The chances of Darley filly Itameri putting herself in the Golden Slipper picture will rest with how well she can settle during Saturday’s Magic Night Stakes.
The Peter Snowden-trained Itameri gets the opportunity to possibly add her name to Darley’s Golden Slipper representation when she runs in the final qualification race for fillies over 1200m at Rosehill.
Snowden already has Guelph and Kuroshio headed towards Saturday week’s Golden Slipper while Itameri and Sidestep run in the Magic Night Stakes and Pago Pago Stakes respectively on Saturday.
Itameri hasn’t started since the spring but won a Warwick Farm 800m trial by six lengths recently in preparation for the Magic Night.
“She’s got an abundance of speed but it’s just whether we can get her to settle well enough to run out a good 1200 metres,” Snowden said.
“She does give the riders a good feel and has always been a filly we’ve held in high esteem, but she has been a bit of a runner.
“That’s the only thing, we’ve just got to get her to relax.”
Itameri was fourth to Villa Verde on debut at Flemington during Melbourne Cup week before finishing second to Calcatta in a race at Moonee Valley on November 30.
She is one of 13 fillies in the Magic Night Stakes and has barrier one.
Black Opal runner-up Sidestep, who dumped Corey Brown at the start of last week’s Todman Stakes, has barrier seven in the Pago Pago Stakes (1200m)
Guelph is considered Darley’s best chance in Slipper betting.
Snowden had to abandon Slipper plans with debut winner Safeguard and he’ll now return later in the Sydney carnival.
He is scheduled to trial next week at Rosehill and resume on April 13 in the Kindergarten Stakes at Randwick.