Golden Slipper favourite Chayan springs surprise

Chayan was no Golden Slipper hopeful three months earlier.

In reality, co-trainer Annabel Archibald figured on resting the filly sans a formal barrier trial.

A simple jump-out shifted that perspective, reshaping Chayan entirely.

'She had an unofficial jump-out at Christmas and I said to Eric Koh, her owner, "she will probably just have this jump out and go out" because mentally, she was a little bit hot,' Archibald recalled.

'But she jumped out really well and really relaxed after that. She started mentally going the right way.

'We sent her down to Melbourne and she had those couple of runs there, and I think that has held her in really good stead.'

In her two starts in Victoria, Chayan was runner-up in the Blue Diamond Fillies' Prelude (1100m) and seventh off a wide gate in the Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) following a rough passage.

Upon her Sydney return, she performed sufficiently to justify a tilt at a Golden Slipper trial race.

In the Reisling Stakes (1200m), Chayan crushed her foes by three lengths to book her berth in Saturday's top-class lineup, and barrier 12 has seen her installed as the clear Slipper market leader.

Since that victory, Archibald reports the juvenile has fulfilled every criterion, capped by an impressive gallop on Tuesday in her toughest session yet.

'I couldn't be any happier with her. She started her campaign off in Melbourne and didn't have much luck with the draws down there, but ran really well,' she said.

'It was pleasing to see her come up here and put it all together. All of the ratings guys said she ran really good time, and the figures were good, and that's all we can ask for as a last start heading into this race.'

Archibald knows the Slipper pressure, having run unbeaten Learning To Fly in 2023 at $6.50, an effort she termed 'character-building' when the filly stumbled before the corner and lost jockey Chad Schofield.

Now, the pair find themselves on opposing sides, Schofield aboard Stretan Ruler for Phillip Stokes after the colt's dominant Silver Slipper (1100m) victory and late charge for second in a pace-on Todman Stakes (1200m).

Having ridden him last twice, Schofield rates the Victorian highly.

'I just think he wants tempo,' Schofield said.

'In the Silver Slipper, we got tempo. It was free-flowing, and he unlocked that devastating turn of foot.

'The other day in the Todman, it was just a trot and canter and a dash home for three hundred metres. He was still really good, but if we get a solidly run 1200 metres, which the Slipper generally is, we will see the best of him. And I think the best of him is going to be hard to beat.'

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