Snowden ready to take on Godolphin Slipper army

By Bren O'Brien

He may not match his former employer Godolphin in terms of numbers, but Peter Snowden is full of confidence in the three, and possible four-pronged attack he and his son Paul will take into next week's G1 Golden Slipper S. at Rosehill.

Much has been made of Godolphin's potential dominance of the world's richest 2-year-old race, with six runners confirmed, one likely and two possible emergencies in the race.

But Snowden, who worked as head trainer for the then Darley operation for six years until 2013, also has a strong hand as he searches for his third success in the race, having won with Sepoy (Elusive Quality {USA}) in 2011 and Capitalist (Written Tycoon) in 2016.

Cosmic Force (Deep Field) put himself into this year's edition of the famous race with a huge 7.3l win in Saturday's G3 Pago Pago S. on a heavy track.

Reflecting on that win, Snowden said that Cosmic Force had the right form and attitude to back-up his performance in seven days in the Group 1 feature.

"He's just a horse that has had the right type of prep. He's only lightly raced, he's had three runs now (this time in), with each run better than the one before," Snowden told RSN.

"The horse himself keeps getting better. He's eating really well and he's got a great laid-back attitude. That's two ingredients for 2-year olds. If they are eating well and they have got the right mindset, with some ability of course, they can go all the way."

"There are a few horses you wouldn’t be able to do that to, but he is one horse who can handle it."

Snowden confirmed Mark Zahra will take the ride aboard Cosmic Force with James McDonald committed to Godolphin filly Tenley (Medaglia D'Oro {USA}).

Catch Me (I Am Invincible) looked a leading Golden Slipper hope when she won the G3 Gimcrack S. back in September and then resumed with a win in the G3 Blue Diamond Preview in January. Her subsequent two runs, however, have been below par, including a last-start 10th in the G1 Blue Diamond S. where she over-raced in the blinkers.

Snowden trialled her successfully without the blinkers at Randwick last Thursday and he is hopeful she has turned the corner ahead of the Golden Slipper.

"I just wanted to get her back home and strip all the gear off her and get her back into her old routine and she looks very good. Her work has been great. She's relaxed really well up here," he said.

"The trial was pretty good, she was a bit keen in patches and the trial pace worked against her but when she got clear in the straight she found the line strongly, that customary turn of foot that we are used to seeing with her."

"It’s going to be a huge job to bring her around from where she has come from, but she certainly has the ability to do it if things fall right on the day."

Snowden's third confirmed starter is Anaheed (Fastnet Rock), who like Catch Me, endured a tough time of it in Melbourne, but returned to form with a win in the G2 Sweet Embrace S.

With a probability of a wet track this Saturday, Snowden's confidence in her is growing,

"The time she's been on wet ground she won by a good margin and she's not out of it. She's had a really good preparation. It’s been well thought out since it went pear shaped in Melbourne. we brought her back with this in mind," he said.

Snowden said Anaheed was in 'fantastic order', having come off a last start fourth behind Tenley in the G2 Reisling S.

The fourth runner could be the million-dollar colt Rome (Pierro), who was runner-up in the recent G3 Black Opal S. at Canberra.

"His form isn't bad at all. His run wasn't too bad at Canberra last start. He's only lightly raced and he has performed at every start he has had," he said.

Rome will likely be an emergency, while Snowden said that McLaren (Exceed And Excel) will be reserved for the G3 Kindergarten S on April 6.