‘I think it’s essential if you want to win a Slipper, and I have won eight of them’

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Gai Waterhouse is confident North England (Farnan) will prove himself the latest advertisement for a training plan that has netted her a record eight Golden Slippers (Gr 1, 1200m) when he resumes in Saturday’s Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Randwick.

He may only be as long in the market as a $5.50 second favourite in this weekend’s engrossing 12-horse field, but Waterhouse believes North England is something of a forgotten horse amongst calculations for the Slipper in two weeks.

That’s mostly because the China Horse Club-Newgate Farm-owned colt hasn’t been seen since the spring, when he debuted with a third in the Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) before winning the $1 million Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill.

In the meantime, other stars have emerged.

The Coolmore-owned and Chris Waller-trained colt Wodeton (Wootton Bassett) heads the betting both for Saturday’s Todman, at around $2.20, and the Slipper, at $3.50, after his debut win on January 18 and his contentious third, also at Rosehill, in the Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) after travelling wide.

Beiwacht (Bivouac) debuted on January 25 and took the Silver Slipper at start number three, to now be a $13 equal third-favourite for the $5 million main event.

North England would have reappeared by now but for being scratched on the morning of the Silver Slipper when mucus was found in his trachea.

In any event, Waterhouse believes he’s on the right path to bring her a ninth Slipper – and a third in partnership with Adrian Bott – and the pair’s second in a row following Lady Of Camelot’s (Written Tycoon) success last year.

Training methods can be tested over time, although others will emerge. Bart Cummings won 12 Melbourne Cups (Gr 1, 3200m) insisting a horse must have 10,000 metres in its legs before the big day, but that’s been tossed out in the age of fly-in internationals winning the race virtually first-up.

The past two years have hatched a new pattern with Slipper preparations. Chris Waller won his first with Shinzo (Snitzel) after he debuted on January 28 and had two more runs before taking the Rosehill feature.

He repeated that dose last year, but with a less favourable result as Switzerland (Snitzel) ran eighth as $5 second favourite.

Waterhouse is sticking to her guns in saying Slipper contenders should have campaigned in the spring, and it supports her confidence around North England.

Bred by Valiant Stud, the $280,000 Inglis Classic purchase has become a case study in NSW’s ongoing black type debacle. He won a Golden Gift that Racing NSW, and Racing Australia insisted had black type status as a new Group 3, but which two weeks ago had that status rejected by the Asian Racing Federation – along with 16 other races on NSW’s supposedly upgraded list.

Newgate, in particular, would have preferred to be able to say North England had black type winner status, eyeing his future as a stallion.

Waterhouse – who has previously criticised Racing NSW for not following due process in having their 17-race wishlist sanctioned by international authorities – believes the colt will have it soon enough.

“It won’t take long,” she told ANZ Bloodstock News on Friday. “If he doesn’t do it tomorrow, he’ll do it in the Slipper, or the Sires’, or the Champagne.

“He’s feeling very good, he’s as fresh as a daisy. He’s one of those lovely, unassuming horses that jumps, runs and wins, and he’ll take a stack of beating.”

While North England may still be a $9 second favourite for the world’s richest two-year-old race, the hype around Wodeton led Waterhouse to say her colt was “very underrated in this Slipper”, adding he’d had the right preparation.

“I love horses who have got spring form, especially Breeders’ Plate form. It’s a proven formula for winning Slippers, and I can’t see why he won’t be any different,” she said, before listing some of her other winners of the race. “Dance Hero, Pierro, all those horses, all the same.

“I think it’s essential if you want to win a Slipper, and I have won eight of them. You’ve got to have that horse that’s had the preparation, had time to rest, and then you can come back and give it a go.

“Bustling a two-year-old is the worst thing you can do. It’s the Hurry Up Stakes. So often you see trainers do it, but all they do is bustle the horse.”

One exception to her timetable was the outstanding Sebring (More Than Ready). He won the 2008 Slipper after debuting in January, but only after racing schedules were drastically altered due to the equine influenza outbreak. The Breeders’ Plate was postponed from the spring to March 1 that season. Sebring won that, then didn’t race for seven weeks before his triumph in the Slipper, held as late as April 19 that year.

“Sebring didn’t run for a while before that Slipper, because he had penicillin, and the last day of the withholding period was the day of the Slipper,” Waterhouse said.

“So he didn’t run for a long time and came out and won the Slipper. People forget the little breaks there can be a blessing in disguise.”

Similarly, Waterhouse believes North England’s longer-than-planned gap caused by his Silver Slipper scratching “won’t be a problem”.

“If anything it could be a positive in his favour,” she said. “He had a bit of mucus in his trachea, and Adrian just wanted to take every precaution and make sure that when he runs the owners have every chance of him winning without damaging the horse.”

Wodeton, despite being Slipper favourite, will likely need to win the Todman to lock down his Slipper spot, since his last-start third has left him only 24th on the order of entry for the 16-horse scamper.

In contrast, North England has the advantage of already having his Slipper berth confirmed. The Golden Gift might not be black type, but its $1 million purse has helped North England to a comfortable fifth on the Slipper’s order of entry.

“I think he’ll win the Todman, but if he doesn’t it’s not the end of the world,” Waterhouse said of North England, who has gate eight of 12 for Tim Clark. “He’s qualified for the Slipper, so just as long as he runs a super race, that’s the main thing.”

Meanwhile, co-trainer JD Hayes believes Tycoon Star (Written Tycoon) – at around $9.50 for the Todman and $17 for the Slipper – is ready to showcase his class on Saturday.

Carrying the colours of his breeders Yulong – after they retained a 25 per cent share when selling him to Team Hayes for $400,000 at the Gold Coast last year – Tycoon Star is another with a spring campaign under his belt.

He scored on debut in Flemington’s Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) on Melbourne Cup day before a fourth in Caulfield’s Merson Cooper Stakes (Listed, 1000m). The colt resumed last month with a fourth in the Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (Gr 3, 1100m), before an eye-catching third in the main event, flashing home from 13th on the turn after drawing gate 14.

Jordan Childs takes the Todman ride from barrier six, replacing Mark Zahra, who’s riding in Melbourne.

Team Hayes also accepted with Tycoon Star for Saturday’s VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) at Flemington. But, with that step mostly a precaution against fears – so far allayed – about wet weather in Sydney, they’ve opted for Randwick with an eye to the Slipper.

“He’s done super out of the Diamond and we’re very happy with him. Hopefully we’ll get a very good line as to where we stand in the Slipper,” Hayes told ANZ. “He arrived in the early hours of Friday morning and travelled really well.

“We wanted him to have a run the Sydney way of going. Plus, dropping from 1400 metres in a Sires’ back to 1200 metres for the Slipper probably isn’t ideal.”

That’s another training theory that may or may not have been proven last year, when Godolphin’s Traffic Warden (Street Boss) went from winning the VRC Sires’ to running fourth in the Slipper, but with a highly impressive run flying home from the rear.

Hayes said he hoped Tycoon Star – a safe eighth in the Slipper order of entry – could prove Melbourne’s two-year-olds were not too far behind their northern cousins this season.

“The Sydney two-year-olds definitely seem to be going better than the Melbourne ones, so it’ll be an interesting one to gauge,” he said.

“But the horse is healthy and well and we think he’s got nice ability.

“He was certainly the eye-catcher in the Blue Diamond, coming from back in the field. If we drew a barrier it might have played out a bit differently.

“But he’s bounced out of the run, he’s very sound, so we’re very happy with him.

“It does take a bit of pressure off, already being qualified for the Slipper. Hopefully we win, which would be outstanding, but if he runs well, and gets good experience off the Sydney leg with a view to the Slipper, that’d be great.”

Bookmakers on Friday had the James Cummings-trained Beiwacht as an $8 third-favourite for the Todman, ahead of Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m) runner-up Tentyris (Street Boss) at $8.50, his Godolphin team-mate, though trained in Victoria by Anthony and Sam Freedman.

Pallaton (Wootton Bassett), who was early Slipper favourite after winning on debut, is another who’d likely need to win the Todman to make it into the Rosehill feature, having slipped to equal 26th on the order of entry after a second-start fourth as favourite in Randwick’s Pierro Plate (1100m).

Though showers fell about Sydney on Friday, Randwick was still rated a Good 4, with no rain forecast for Friday or Saturday.