Thought I'd look up how many have actually won the double and came across this.
History shows that Earthquake will need to be something extra special to win the $3.5 million Group 1 Golden Slipper
History shows that Earthquake, Saturday’s Group 1 Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) winner at Caulfield, will need to be something extra special to win the $3.5 million Group 1 Golden Slipper
Only five winners of the Blue Diamond Stakes have won the Golden Slipper (1200m, run at Rosehill Gardens on April 5), and it’s not as though it’s rarity to attempt the double—31 Blue Diamond winners have run in the Golden Slipper since the Blue Diamond was first run in 1971, won by Tolerance, who went on to finish 11th behind Fairy Walk in the Slipper.
Earthquake’s trainer Peter Snowden knows what's required in that he has done it before. Snowden, assisted by his Melbourne-based son, Paul, steered the chestnut colt Sepoy to complete the double in 2011.
Before that it was Courtza in 1989. The filly was trained by Ross McDonald at Epsom (he’s now based at Caulfield) and McDonald is the only other living trainer to complete the double.
The other three Diamond-Slipper winners are the filly Bounding Away (1986), gelding Manikato (1978) and colt John’s Hope (1972). Tommy Smith trained Bounding Away and John’s Hope, while Manikato was trained by Bon Hoysted.
Snowden said he learnt a lot from his experience with Sepoy, in which he made mistakes post-Blue Diamond. Speaking to Shane Anderson on RSN on Sunday, he said that he gave Sepoy too long a break after the Blue Diamond, which resulted in the gross colt being underdone when he was beaten by Smart Missile in the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m, Rosehill), two weeks before his dominant Slipper win.
“I gave him 10 days off after the Blue Diamond and he got away from me. The filly will return to Sydney tomorrow (Monday) and go straight to paddock at Agnes Bank. If all goes to plan, she will be back in the (Warwick Farm) stable next Monday,” he said.
Earthquake became the 18th filly to win the Blue Diamond Stakes. The most recent Blue Diamond winner to attempt to win the Golden Slipper was Mick Price’s filly Samaready, who finished third behind the stars Pierro and Snitzerland in 2012.
Snowden said he plans to follow a similar pattern with Earthquake to that of Sepoy—she will run two weeks before the Slipper, in the Group 2 Reisling Stakes (1200m, for fillies) at Rosehill on March 22.
It’s worth noting that neither Courtza nor Bounding Away ran in the Reisling. Courtza didn’t race between the Diamond and the Slipper, while Bounding Away won the Group 2 Magic Night Stakes (1200m, Rosehill, for fillies), a week before the Slipper.
Manikato and John’s Hope didn’t race between their Group 1 wins.
Snowden feels that Earthquake, unbeaten in three starts, is on an upward curve and will more than likely need the Reisling run to bring her to peak for the Slipper. “She only had one barrier trial and an easy run (in the Blue Diamond Prelude) before winning the Blue Diamond,” he said. Snowden labelled Saturday’s win as “arrogant”.
Interestingly, the sire of Earthquake's dam Cataclysm—Marauding—won the 1987 Slipper, and Canny Lad, the sire of Catalcysm’s dam (Chaparra) won the 1990 Slipper. Earthquake's sire, Exceed And Excel, who finished ninth to Polar Success in the 2003 Slipper, sired the quinella in last year's Slipper, when Overreach beat Sidestep.
Blue Diamond runner-up Jabali also is heading north for the Golden Slipper. The youngster has finished second in his three starts, but trainer Mick Price thinks the colt is improving. It is also believed that a Victorian stud farm is negotiating to buy a share in Jabali, also a son of Exceed And Excel.
Four previous Blue Diamond placegetters have gone on to win the Golden Slipper—Miss Finland (2006, 2nd in the Blue Diamond behind Nadeem); Flying Spur (1995, 2nd, Principality); Canny Lad (1990, 2nd, Mahaasin); Fairy Walk (1971, 3rd, Tolerance).
https://www.racingvictoria.net.au/news/rvl/n_Earthquake_seeks_rare_double.aspx
