Santos and Seabrook win Slipper lead-ups

Santos left bookmakers lukewarm about his Golden Slipper prospects despite winning at Randwick.

Santos remains Gai Waterhouse’s leading contender for a seventh Golden Slipper after his Skyline Stakes win with Melbourne trainer Mick Price introducing a filly to Sydney as he searches for his first.

The Price-trained Seabrook ($7.50) upset the $4.40 favourite Fiesta in Saturday’s Sweet Embrace Stakes to stamp her claims 40 minutes after Santos won his lead-up.

Santos eased slightly in Golden Slipper markets from $9 to $11 with the TAB reacting to Seabrook’s win by bringing her in from $51 to $15 for the $3.5 million race in three weeks with Sunlight holding $4.60 favouritism.

Seabrook missed a start in last week’s the Group One Blue Diamond Stakes after an unlucky third in the Prelude and Price switched his focus to the Slipper.

“It’s a great feeling coming to Sydney and taking their prizes,” Price’s representative Pat Kearney said.

“We’ve always had a bit of an opinion of her and it’s onwards to the Slipper now.”

Waterhouse is maintaining her faith in Santos who started at $1.75 in the Skyline and scrambled in to beat Spin ($6.50) by a half neck with Legend Of Condor ($21) another short head third.

“The track was against him. He couldn’t pick up and it was a very leisurely run race,” Waterhouse said.

“He is a serious colt but he’s still learning his craft.

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“He has a beautiful action. He is so smooth the way he glides. He’s a serious chance in the Slipper.”

Both Tim Clark and Hugh Bowman, who rode Santos and Seabrook respectively, agreed the soft ground was a new element and the wind was strong.

“There was a head wind which was quite testing,” Bowman said.

“But she showed her class and did it the hard way out wide.”

Clark said there were a couple of things against Santos who had to be re-shod in the mounting yard after shedding a plate.

“He’s not the greatest horse out of the gates but he is getting better,” he said.

“I think he paraded a lot better considering the circumstances before in the mounting yard.

“Having to get re-plated is not ideal, and he had a bit of a kick out going through the tunnel as well.

“So things didn’t go exactly to plan but he showed his class.”