Ray Thomas opinion: Why the Golden Slipper should be part of The Championships

Daily Telegraph racing editor Ray Thomas has a plethora of suggestions to make the Sydney autumn carnival even better, including making the Golden Slipper part of The Championships.

Ray Thomas

2 min read

April 22, 2024 - 3:07PM

Kalapour wins this year’s Tancred Stakes.

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The Tancred Stakes meeting remains the weak link in Sydney’s Autumn Carnival and could cause a radical overhaul of The Championships.

Racing NSW and Australian Turf Club will be reluctant to make changes to race programming given the overall success of the autumn carnival, but there is tacit acknowledgment that something needs to be done with the Tancred Stakes.

The nation’s only Group 1 2400m weight-for-age race is in “no man’s land” situated between the Ranvet Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, which are both held over 2000m.

To make matters worse, the Victoria Racing Club has restructured their autumn carnival and has moved the Australian Cup to the final Saturday in March which clashes with the Tancred Stakes.

So, why not consider a radical change to the autumn carnival and move the Tancred to the third Saturday in April, the same day as the All Aged Stakes and Champagne Stakes.

This would place the Tancred a week after the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and give more opportunity for the weight-for-age horses to contest both races.

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Kalapour wins the Tancred Stakes.

If the Tancred was moved, then the meeting could still be held at its traditional Rosehill home although it would require a slight alteration made to the Champagne Stakes distance from 1600m to 1500m.

Then, consideration could also be given to moving the Sydney Cup to the fourth Saturday in April, replacing the minor Saturday Rosehill meeting which is held before the stand-alone Hawkesbury raceday.

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By closing out the autumn carnival with an iconic Cup Day meeting at Royal Randwick in late April, it proves an improved race program for the stayers who can use the Tancred Stakes as their final hit-out.

If Racing NSW and ATC were to move the Tancred to later in April, then it would leave the third day of the Golden Slipper Festival with only one Group 1 race, the Vinery Stud Stakes.

So, why not make another significant change and shift the ATC Australian Derby to the final Saturday in March and moving the meeting to Royal Randwick.

Riff Rocket wins the Australian Derby.

This would require some changes to the three-year-old Derby lead-up races with the Randwick Guineas and Rosehill Guineas each run a week earlier and the Tulloch Stakes added to Golden Slipper Day.

By having the Derby on the final Saturday of March, the race would get the media coverage and recognition it deserves as it is usually overshadowed by the Doncaster Mile and TJ Smith Stakes.

This would extend The Championships for another week, but why stop there?

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The Golden Slipper is essentially the “Grand Final” for two-year-olds with the winner almost assured of the champion juvenile title each season so it deserves to be included in The Championships.

Golden Slipper Day is arguably as good as any race meeting in the nation and it would not be weakened if the Rosehill Guineas was run on Coolmore Classic Day to accommodate the Derby shift.