Grahame Begg’s Golden Slipper hopes have taken a hit with Mildred drawing wide for the two-year-old showpiece at Rosehill.
Mildred has barrier 17 in a capacity field of 16 plus four emergencies and will jump from gate 14 if the reserves fail to gain a start in Saturday’s $3.5 million race over 1200m.
“It’s not ideal,” Begg said.
“How else can I describe it?
“It makes it challenging.
“Farnan has drawn just a bit inside of us and he’s been going forward in his races so hopefully we’re able to use him to come across.”
Aside from being disappointed with the draw, Begg said he was delighted with the way Mildred had come through her recent third in the Reisling Stakes at Randwick last Saturday week.
“She has done particularly well between the Reisling and Saturday,” Begg said.
“Her main gallop was last Saturday on the Kensington track. This morning on the course proper at Randwick it was at least a heavy nine so we didn’t really let her off the bit, just held her together nicely.”
Mildred made her mark early, winning the first juvenile race of the season over 900m down the straight at Flemington in September before claiming the Listed Maribyrnong Trial in October.
Mildred began her Slipper campaign with a determined win at a rain-soaked Caulfield in the Group Three Chairman’s Stakes and has since been placed in the Talindert Stakes and Reisling.
The filly drifted from $26 to $34 after Tuesday’s draw.
Begg believes Mildred has flown under the radar this season but is hopeful her professionalism will take her a long way in the Slipper.
“She puts herself up there and obviously with a track that’s going to be still rain-affected I’d imagine to a fair degree, it may make the task of some of them hard to make up ground,” he said.
Blue Diamond Stakes winner Tagaloa has assumed favouritism at $5 after drawing barrier six while former favourite Farnan is $6 after drawing 14 while Hanseatic (9) is also at $6.
Mildred will be ridden by Melbourne jockey Jordan Childs who finished fourth in the Slipper two years ago on the Begg-trained Blue Diamond Stakes-winning colt Written By.