Whittington Confirms Golden Slipper Potential

The $100,000 ATC Lonhro Plate at Warwick Farm on Saturday didn’t carry Black Type, but it did draw together a pretty serious field of juveniles with the Gai Waterhouse trained colt Whittington (2c Tale of the Cat x Maha Chakri, by Beautiful Crown) reaffirming his Golden Slipper credentials with a tenacious win. A son of top class shuttler Tale of the Cat, the Star Thoroughbreds owned Whittington won the Listed ATC Breeders Plate on debut in the spring and then was second to Never Can Tell when resuming from a spell in the Listed ATC Canonbury Stakes last month. He stripped fitter for this 1100 metre assignment and worked forward for Nash Rawiller before fighting on well to the line to beat progressive Stratum colt Va Pensiero by a long neck. “He’s right in the Golden Slipper on that and is the best colt in Sydney,” Waterhouse enthused. “I love these Breeders Plate winners as they invariably go on in the autumn.” Waterhouse should know, having won the Golden Slipper in 2008 with Sebring, another Star Thoroughbreds owned colt that also won the Breeders Plate. Whittington was a $145,000 Magic Millions purchase for Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds from the draft of Patinack Farm. He is the second foal of stakes-winning Beautiful Crown  mare Maha Chakri, who won the Listed Tasmanian Oaks. Tale of the Cat has three entries for the upcoming 2013 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.