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By Ray Hickson

Whether he drew inside or out, co-trainer Adrian Bott says the plan for Red Resistance was always to make the Golden Slipper a stern test and nothing changed when the colt drew the outside gate for the world’s richest two-year-old race.

Trainer Adrian Bott. (Pic: Bradley Photos).

A wide barrier has never fazed Bott’s co-trainer Gai Waterhouse and recent Slipper history shows six of the last nine winners have jumped from double figure gates including Vancouver, in 2015, who got the job done from 16.

Bott said Red Resistance will be ridden to make use of his best asset by jockey Brett Prebble who will send the colt forward and dare to defy them.

“You’ve got to race a horse to their natural pattern and for him that’s natural speed and we intend to use that again,’’ he said.

“We intend to make it a genuine test and that’s playing to his strengths to be running along at a good tempo.

“Out wide probably forces your hand a little bit but from whatever draw we were going to be in we would have adopted similar tactics.”

Red Resistance, $11 with TAB on Wednesday, suffered his first defeat in the Todman Stakes (1200m) two weeks ago when he was run down by current Slipper favourite Cylinder.

Bott said as a lead up run for the Group 1 $5 million Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday it was more than acceptable given he was over a month between runs and with one eye on the grand final.

“It’s frustrating that he was beaten and lost that (unbeaten) tag but at the end of the day it was all about getting him prepared for the Golden Slipper,’’ Bott said.

“The race shape worked out as planned but a nice stiff 1200m at Randwick with a bit of time between runs and a talented colt that had the benefit of fitness and ready to pounce made it tough conditions for him.

“But if it meant going through that path and potentially being vulnerable there well that’s what we had to do. Taking nothing away from Cylinder, he turned in a top performance, but I wasn’t disappointed by it.

"I think he’s taken improvement off the back of that, he arrives here in good shape and he comes back to Rosehill which he seems to enjoy."

Waterhouse and Bott combined for their first Slipper in 2020 with Farnan while Racing’s First Lady has six more against her name.

They have a worthy back-up, if you can call it that, in the filly Platinum Jubilee who is something of a forgotten horse at $18 with TAB as she’ll be a month between runs.

Since her eye-catching Gimcrack Stakes win on debut, the filly has finished runner-up in all three starts and was also run down by Cylinder when second in the Silver Slipper.

“In every single race she’s run to date she’s proven she’s that class and is the type that can win a Golden Slipper,’’ Bott said.

Red Resistance runs second in the Todman Stakes

“It’s probably a little tougher on those horses that go through to Queensland for the Magic Millions, there’s only so many races they can show up in prior to the grand final.”

There’s a significant change to Platinum Jubilee’s gear for the Golden Slipper and Bott said he felt the Silver Slipper showed blinkers would be beneficial.

She wore them in her easy trial win with Tim Clark in the saddle at Warwick Farm on March 2.

“I thought she might have got a little bit lost late there when in front for a while,’’ he said.

“That’s what prompted us to tinker with her gear and the addition of blinkers, allowing her to remain focused as I feel she just allowed them into the race the other day.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Golden Slipper meeting at Rosehill