On Saturday, April 2, 2011, racegoers at Rose Hill Gardens will witness the 55th edition of the richest juvenile race in the world. Sixteen 2 year old will face the starter in this $3.5m 1200 sprint.
The Golden Slipper, the second most prestigious race on the Australian horse racing calendar attracts entries from all Australian States and New Zealand. In fact, the first Golden Slipper,  was run in 1957.
A few records have been set in this race. In 1967, Sweet Embrace, a daughter of Todman, the winner of the first edition, became the first maiden to win the race. She caused the biggest upset  in the history of the race, winning at the longest odds of 40/1. In 1979, Wayne Harris, an eighteen year-old apprentice, wrote his name in the record book, by becoming the youngest rider to win the event. In 1992, Shane Dye set another record, with four straight Slipper wins, having first won the race in 1989 on Courtza. In 1990, Dye won on Canny Lad.  In 1991, Dye guided Tierce for trainer Clarry Conners, clocking 1.09.30 for the 1200m, setting a new race record. In 1992, Dye teamed up again with Conners on Burst, winning for a fourth consecutive time.
In 2001 trainer Gai Waterhouse created her own piece of history by training the first three horses in the race, a feat which may never be repeated.
Who will create history in the 2011 edition of the Golden Slipper? The two young jockeys, Nathan and Tommy Berry have already created history by becoming the first twins to ride in this race. Can they make it one-two? There are five unbeaten two-year-olds in the race. Three of them are trained by the maestro, Bart Cummings. Another unbeaten horse, Smart Missile, trained by Bart’s son, Anthony Cummings, recently defeated the long-time Slipper favourite, Sepoy. Can the father-son team set another record by dominating the race? In racing, you can never write off the Cummings. Smart Missile might have a pre-destined name. On Tuesday, at   track-work, he just thrashed his stable-mate by five lengths, sprinting the final 600m in 33.8s.
Tommy Berry’s ride, Karuta Queen, was equally impressive at track-work on Tuesday, registering 32.77s for the last 600m. The race favourite, Sepoy, winner of three of his four starts, was beaten on a heavy track at his last start. Can he redeem himself and turn the table on Smart Missile? Only time will tell.