something special in Redoute's Choice.
Instead they had to settle for another Danehill colt in Catbird, perfectly prepared by the knockabout Frank Cleary and ridden by one of the less fashionable jockeys in Mark de Montfort, who is recognised more these days for his prowess on the golf course.
There is little point pondering whether Redoute's Choice would have won the Golden Slipper. He did not run so we will never know. Suffice it to say, the circumstantial evidence weighed heavily in his favor.
When the warning siren sounded after the first race, signalling an announcement about the Golden Slipper, just about everyone jumped to the conclusion, for the wrong reasons as it turned out, that it would concern Redoute's Choice.
It was thought that the colt's shins, which have been a constant concern for trainer Rick Hore-Lacy, must be acting up. Instead, Redoute's Choice was in the early stages of a potentially life-threatening respiratory infection.
The colt was taken from his stable near Rosehill racecourse to the Randwick equine centre for emergency treatment.
Hore-Lacy was able to report yesterday that Redoute's Choice's condition had been stabilised. ``They've been able to keep the infection from spreading to his lungs, which could have brought on pneumonia," Hore-Lacy said.
He said the colt would remain at the centre for another 10 days. ``They're treating Redoute's Choice with antibiotics and I'll take him for a long walk every day."
Hore-Lacy is hoping to spell Redoute's Choice at the Shipton Lodge Stud at Cobbity, not far out of Sydney, for three weeks before bringing him back to Melbourne by road rather than flying, which apparently brought on the original problem.
``If they (the horses) can't get their heads down, mucus builds up and spreads down their throats into the lungs," he said.
``Coming back by road, we can do it in easy stages and take him off the float if necessary."
So, without Redoute's Choice, it was not a vintage Golden Slipper but it was a typical Slipper day of sensations.
John Hawkes had a winning treble but it it safe to say he would have traded them all if Align, part-owned by his wife, had been able to hold off Catbird in the Golden Slipper.
Just to rub it in, Hawkes' other runner, Dangerous, who wound up fourth, should have at least finished in a place.
© 1999 The Age