Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou declares boom colts Skyhook and King Of Pop are up for the challenge in the Golden Slipper
Skyhook and King Of Pop bring vastly different formlines into the Golden Slipper but co-trainer Sterling Alexiou said there isn’t much between them and are ready for their biggest showdown.
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Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou had a simple message when discussing the prospects of gun colts Skyhook and King Of Pop in the lead up to Saturday’s Group 1 $5m Golden Slipper (1200m) showpiece at Rosehill Gardens.
“We believe both of these horses have got what it takes,” he declared.
Skyhook and King Of Pop will give Alexiou and co-trainer Gerald Ryan their strongest ever Golden Slipper hand since forming a partnership in 2020.
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And while the barrier draw favours Skyhook, Alexiou is adamant on ability there isn’t much between.
The pair have taken vastly different paths to the world’s richest two-year-old race but have been similarly impressive in the lead-up to win their way into one of the most important races on the Australian racing calendar.
“We’ve never really put them down together in terms of directly comparing them but they’ve always shown good talent the two of them,” Alexiou said.
“They are both horses we earmarked pretty early to be candidates to get to this race.
“It’s pleasing for the stable and the owners that they are both there and I don’t think there is much between them.
“King Of Pop probably hasn’t had that traditional lead-up into a Slipper that mightn’t attract as many people as Skyhook has.”
Skyhook was one of the last horses to guarantee himself a start in the Golden Slipper.
The son of Written Tycoon needed to win last Saturday’s Group 3 Pago Pago Stakes to earn a crack in the big dance after placing in both the Pierro Plate and Group 2 Skyline Stakes in the lead up.
He was up to the challenge, producing one of the most dominant two-year-old displays of the autumn last Saturday at Rosehill Gardens.
Skyhook is going to the Golden Slipper! 💥
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 15, 2025
Skyhook wins the Pago Pago Stakes for @RARacing_! 👠pic.twitter.com/HWVz4tmoea
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“Skyhook is pretty dynamic and very versatile,” Alexiou said.
“He has got a really good head on his shoulders and is doing it all in his first preparation.
“Before he had his first start we had only ever given him one jumpout and a trial. From memory, since I’ve been with Gerald, I can’t remember us throwing a horse in the deep end like that.
“He has got a nice future and I think 1400m down the track will be his ideal distance.
“From a good draw he can settle somewhere in the front half of the field and it will go a long way to seeing him in the finish I think.”
King Of Pop will attempt to become just the second horse and first since this century to win the Golden Slipper-Black Opal Stakes double.
Only Catbird in 1999 has managed to win Canberra’s marquee race for two-year-olds and back it up in the Slipper. Ryan has come close to completing the feat in 1996 when Paint was a beaten favourite in the Golden Slipper, finishing second to Merlene.
The Black Opal Stakes wasn’t the planned Slipper launching pad for King Of Pop.
The son of former Golden Slipper winner Farnan won his debut at the midweeks at Warwick Farm in mid-February before heading to the Black Opal but the original plan had been to aim up at January’s Magic Millions.
“King Of Pop ended up getting shin sore (before the Magic Millions),” Alexiou said.
King Of Pop WINS the Black Opal Stakes! ðŸ†@ZacLloydx with a masterful display in the saddle! pic.twitter.com/jblG77mZ7x
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 9, 2025
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“Just through time constraints he was probably three or four weeks behind where he needed to be ideally for a Slipper campaign.
“He was in an incident where he had to win his way in and wherever he went we had to make sure he was winning and he was going to be in there.
“It’s not two of the traditional lead-up runs but he’s got every bit of the talent that the Slipper requires.”
Chris Waller’s boom colt Wodeton remains a slender $4.80 Golden Slipper favourite from Godolphin filly Tempted ($5) with Skyhook one of the few horses in single digits in betting at $8.50.
Kerrin McEvoy, winner of the 2011 Golden Slipper on Sepoy, rides Skyhook while young gun Zac Lloyd will partner King Of Pop, which is a $31 outsider.
King Of Pop’s chances were dented after drawing the outside of Saturday’s Slipper field of 16 starters while Skyhook fared better with barrier eight.
Ryan and Alexiou could get the chance to claim a massive feature double on the biggest Group 1 card of Australian racing with Eagle Nest set to get her chance on the back-up in the Group 1 $1m The Galaxy (1100m).
Eagle Nest is set to be sold at next month’s Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale and would increase her value substantially as a breeding prospect with victory in the sprint feature.
Eagle Nest – Rises Above the Rest! 🦅
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 15, 2025
The @RARacing_ stable scores a double at Rosehill with @RachelK11 in the saddle! 👠pic.twitter.com/VAayQCKmEb
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A strong first-up victory in the Group 3 Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) last weekend at Rosehill Gardens encouraged Ryan and Alexiou to give Eagle Nest an opportunity in the Group 1 feature.
She has been closely monitored throughout the week to make sure she will handle the seven-day back-up for the Group 1 test.
Eagle Nest has won three of her four starts over the 1100m on home turf and is a $19 chance to enhance that record with Rachel King aboard.
“It probably wasn’t on the radar originally but her record at 1100m and at Rosehill is pretty slick,” Alexiou said.
“There are a couple of very handy gallopers in the race.
“We’ve backed her up once before and I think she ran second at Hawkesbury in a Listed race.”
Win, lose or draw, Eagle Nest will be on a float to the Hunter Valley at the beginning of next week to begin preparing for the next phase of her career.
“She is booked to go out to Newgate on Monday,” Alexiou said.
“Obviously a Group 1 placing on her resume would add quite a bit of value to her as a broodmare.”
Ryan and Alexiou can get their day off to a winning start with It’s A Wonder in the Midway Handicap (1500m).
Originally published as Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou declares boom colts Skyhook and King Of Pop are up for the challenge in the Golden Slipper
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