A brilliant ride by James McDonald saw Mossfun come from last to win the Group 1 $3.5m Tooheys New Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill today.
Mossfun recorded her maiden win at Group 1 level with a fast-finishing win in the 2014 Golden Slipper. Photo by: Steve Hart
McDonald was able to stick to the inside fence and beat the long-time favourite Earthquake and Bring Me The Maid.
The Sydney based New Zealand rider kept his cool after Mossfun dawdled out of the barriers and was a clear last in the first one hundred metres.
With Eloping setting a solid pace and Earthquake coming across from a wide gate, McDonald was able to a couple of runners and settle just worse than midfield.
Kerrin McEvoy had a strong hold on Earthquake ($2.40 favourite) at the top of the straight and after letting her go at the 300m looked to have enough left to go and win.
But the winning move came from McDonald who was able to save plenty of ground by staying on the fence and Mossfun ($5.50) finally got the better of Earthquake in the final fifty metres to score by three quarters of a length with Bring Me The Maid ($11) also running on from back in the field to finish third a further length away.
Mossfun’s win is the first Golden Slipper trophy for the training team of John, Michael and Wayne Hawkes as co-trainers although they were all involved with the wins of Guineas in 1997 and Forensics in 2007 when John Hawkes was the head trainer for the Ingham family.
John Hawkes wasn’t on hand to enjoy the win but Michael was quick to praise the cool ride of McDonald in the Golden Slipper.
“The last thing I said to him was not panic, if something happens don’t blow it. He just rode for luck, he knew he was on the best horse in the race, he knew she got threw the ground. He never got off the fence, he just knew what he had and he just kept coming,” Michael said.
McDonald said that he listened to the advice of fellow jockey Jim Cassidy who told him to stick to the inside fence.
“I gotta thank Jimmy Cassidy. He actually told me if you are going good hug the rail and watching him beat me in the Coolmore, I learned a lot, he definitely out rode me.”
2014 Golden Slipper Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | MOSSFUN | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | James McDonald | – | 11 | 54.5kg | $5.50 |
| 2 | 9 | EARTHQUAKE | Peter Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 0.8L | 12 | 54.5kg | $2.40F |
| 3 | 14 | BRING ME THE MAID | Peter G Moody | Chad Schofield | 1.8L | 5 | 54.5kg | $11 |
| 4 | 16 | BELIEVE YOURSELF | Gerald Ryan | Brenton Avdulla | 2.1L | 15 | 54.5kg | $41 |
| 5 | 15 | MEMORIAL | Peter Snowden | Christian Reith | 2.4L | 16 | 54.5kg | $26 |
| 6 | 11 | OAKLEIGH GIRL | Danny J Bougoure | Craig Newitt | 3.1L | 10 | 54.5kg | $20 |
| 7 | 12 | ELOPING | Peter Morgan & Craig Widdison | Stephen Baster | 6.3L | 14 | 54.5kg | $31 |
| 8 | 3 | GHIBELLINES | Peter Snowden | Hugh Bowman | 6.7L | 2 | 56.5kg | $17 |
| 9 | 7 | MODOC | Paul Perry | Blake Shinn | 7L | 3 | 56.5kg | $201 |
| 10 | 1 | UNENCUMBERED | Bjorn Baker | Craig Williams | 7.3L | 13 | 56.5kg | $15 |
| 11 | 2 | JABALI | Mick Price | Glen Boss | 7.4L | 1 | 56.5kg | $51 |
| 12 | 4 | VALENTIA | Gai Waterhouse | Tommy Berry | 7.5L | 4 | 56.5kg | $21 |
| 13 | 8 | RISEN FROM DOUBT | Tony McEvoy | Nash Rawiller | 7.8L | 6 | 56.5kg | $41 |
| 14 | 13 | ALPHA MISS | Gary Nickson | Jason Collett | 10.6L | 9 | 54.5kg | $21 |
| 15 | 5 | CORNROW | Mick Price | Damien Oliver | 12.3L | 8 | 56.5kg | $19 |
| 16 | 6 | LAW | Gai Waterhouse | Tim Clark | 12.7L | 7 | 56.5kg | $81 |
| – | 17 | SCRATCH ME LUCKY | Paul Perry | Glyn Schofield | – | 0 | – | – |
