Highly Rated Sword Of Osman Dominates Slipper

Premier Sale graduate Sword Of Osman (Savabeel) is rated extremely highly by his connections, and his performance in Saturday’s $70,000 Group 3 Reid & Harrison Slipper (1200m) at Matamata made it easy to see why.

Bought for $165,000 at Karaka by perennial leading buyer David Ellis, Sword Of Osman immediately stood out to trainers Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards and jockey Opie Bosson as a budding star of the stable.

He lived up to his burgeoning reputation with a three-length win on debut at Awapuni in December, then inexperience proved costly as he finished eighth in the Karaka Million in just his second career start.

He resumed his winning ways on Saturday with an exceptional performance, leading all the way and racing clear in the straight to win by five and three-quarter lengths.

“He was travelling much too keenly in front,” Bosson said. “With how hard he was going, I thought he’d be gone before the turn. But he’s a really, really good horse.

“He’s one of the best we’ve got in our stable – I’ve said that from day one. I think he’s got a really bright future as a three-year-old.”

It was the second time in the last three years that the Te Akau team has won the Slipper with a Karaka graduate. They did it in 2016 with Heroic Valour (Fastnet Rock), a $400,000 purchase who added the Group 1 Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie at his next start.

Sword Of Osman is likely to follow that same route to Ellerslie, where the Group 1 Sistema Stakes field is likely to include his Karaka Million-winning stablemate Avantage (Fastnet Rock).