Inexperienced but classy two-year-old Golden State will warm up for a start in the $125,000 Golden Slipper on Friday of next week when he contests the Yearling Preparation Available At Allwood Stud Pace at Gloucester Park tonight.
The New Zealand-bred colt, who will be driven by Shannon Suvaljko for Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed, has not appeared since he raced in the one-out, two-back position before finishing strongly to win from Slick Artist over 2100m at Bunbury on June 3. That was his second win from only three starts.
He will start from the outside in a field of six on Friday night and Suvaljko is likely to make use of the colt’s sparkling gate speed. However, he is not certain to be able to cross straight to the front because polemarker Deep Blue, Rock Me Over (barrier two) and Antero (five) all possess good gate speed.
Antero and Rock Me Over loom as Golden State’s main rivals. Antero, a gelding by Auckland Reactor and trained in Bunbury by Steve Burton, shows considerable promise. He has had six starts for a win at Bunbury, four seconds and a third placing. He will again be handled by Ryan Warwick.
Antero notched his third consecutive second at Gloucester Park last Saturday night when he impressed in finishing determinedly from fifth with 600m to travel to be second to the brilliant Jack Mac. He worked hard, out wide early and then in the breeze when a close second to Bettor B Abeliever over 1730m at Gloucester Park at his previous outing.
Rock Me Over will be driven by Gary Hall jun. for Byford trainer Katja Warwick and he looks set to fight out the finish. A winner at two of his eight starts, he put in his worst performance last Friday night when he was a 6/4 favourite who worked hard in the breeze before fading to eighth behind Highroller Joe in the group 1 Westbred Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings. He certainly has the ability to bounce back from that disappointment.
The Barry Howlett-trained Deep Blue (to be driven by Chris Lewis) should appreciate the No. 1 barrier. He was a luckless sixth behind Highroller Joe last week when he trailed the pacemaker Warriors Code and was hampered for room in the final stages of the race. That followed a smart win at his previous outing when he covered a lot of extra ground before winning from Naval Aviator over 1730m at Gloucester Park.
