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Five first-season sires represented in this year’s Golden Slipper
As can often be the case, this year's Golden Slipper is going to have a big say in who wins the Champion First-Season Sire award.
The $5 million Group 1 is the richest race progeny of freshmen sires get a crack at and Extreme Choice and Sidestep are recent examples of horses who produced Slipper winners in their first season enroute to honours in the premiership award decided by prizemoney.
This year's Golden Slipper field includes progeny by five first-season sires, two of whom hold a clear advantage over their rivals with just over four months until the end of the season.
Royal Meeting has ridden to the top of the table on the back of the performances of his only winner to date, Hayasugi, who has earned all but $36,350 of the $1,671,880 amassed by progeny of Leneva Park's son of Invincible Spirit.
Alabama Express, a son of Redoute's Choice, sits close by on $1,551,930, having sired five individual winners including Golden Gift winner Shangri La Express.
But with the Slipper carrying a $2.8m winner's cheque, any one of those represented could be atop the table on Saturday.
Tassort (Manaal) is in fourth spot on $783,385, Pierata (Coleman) is sixth with $512,840 and Exceedance (Dublin Down) holding a spot in the Top 10 on $386,665.
Hayasugi is the shortest-priced of those by first-season sires in this year's Slipper at $16, clear of Coleman ($23), with Dublin Down and Manaal at $26 and Shangri La Express $41.
The rookies are among 16 sires represented in this year's Slipper field of 16 plus one emergency.
One of those is I Am Invincible, the sire of Bodyguard, who is almost $9 million clear of his nearest rival So You Think as he chases a third-straight win in the Australian Champion Sire award.
The only stallion with multiple representation in this year's Slipper is Snitzel, who has Switzerland and Prost engaged.
The sire of last year's winner Shinzo and 2018 winner Estijaab, Snitzel is one of three sires represented this year who have previously provided the winner of Australia's premier two-year-old race.
Written Tycoon, the sire of 2016 Slipper winner Capitalist, has Lady Of Camelot engaged, while Eneeza's sire Exceed And Excel produced Overreach to win 11 years ago.
FIRST-SEASON SIRE TABLE
$1,671,880 – Royal Meeting
$1,551,930 – Alabama Express
$960,225 – Too Darn Hot
$783,385 – Tassort
$554,700 – Brutal
$534,020 – Pierata
$468,290 – Zousain
$466,000 – Cosmic Force
$386,665 – Exceedance
$385,770 – Blue Point
