Larneuk delighted as Rocket Tiger provides them with first Slipper runner
Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) runner-up Rocket Tiger (Cluster) will be paid up as a late entry for Saturday’s Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) this morning, providing Larneuk Stud with their first runner in the world’s richest two-year-old contest.
The son of Larneuk stallion Cluster (Fastnet Rock) impressed when winning his first two starts, at Canberra and Randwick, before finishing a head second to Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) in the Silver Slipper.
He confirmed his Group-level ability with a subsequent third-placed effort when finishing a length and a half behind Kalashnikov (Capitalist) in the Black Opal (Gr 3, 1200m) on March 7 and connections have decided to take their chance in Saturday’s Group 1.
Trained by Scott Spackman and raced by Noel Penfold, Rocket Tiger’s addition to the Golden Slipper field has delighted Larneuk’s Neville Murdoch, who has already booked his flights and accommodation to Sydney to witness the event.
“We’ve been discussing it for the last few days and he (Penfold) confirmed it’s happening. It’s definitely on,” Murdoch told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“Air fares are booked, accommodation is booked – that was done a week ago – so we were just waiting until he galloped on Saturday and that’s when the decision was made. It’s very, very exciting.
“The owner is a personal friend of mine, so it’s even bigger. We breed a lot of horses – he breeds a dozen horses a year with me, so we’re very close.
“It was a no brainer for him, the horse is very smart. He deserves a spot there and we’ve just got to pray now that we don’t draw barrier 20.
“If he can draw a barrier between eight and ten, somewhere around there, if you watch his races he’s got to be in there with a shot, without a doubt.”
Rocket Tiger is one of 22 winners from Cluster’s 52 runners to date and he will bid to provide him with his first stakes winner on Saturday.
It has already been a remarkable year for Larneuk, with their first season sire Wolf Cry (Street Cry) providing the operation with a Group 1 runner courtesy of Wolves, who finished unplaced in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) after running third in the Blue Diamond Prelude (Gr 2, 1100m).
Murdoch believes further success for Rocket Tiger in the Golden Slipper will have a hugely positive impact on Larneuk’s future prospects.
“We’ve had Wolves – whose by my other stallion (Wolf Cry), who has only got two-year-olds – in the Blue Diamond and now we’ve got one in the Golden Slipper by Cluster, so we’ve had a monstrous year,” said Murdoch.
“Without a doubt it will make a big difference. Even what Rocket Tiger has done as a two-year-old up to date has been massive for Cluster.
“It’s unbelievable what happens, he’s a very good stallion in a lot of ways and he just needs a couple of good, smart horses and he happens to have got one now.
“People will look at that, there’s no doubt about it, and if he can run in the first half a dozen, it should be very good for the stallion and it’ll be magnificent for a little place, it’ll set us up for good and it’ll be very good for the owner and the horse.”