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By Ray Hickson

Less than three months ago Godolphin colt Cylinder was nursing a broken jaw but one month out from the $5 million Longines Golden Slipper he’s emerged as a serious chance after a gutsy win at Rosehill on Saturday.

While his Group 2 $250,000 Fujitsu General Silver Slipper Stakes (1100m) win only moved him to the $15 line with TAB for next month’s classic, trainer James Cummings marvelled at the performance to recover from the injury and beat a pair of youngsters with form around some of the leading Slipper hopes.

Cylinder (Brenton Avdulla) wins the Silver Slipper. (Pic: Steve Hart).

Godolphin's last Golden Slipper win came in 2019 with Kiamichi and Cylinder has put himself right in the frame in an increasingly open two-year-old year.

“We’re cooking with gas with this one. He is just loaded with ability,’’ Cummings said.

“First-up at his second preparation, that’s a damn good sign from this colt.

“They kept him in the barriers long enough in that small field there just to test him out, but he got back on all fours and he was quickly away, good pace in the race.”

The Exceed And Excel colt suffered a jaw injury back in the spring when he lunged at the gates prior to the Merson Cooper Stakes at Caulfield, won by Little Brose.

That horse has since finished second behind Godolphin’s unbeaten colt Barber.

Cummings said Cylinder’s recovery was a natural one and that the colt is open to plenty of improvement as he progresses to the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) in two weeks.

He’s the first horse eligible for the $1 million two-year-old bonus for a horse that wins two pathway races plus the Golden Slipper.

“Not everything went right for him in Victoria, thankfully we were able to get him back to Osborne Park on a pretty quick turnaround and nature took its course,” Cummings said.

“He has developed, he’s grown a bit, he’s more mature this time. I think he has got what it takes to keep improving and get to the level required to be competitive in the Slipper in four weeks time.”

Farnan (2020) and She Will Reign (2017) went on to complete the Silver-Golden Slipper double in recent years.

Cylinder ($4.60) settled in second place behind the leader Platinum Jubilee ($4.40) and while he was a touch wayward in the middle part of the straight he knuckled down to beat the Magic Millions runner-up by half a length with King’s Gambit ($2.50) a long neck away in third.

It’d be fair to say that the placegetters lost no admirers in defeat.

Platinum Jubilee’s co-trainer Adrian Bott was rapt with his filly’s performance and said she’ll likely progress to the Group 2 Reisling Stakes (1200m) in two weeks.

“She stuck on gamely and I think she will improve off the back of that again,’’ he said.

“She’s been courageous, hard to fault her, she’s been pretty consistent in her career to date hasn’t she.

“She’s effective anywhere you put her. She can lead, she can come off a hot pace. Good going, heavy going, whatever you need her to do.”

Cylinder wins the Silver Slipper at Rosehill

What the beaten jockeys said:

Tim Clark (Platinum Jubilee): “Another really brave effort from her again. She is a very tenacious filly. She is going well.”

Nash Rawiller (King's Gambit): “Really nice horse. Probably not quite there yet. He’s a lovely horse. He’s run well today. I couldn’t find any excuses.”

Jay Ford (Fire Lane): “She was honest from back where she was. We tried to ride her with cover again to get her to switch off. But when they are running home in 33.3 it makes life hard.”

Jason Collett (Madeira Sunrise): “Rode her a bit quieter today but didn’t have the finish to be in the finish.”

Brett Prebble (Mumbai Muse): “Lovely filly. I think she might have come to the end of her prep.”

All the results and replays from Saturday's Rosehill Gardens meeting