A Frolic In The Wet

In a race that should see the G1 Golden Slipper form stand up, the G1 Inglis Sires' (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday brings together a capacity field of 20 final acceptors (including 4 emergencies). Beaten just over two lengths into second place by She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) in the Golden Slipper, Michael Freedman's Frolic (Aus) (Husson {Arg}) has shown a liking for wet track conditions, having beaten the Slipper-winning filly the start prior at Group 2 level on a heavy 9 rated surface before her Slipper second on a heavy 10. With stakes earnings of just shy of A$1m, the Tommy Berry-ridden Frolic will have a wide gate to contend with but her racing pattern does see her get back and run on late.

Third in the Slipper on protest, Tulip (Aus) (Pierro {Aus}) should get a better run here from her barrier compared to her wide passage in the Slipper where she was beaten just over five lengths. Although she has been up for a while, starting her race career in December, she has continued to perform at each run and looks to have a great chance of giving her sire his first Group 1 winner.

An interesting runner is the Australian-bred, but New Zealand-raced Summer Passage (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), the lone Group 1 winner in the field. Sometimes it is difficult to line up the form from across the Tasman, but connections wouldn't have wasted their time if they didn't feel he was up to the challenge, considering there were 'easier' options in New Zealand for him. Both last start Group 2 winners on heavy 8 rated track surfaces, the unbeaten Gunison (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) and One More Honey (Aus) (Onemorenomore {Aus}) come into calculations if the state of the track continues to deteriorate.

Backing up after his G2 Baillieu (1400m) victory last Saturday, the Paul Perry-trained The Mission (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) is currently rated an outsider in the field, but is in winning form and does handle the track and if he gets out and leads like his last win, the ground may see the remainder of the field struggle to make up the required ground to catch him.