Sword Of State connections weigh up late charge for Golden Slipper

The Golden Slipper fate of Kiwi gun Sword Of State will be decided on Monday with Te Akau Racing relying on the weather gods to help determine what path to take with several of its high profile stars this autumn.

A flight has been booked across the Tasman for Sword Of State however trainer Jamie Richards confirmed on Sunday that the talented colt is no guarantee to line up at Rosehill this Saturday.

Richards is concerned about the amount of rain predicted in Sydney this week and is reluctant to send his emerging colt over for the $3.5 million feature to run on a heavy track.

Sword Of State raced into Slipper contention on Saturday with a strong front running effort to capture the Group 1 Sistema Stakes in commanding fashion from stablemate On The Bubbles.

The win gave Sword Of State a crucial prizemoney boost which saw him move to 17th in the order of entry, which would see him to make the Golden Slipper field with several horses above him already spelling and not heading to the race.

He's a good one.@TeAkauRacing's Sword Of State bolts in to win the first of the Group 1s on Auckland Cup Day, the Sistema Stakes, from stablemate On The Bubbles pic.twitter.com/4OTwPVByUC

“The rain is a concern, there is no doubt about it,” Richards said.

“The weather will be a big factor and his willingness for good ground.

“I don‘t think he is hopeless on soft ground, he is just more effective when he is on good going and we’ve still got the Sires to think about as well.

“He is still a young horse and it’s hard on a horse to go across the Tasman and run with a short back up into the Slipper.”

Sword Of State is a $15 hope with TAB.com.au in Golden Slipper betting.

The last New Zealand trained horse to run in a Golden Slipper was Ruud Awakening in 2013 and the Stephen Marsh-trained filly also won the same Group 1 as Sword Of State in the lead-up.

Sword Of State is also nominated for the Inglis ATC Sires’ and is now an $8 second favourite for the 1400m Group 1 event.

Richards admits he will be watching the weather closely as he plots a course through the autumn with several of his stars including Melody Belle, Avantage, Amarelinha and Probabeel.

“We’ve got all these really nice horses and it’s always the thought in Australia that Kiwi horses love a bog track but this group of horses don’t really want it too wet,” he said.

“It‘s not that they can’t handle it, they are just better on top of the ground.”

Wet weather proved to be the downfall of star mare Probabeel in Saturday’s $5 million All-Star Mile.

Probabeel (NZ) struggled in the All-Star Mile. Photo: Racing PhotosSource:Getty Images

Probabeel was favourite to capture the lucrative mile until the rain came two hours before the jump and essentially torpedoed her chances of winning the race.

“It‘s very frustrating when everything in the preparation had gone so well until that point and then two hours before the race, that happens,” Richards said.

“You can‘t control the weather unfortunately but she didn’t have a hard run and appears to be bright and happy this morning.

“She will have a few days in the paddock then we will look towards Sydney.”

Richards confirmed the stable will also discuss the next step with super mare Melody Belle and the classy Avantage on Monday.

Melody Belle surpassed Sunline when she won her 14th Group 1 in the Bonecrusher NZ Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on Saturday and has options in Sydney and Brisbane while Avantage is more likely to remain in NZ.

Originally published asRain could halt Kiwi star’s late Slipper charge

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