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| Staff Writer |
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The road to the Gr.1 Golden Slipper took an intriguing turn at Warwick Farm on Wednesday as Gerald Ryan's promising juvenile demonstrated his credentials in a compelling maiden contest.
King Of Pop, a US$800,000 purchase and son of 2020 Golden Slipper victor Farnan, delivered a performance of genuine quality in the Find Your Next G1w @ The Chase 2YO Plate over 1100m, swooping from midfield to claim victory.
Ryan, who trains in partnership with Sterling Alexiou, is maintaining strong faith in his charge. "I've always liked this little horse," he said. "I've always thought he's our best chance for the Golden Slipper. What I liked about today is he settled back off a hot speed and hit the line good."
The connection runs deep for Ryan, who previously trained the winner's dam Za Zi Ba, grand-dam Weiner and her half-brother, the influential stallion Snitzel. "We'll step him up now," he continued. "He's got a great sprinting pedigree. If he can win a decent race, he'll be worth plenty."
Multiple paths remain open for the progressive juvenile, with Ryan outlining: "The Skyline is in a week and a half, the Todman and Canberra is a week later and then you have the Pago Pago. He'll tell me which race to target. I'd have no problems backing him up in the Slipper off the Pago Pago like we did with Hinchinbrook."
The runner-up spot was claimed by debutante Savvy Hallie, trained by Brad Widdup. The daughter of Hellbent showed admirable tenacity racing three wide before being denied by a short half head, with Chris Waller's Congressman finishing 2¼ lengths back in third.
Part-owner and former jockey Ben Vassallo expressed satisfaction with the performance: "We couldn't have asked for much more than that. Brad will get her home to see how she comes through today before deciding the next step. Naturally being at work at this time of the year a Slipper lead-up might be an option for her but we'll let Brad decide. Regardless of what's next, I think we've got ourselves a nice filly."