NSW haven’t had much luck in the State of Origin this century and online bookmaker unibet.com.au expects that to extend to the racetrack in Saturday’s Golden Slipper.
The firm has dangled a carrot and given punters the opportunity to double their money by backing any NSW-trained horse to win the 2-year old race.
Selecting that option would give you eleven of the sixteen current runners in your pocket and looks particularly generous in light of the fact that the last five Slippers have been won by locally trained gallopers.
Houtzen, trained on the Gold Coast by Toby Edmonds, and the four runners from the Victorian training partnership of David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, are the only horses excluded from the offer.
Those two stables have proven victorious in the premier 2-year old races in Queensland (the Magic Millions Classic) and Victoria (the Blue Diamond Stakes) in recent times.
Tuesday’s barrier draw saw a shake-up to the market with leading contenders Houtzen and She Will Reign drawing awkwardly out in 16 and 13 respectively.
Unibet’s Sydney form expert, Adam Campton, was dismissive of the latter’s chances, ‘We’ve been against She Will Reign from the outset and see no reason to change our mind now.’
‘Her previous run will have flattened her and we like the chances of interstate horses Houtzen and Catchy, who have been dominant in the bigger races’ he said.
The race is set to start at 4.10pm on Saturday.
