Slipper draw blow: Baker pair land horror barriers

Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker knows the Golden Slipper isn’t won or lost at the barrier draw, and he will keep telling himself that until Saturday with Paradoxium and Warwoven.

The Baker pair were the second and third horses out in the Slipper draw, and there were gasps from the audience as Todman Stakes winner Paradoxium got gate 18 and then Warwoven, who confirmed his place in the race in the Pago Pago Stakes, got 14.

“It’s done now, we just have to live with it and work with it,” Baker said. “You want to draw well in the Slipper, but we are taking two very good horses there that are in top form.”

“There seems to be plenty of speed there with us, so there is going to be a lot of pressure.”

“We will just hope for a bit of luck and to get the right runs.”

“There is some rain coming as well, so in the end it might not be as bad as it seems.”

Warwoven was out to $7 and Paradoxium $8 on the back of the draw, which left Reisling Stakes winner Chayan as the $5 favourite in a wide-open Golden Slipper.

She drew gate 12 that will become 10 if the emergencies don’t get a start.

“Having a quick look at the draw, a lot of the fancied runners have drawn wide,” co-trainer Annabel Archibald said.

“It’s a race where you always need a lot of luck, and it’s always a high-pressure race.

“It’s Craig’s [Williams] job now. Matilda [Lanni], who drew the gate, has done her job, and she [Chayan] galloped well this morning.”

While the favoured runners will be looking to cross from out wide, Chris Waller’s trio of outsiders are all in single-figure barriers.

Hidrix, Campione D’Italia and Fireball drawing one, four and seven respectively.