An early advantage for the Golden Slipper

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Being born earlier in the season should be an advantage for a juvenile race because the horse has a month or two longer to mature. For the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes, it would seem logical that early foals are more likely to win than later foals, and this is correct for the most part - but an early birth date is just one factor of many that go into the creation of a Slipper winner.

A long reaching influence

For a race that is one of the youngest majors in Australia, the G1 Golden Slipper has had a massive influence on the Australian Thoroughbred. Created in 1957 by George Ryder and the Sydney Turf Club to put Rosehill on the map, the G1 Golden Slipper was The Everest of it’s day. The race, at set weights for 2-year-olds, was added to the calendar to add prestige and excitement to the autumn and bring crowds to Rosehill.

“Australia has the strongest 2-year-old racing of anywhere in the world and the Slipper is the pinnacle. It’s the race that works out the order of merit for the year and is something that’s lodged in Australian heritage. All the best stallions in Australia have come through a Slipper campaign, and it’s the goal of every yearling buyer to get there,” said Kia Ora Stud’s Shane Wright.

Arrowfield’s Jon Freyer agrees. “To win a Slipper, one of the key factors is that the horse has to have natural ability and precocity. They haven’t been in training long and don’t have lots of training under their belts. The best 2-year-old trainers are those that harness a horse’s natural precocity and ability and just let them do it.

“In the Classic races, the training has more impact, but you can’t create a Slipper winner. They have to have ability, and that’s why they make good stallions because that natural x-factor is transmissible.”

Date of birth of Golden Slipper winners

The Australian Stud Book’s online data only recorded the date of birth with precision since 1975, and since then, there have been 47 G1 Golden Slipper winners. Of those, 66 per cent were born in August and September, while in 2022, only 51 per cent of the foal crop were born in those months. So yes, there is an advantage to being born in August or September.

Table: Month of birth for Golden Slipper winners against foal crop

When you break this down further, August has almost no advantage with 18 per cent of the foal crop born then, and 21 per cent of Golden Slipper winners. It is September who carries the biggest advantage with 33 per cent of all foals born in 2022 being September foals, but 45 per cent of Golden Slipper winners were born in September.

It’s always hard to draw concrete conclusions from only 47 winners, but with nearly half of them being born in September, it does appear to be a factor.

Kia Ora Stud’s G1 Golden Slipper winner Farnan enjoyed his first stakes winner last weekend when King Of Pop won the G3 Black Opal Stakes.

“We couldn’t be happier with how Farnan has started. North England won the Golden Gift earlier in the season and now King Of Pop and Farcited have quinelled the Black Opal and are proving to be lovely colts. North England and King Of Pop are both good chances going into the Slipper, and it’s a rare thing for a first season sire to have two live chances. It shows the quality of the stock Farnan has out there.”

Farnan was born in early October, and when asked about why he stood out as a relatively later foal among Slipper winners, Wright felt there were other factors which were more important.

“It’s still a quarter of winners (in October). I do think when you are at the sales, date of birth is a factor only because horses look more mature, and what buyers are really looking for when they try to purchase a 2-year-old runner is a horse who looks like he’ll go early physically. One that is strong and mature, but more importantly, has a good temperament. Temperament, makes such a huge difference in the juvenile season, you need a horse with mental maturity.”

The three November foals

Since 1978, only three November foals have won the G1 Golden Slipper, and they all became breed-shaping stallions. Rory’s Jester was born on November 17, 1982, Danzero on November 15, 1991 and Flying Spur on November 4, 1992. Both Danzero and Flying Spur stood at Arrowfield Stud.

“They were three fabulous sires and all were big strong colts,” said Freyer.

“Rory’s Jester was a beast of a thing and both Danzero and Flying Spur were Arrowfield graduates and were big horses and mature yearlings from the start.

“Flying Spur and Danzero were both tall horses and very strong. Rory’s Jester wasn’t as tall, but he was a bullock, muscular and broad. Of our two, Danzero was more of a beast than Flying Spur who had more refinement and quality.

Gallery: November-foaled, breed-shaping stallions from Arrowfield that won the G1 Golden Slipper, images courtesy of Arrowfield

“Both were by Danehill who had a massive influence on the Slipper, but left a few different types of horses. Merlene was a small, neat, attractive filly who showed brilliant ability from day one. She was a very different style of horse to Danzero and Flying Spur. Danewin was also big and strong, but looked more like a 3-year-old type. The common factor was that they could all gallop with loads of ability and great temperaments.”

With only 13 per cent of all foals in Australia being born in November, it can be a question of opportunity. “You don’t get many November foals now. The later born foals can often be ready to go if they are the right type. Some can catch up quickly, it depends on their DNA, but it’s clearly an advantage to have a month or two of extra development time (for the Slipper).”

Rory’s Jester died at Swettenham Stud in 2007. “Rory’s Jester was a little bit before my time, but I do have a story on him and the Slipper and after,” said Adam Sangster.

“Basically he was owned by a syndicate headed up by the Bignells, and the Hayeses and I remember Colin Hayes always saying, he had the most amazing double forearm muscle. And he wasn’t fashionably-bred, Rancher and that great Australian family. It was very much as Hayes said, ‘speed is the easiest gene to breed.’

“The stallion was up at the old Collingrove. A gentleman named Souron Vanion was the guy who owned the farm up in the Hunter. Colin saw (Rory’s Jester)’s first yearlings, and he was so impressed that he phoned up my father (Robert Sangster) and said, ‘Listen Robert, I think we should go and look at this stallion, and I think we should buy him. He’s a Golden Slipper winner and he’s thrown some yearlings.’

“Dad said yes go and do it. 48 hours later, Colin had been to the farm, and he rang up my father on the Isle of Man and he said, ‘Robert we’ve managed to secure Rory’s Jester, and at the same time we’ve also secured a 1500 acre farm.’ We had to buy the farm to buy Rory’s Jester and really the rest is history.”

What about the 2025 G1 Golden Slipper?

Of the top 20 active horses in the current Golden Slipper order, only one is November born being the colt Aleppo Pine (Blue Point {Ire}) who is 19th in the order. The rest are all born in August (six), September (seven), and October (six).

Table: Birth month of the top 20 active horses entered for the 2025 G1 Golden Slipper

This year’s Slipper field is slightly skewed towards August but essentially follows the same pattern as the winners of the past. Who will win? We only have to wait a couple of weeks to find out.

Table: Order for G1 Golden Slipper as at March 10, 2025