BATHURST is represented by just a single filly in this Saturday night's $100,000 Group 1 Gold Tiara but that sole hope is proving to be one big excitement machine.
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Tony Higgs' Silk Cloud showed she's only gotten better since her recent Group 2 Pink Bonnet triumph at Menangle, charging down Oppenheimer Blue with a devastating sprint to win her Tiara heat last week.
She gives Higgs a genuine winning chance in this weekend's two-year-old classic at Bathurst Paceway, even after landing an awkward draw out of gate five.
It's been 19 years since Higgs last had a runner in the Gold Tiara final.
Hannah McKenzie finished third that day at the Bathurst Showground, and would go on to win the Gold Bracelet the following year, and now Higgs has another filly who appears capable of achieving the same level of success - if not more.
Silk Cloud may have got a cosy run in the heat after a galloping rival gave her the space to sit on Oppenheimer Blue's back, but Higgs was still blown away by his filly's success.
"[Driver] Amanda [Turnbull] said 'I think we'll have to go forward' so we did, and I thought we'd end up sitting outside the favourite but when one horse galloped and we got behind the leader we felt confident that we'd at least run second," he said.
"To her credit though she really knuckled down. They only really started to sprint from the last 300m so I'd say her last 200m would have been phenomenal. She broke 27 seconds for the last 400m herself.
"The speed she showed was really good. I probably don't give her enough credit for how great she's been. She'll have to be good in the final but we'll see how she goes."
Silk Cloud will have three other fellow Tiara heat winners on the front row with her in this Saturday's final.
Even with her proven gate speed Higgs' filly has little chance of taking up the running with dominant heat winner Just Hope and Oppenheimer Blue likely to battle it out in gates two and three respectively.
Captains Queen and Martini Stride start on either side of Silk Cloud in a high quality front row of contenders.
I probably don't give her enough credit for how great she's been.
- Tony Higgs
Higgs said there were definitely worse places his filly could have drawn.
"I think the two will probably lead and the three comes out pretty quick, though I'm not sure he'll be able to cross the two. We'll maybe go forward again and just see where we end up, and she might get some cover," he said.
"Someone said to me 'Oh you drew badly' and I said yes and no. I thought something like eight would have been a disaster in the final but she's coming out of five, and we'll be able to deal with that."
Just being a part of the Gold Crown Final is something many trainers have their sights set on at the start of a racing season when their two-year-old shows promise.
"I've been in the finals and never won one but it's always a big thrill. It's such a hard race to even be competitive in," Higgs said.
"Steve Turnbull's driven a winner of the Crown but he's never trained one and that stable breaks in a hell of a lot of horses. That's how hard it is to get there."
Russell Jack's Just Hope is currently a $1.50 chance to take out the Tiara while Silk Cloud and Martini Stride are the next best-backed hopes at $7 each.
Bathurst trainers have the two emergencies in the race - Steve Turnbull with Pas De Cheval and John O'Shea with Lucky Zara.
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