Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The Bureau of Meterology's Saturday’s forecast for Sydney is “High 28. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon, then becoming light during the evening.”
However, the amount of rain forecast is up to 1 mm, so barely touching the surface. It’s been hot and dry in Sydney in the past seven days, with extreme heat last weekend. What could this mean for our 2025 G1 Golden Slipper Stakes field?
Written Tycoon’s firm track influence
Since 1991, there have been 21 Golden Slipper winners on a fast/good track (72 per cent of winners), although this is partly due to the Millennium Drought, which lasted from 1997 to 2009. In the last ten years, half of the races have been on a fast/good surface, while the other half have been split with one on a dead/soft surface and four on slow or heavy track conditions.
Written Tycoon has a strong firm track influence with his two winners, Capitalist and Lady Of Camelot, both winning on a Good 4 surface.
This year the surface is rated Good 4 on Wednesday leading into the Slipper. Capitalist is the sire of Peter Snowden-trained Quietly Arrogant, while Written Tycoon has three runners being Tycoon Star, Military Tycoon, and Skyhook.
Written Tycoon | Standing at Yulong Stud
“The fact that he’s an Australian-bred and raced horse suggests that his progeny will thrive in the local environment and conditions,” said Yulong’s Vin Cox about Written Tycoon.
“Written Tycoon continues to defy his age, and arguably, his most consistent crops have been his recent ones, conceived in this later stage of life. It speaks volumes for how good he’s been all the way through, and having three runners in the race is fantastic.”
“The fact that he’s (Written Tycoon) an Australian-bred and raced horse suggests that his stock will prosper in the local environment and conditions.” - Vin Cox
Farnan and Not A Single Doubt
In 2020, Farnan won on a dead (officially rated Soft 5) surface, and his three wins that autumn were all on Soft tracks, while his debut win in the spring was on a Good 3.
In 2025, he has three first-crop runners in the field being Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained pair, North England and Farcited, and the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained King Of Pop.
Farnan | Standing at Kia Ora Stud
“They are very fit, happy horses, and the form going into the race is strong. They’ve drawn mid-field and out. Often, the track can be better off the fence, and by the time the Slipper is run, it might be the best spot,” said Gai Waterhouse.
Not A Single Doubt, Farnan’s sire, is well-represented in this year’s Golden Slipper, with G1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Devil Night (Extreme Choice) being by one of his sons, while both Quietly Arrogant and Bellazaine (Zousain) are out of Not A Single Doubt mares.
Not A Single Doubt didn’t run in the G1 Golden Slipper himself, but he did win twice as a 2-year-old on Good tracks and was second in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic and fourth in the G2 Todman Stakes on the same surface rating.
Shuttle stallions crossed with Australian mares
European racing tends to be run on softer ground than here in Australia, and it is noteworthy that all the shuttle stallions represent by runners in the Slipper have been crossed with Australian-bred mares to produce those runners.
Wootton Bassett (GB) has two runners, Wodeton and West Of Swindon. Wodeton is out of Listed Morphettville Guineas winner Fiera Vista (Exceed And Excel), while West Of Swindon is out of Fife (Starcraft {NZ}).
“Wootton Bassett’s stock are versatile on all surfaces around the world, they’ve raced everywhere and won everywhere across Australia, America, and Europe,” said Coolmore’s Colm Santry.
“Wootton Bassett’s stock are versatile on all surfaces around the world, they’ve raced everywhere and won everywhere across Australia, America, and Europe.” - Colm Santry
“It’s very encouraging with what we’ve seen them do on fast ground here, as they’ve performed well in Australian conditions. The Slipper favourite, Wodeton, seems pretty versatile, as he’s handled soft and good surfaces.”
Wodeton won on debut on a Soft 7, and his two placed runs (third in the G2 Silver Slipper Stakes and second in the G2 Todman Stakes) since then have both been on a Good 4.
Wodeton | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
The other runner from an Exceed And Excel mare is Tempted (Street Boss {USA}), whose dam, Calliope, ran 12th in Capitalist’s G1 Golden Slipper and had won the G2 Magic Night Stakes and Listed Gimcrack Stakes coming into the Slipper of her year.
Lucky Vega (Ire)’s runner, Within The Law, is out of Contract Signed (Dundeel {NZ}), while unbeaten Rivellino (Too Darn Hot {GB}) is out of So You Think (NZ) mare Intrinsic who won a juvenile race on debut on a Good surface, later adding two more wins on Soft and Heavy ground as an older mare.
