Godolphin dominates Golden Slipper

[Chief Stipe]

The Caulfield Cup, the Melbourne Cup, the Magic Millions 2YO Classic, the Blue Diamond and now a trifecta in the Golden Slipper – international powerhouse Godolphin is enjoying a season of unprecedented Australian success.

But it was a boil-over in today’s A$3.5 million Golden Slipper at Rosehill as the $30 outsider Kiamichi led all the way to beat her James Cummings-trained stablemate Microphone ($8). The Anthony Freedman-trained Blue Diamond winner Lyre ($14) was third.

“The guys have done an amazing job all season and they’ve been meticulous with these two-year-olds,” Cummings said. “I’m pretty proud to be associated with the blue jacket at the moment.”

Kiamichi, a home-bred daughter of the 2013 Golden Slipper runner-up Sidestep, had won two of her four starts before today’s world-famous juvenile feature. After finishing fourth in the Gr. 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes earlier in the month, she clinched her place in the Slipper field with a front-running victory in last Saturday’s Gr. 3 Magic Night Stakes.

It was more of the same today as Damian Lane sent Kiamichi forward from gate 14. She never looked back from there, holding on grimly to her advantage all of the way down the straight to win by a length.

“I just sent her away – what a tough filly,” Lane said. “She was so well prepared by James Cummings and his team. I got on her last week and sat and steered her around and did the same thing today. She’s just so honest and so tough.

“We had to be positive today. We had to use her attributes, which are her speed and her toughness, and it paid off.

“It’s a big thrill to ride such a big winner for Godolphin. I’m just a small part of the team there, but it’s a good team to be involved with.”

Remarkably, Kiamichi had been Godolphin’s very first two-year-old winner of the season, taking out a 1200-metre race at Rosehill on November 10.

“Our first two-year-old winner of the season had the heart to get up and win on debut, and she’s just kept improving,” Cummings said. “She was trained for 1200 metres all the way through, toughening up right until the grand final. It’s very, very satisfying.

“I can tell you she’s been squealing all week, she’s just been strong all the way through.

“That was some sort of race. Great credit to this horse.

“She’s by a stallion (Sidestep) who was able to run three weeks in a row and still run second in this race, just like our colt Microphone just did, beaten less than a length.

“Microphone’s got a great future, but one thing I knew coming into this Golden Slipper this year, a little like two years ago, you can throw out the window what horse you think is the most brilliant horse; you can throw out the window the horse you think has had the picture perfect preparation, because at the end of it it’s going to come down to the horse that’s got the guts to handle the heavy track on the occasion and the heart to get over the line first.”

In winning today’s big race, Cummings followed in the footsteps of his legendary grandfather Bart, who won four Golden Slippers.

The first non-Godolphin horse home today was the fourth-placed Loving Gaby, whose dam is the New Zealand-bred Mastercraftsman mare Maastricht – a half-sister to Group One winner Velocitea and this season’s Southland Guineas winner Weaponry. Maastricht was bred by Christchurch’s Shelley Frost and her late mother Raewyn Ramage.

“Very pleased with her run,” jockey Oisin Murphy said. “She put herself in a good spot, a little bit lost around the turn, she’s got a big future.”

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