Chayan surges into Slipper frame with Reisling Stakes win
Annabel Archibald and Rob Archibald received a timely vote of confidence from champion jockey James McDonald after Chayan’s luckless seventh place in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and the filly repaid that faith with a dominant victory in Saturday’s Reisling Stakes at Randwick.
Soon after her unplaced effort in the Melbourne juvenile feature, McDonald contacted the trainer to ask about the filly’s next target. “She will go where you can ride her,” Archibald replied.
McDonald was aboard at Randwick as Chayan surged into Golden Slipper calculations, accelerating clear to defeat Agrarian Girl (Tassort) by three lengths, with Miss Chanel (Tagaloa) a 0.4 lengths away in third.
“She’s a really good filly and I’m grateful that Annabel and Rob put her in the race for me,” McDonald said.
“They were tossing up whether to run her next week but I was adamant, I’m available for this race please run her here and she justified that.
“She’s beautiful to deal with. She’s got a lovely, good mind to her, just a strongly built two-year-old that’s ready to rock and roll. I’d love her to go to the Percy Sykes instead of the Golden Slipper but we’ll see how much pull I’ve got.”
Chayan broke her maiden at her third start and has now secured a place in the $5 million Golden Slipper. Archibald said the filly had always shown natural talent but endured little luck earlier in her career.
“She had no luck from the draw in the Blue Diamond, she was five-wide all the way,” Archibald said. “So, to come here today and win a Group 2 is very satisfying.
“We thought there would be a bit of speed and James said he just wanted to blend in and find some cover. I was happy when he got in and she was very strong late. It was a big win.”
Archibald won the Reisling Stakes with Learning To Fly (Justify) in 2023, though that filly fell in the Golden Slipper won by Shinzo (Snitzel).
“Learning To Fly ended up a disaster,” she said. “Hopefully we can do better with Chayan. She is a very tough filly. These Vinnie fillies can get a bit hot and she was a bit hot in her first couple of preparations.
“If you said to me before Christmas that she would be going to the Golden Slipper I would have said ‘no way.’ But she has really mentally matured and seems to be getting better with every race.
“The Golden Slipper is very wide open this year so a lot will come down to barriers. The main thing is to see Chayan pull up well as she has the prize-money to get into the race now.”
Seven winners of the Reisling Stakes have gone on to taste Slipper victory, with Estijaab (Snitzel) in 2018 the most recent filly to complete the double.
With Saturday’s victory, Chayan became the 123rd individual stakes winner for Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible. Bred and sold by Longwood Thoroughbred Farm, the filly was a $250,000 Eric Koh and Falcon Racing at the 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
She is the fourth foal and fourth winner out of Group 3 scorer Lubiton (Snitzel). Lubiton’s fifth foal, a filly by Zoustar (Northern Meteor) sold to Sheamus Mills Bloodstock for $525,000 at the recent Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale.