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By Brad Gray
At Rosehill Gardens

It’s not very often that a horse wins the $150,000 G3 Canonbury Stakes (1100m) and it’s quote remains unchanged ahead of the Golden Slipper but that was the case with Performer.

Performer started the day $8 with TAB and stays at that quote ahead of his grand final.

Performer knuckling down in the Canonbury

Punters’ Intel reveals that Performer’s narrow win had more merit to it than meets the eye though, running home in sizzling closing splits of 10.62 and 10.67 for his last 400m and 200m.

The Chris Waller-trained two-year-old got his nose down at the right time to win a thrilling edition of the race, beating a courageous Snowden-trained Stratosphere, who was outstanding on debut.

Waller took the narrow victory in his stride, suggesting the son of Exceed And Excel has plenty of improvement in him, before revealing some sage advice he received from John O’Shea has helped him shape Performer’s autumn program.

“Putting it into perspective he has a long way to go until the Golden Slipper. He certainly wasn’t wound up today. He has had fitness building trials and had a 3kg penalty from the Breeders’ Plate,” said Waller.

“There is no rush to get to the next race. He is still learning his trade and probably clocked off a little bit and the second horse dug pretty deep. He is an athletic type. He is just where he needs to be.

“I spoke to John O’Shea and he has a bit of experience with these and he said not to overrace them. I went home and had a look at the history.

Here he is! Performer has entered the yard ahead of the Canonbury @atc_races @tabcomau pic.twitter.com/NEZesKFVNF

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) February 3, 2018

Performer will next tackle the Todman Stakes with a barrier trial to bridge the gap between runs before three weeks into the Golden Slipper. It is the exact same campaign used by Gai Waterhouse with Vancouver.

“I know the horse pretty well and he is an exciting horse to be training,” said Waller.

“He is a good colt, as is the second horse. I was worried before the race, I wasn’t worried at the 50m but I was the last 5m that’s for sure.”

Chris Waller, who also took out the Widden Stakes with Fiesta, was adamant that the Golden Slipper has never been on his bucket list as such but it’d certainly be a further feather in his already illustrious cap.

“As soon as (my) plane landed in Australia it’s been pretty uncharted but I’ve had some good people to follow and I’ve never stopped learning,” Waller said.

Kerrin McEvoy, who steered Sepoy to Golden Slipper glory in 2011, revealed that Performer has him a little perplexed.

“He doesn’t give you the normal Slipper type of feel in the way he gallops,” said McEvoy.

“He is a hard one to put your finger on. I have only ridden him once obviously but I said to Liam (Prior) you can’t really pigeon hole him into one criteria because he has so many options and avenues he could work into as he gets into his career. Whether he is just a speed horse I’m not so sure.

“He might have just peaked a little bit. I had him out and into full stride at the top of the lane. Lucky we got the bob in but he is a nice colt going forward.”

Check out all the results and replays for Saturday's Rosehill Gardens meeting.