Gai Waterhouse described Cerda as a “tigress” after the Phoenix Thoroughbreds homebred secured her place in the Golden Slipper.
Bred in conjunction with Widden Stud, the Snitzel filly ran an excellent second in the $1million Golden Gift at Rosehill Gardens, guaranteeing her place in the 16 runner field of the premier juvenile race. All things being equal she’ll be the second Phoenix Thoroughbreds homebred on the bounce to line up in the Slipper after Farnan won the race last year. That would be quite a coup for the Dubai- based group’s burgeoning breeding operation.
“I’ve told them (Phoenix) we might be able to win matching Slippers with Cerda” Said Waterhouse post-race.
The dominative filly displayed plenty of likeable qualities, on just her second start, as she chased down Sneaky Five to miss out by a long neck while drawing some favourable comparisons.
“I will tell you who Cerda reminds me of — Overreach,” continued Waterhouse.
“She is only small but like Overreach she has a beautiful action and wants to win.
“We would have loved to have won but this means we are in the Golden Slipper now,”
The trainer, who has seven Golden Slippers to her name and won her first in with co-trainer Adrian Bott last season, has outlined several options on the path to the Rosehill showpiece. Both the Silver Slipper, the route taken by Farnan, and the Reisling are under consideration as is the Inglis Milliemium. Cerda, herself will go for a short spell after pulling up well from her Golden Gift run, allowing connections to work backwards from a potential date with history in March.