Hugh Bowman has plenty of top rides on Golden Slipper day but rates dual Group One winner Danleigh as probably the pick of them in the George Ryder Stakes.Bowman returns from a careless riding suspension that cost him the winning ride on Zabrasive in the Group One Rosehill Guineas last week, and has genuine chances in all five majors including Solar Charged in the $3.5 million Golden Slipper.He also partners last year's AJC Australian Oaks winner Daffodil in the $2.25 million The BMW (2400m), Ru
Hugh Bowman has plenty of top rides on Golden Slipper day but rates dual Group One winner Danleigh as probably the pick of them in the George Ryder Stakes.
Bowman returns from a careless riding suspension that cost him the winning ride on Zabrasive in the Group One Rosehill Guineas last week, and has genuine chances in all five majors including Solar Charged in the $3.5 million Golden Slipper.
He also partners last year's AJC Australian Oaks winner Daffodil in the $2.25 million The BMW (2400m), Run For Naara in the Vinery Stud Storm Queen Stakes (2000m) and Allez Wonder in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1500m).
"Not many people are talking about him (Danleigh)," Bowman said.
"He has kind of slipped under the radar because he hasn't run for a month but he's in great form.
"He's ticking over really well, it's the right distance for him and he won at the track (in the Apollo Stakes) the last time he raced there."
Like the jockey, trainer Chris Waller is confident Danleigh is on target for both the George Ryder (1500m) and also the Group One Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Randwick on April 17.
Waller has kept Danleigh up to the mark in the four weeks since he last raced and took plenty of confidence out of the gelding's performance when stepping up to 1600m in the Group One Chipping Norton Stakes at Warwick Farm on March 6.
Danleigh finished an unlucky third behind Theseo and Rangirangdoo but both Bowman and Waller are of the opinion that luck in running cost him that day.
"What I took out of the Chipping Norton was that he gets a mile, and if he had a bit of luck he would have went very close to winning," Waller said.
The six-year-old has never won in three starts on a heavy track - including finishing last in the five-horse Expressway Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill first-up this preparation - but has claimed four wins and a third from five starts on slow-rated tracks.
For that reason Waller is hoping to avoid a heavy track, if possible, in the weight-for-age race on Saturday.
"He's going good and it would just be nice to see the track improve a little bit (from heavy) to get to slow because he handles that a lot better than heavy," he said.
"He has no confidence on heavy, it's too deep and shifty for him."
Danleigh was kept up to the mark with a 1050m barrier trial at Randwick last Friday.
The 2008 Doncaster winner Triple Honour joins his stablemate in the Ryder but under the weight-for-age conditions Waller believes Danleigh is better suited.
"Triple Honour is not a weight-for-age horse in my opinion but this race is an ideal race for him in the lead-up to the Doncaster where he drops to 52kg," he said.