KEY POINTS:
Gently Bentley's Golden Slipper build-up has been stalled after the Gosford meeting was abandoned and he will now make his debut at Canterbury in Sydney on Friday.
Former New Zealand trainer Chris Waller said it was disappointing not to see the Flying Spur gelding in action over 1000m yesterday but he hoped his preparation would not be too badly affected by taking on 1200m in Sydney.
"This is a minor setback and it's going to make it a little bit harder," Waller said.
"But if you're good enough to win the Slipper you'll get there.
"It's such a big call to say any horse can win the Slipper now, there's such a long way to go."
Waller said he was pleased with the gelding's 900m trial wins but added that only racing would show whether he had the ability to get to the big race.
"He had a minor setback after his last trial but everything is now 100 per cent and is still on the way up."
On the basis of his trial wins, TAB Sportsbet has Gently Bentley at $A26 to win the Golden Slipper.
Meanwhile, Waller said he was tempted to enter Parramatta Cup winner Silky Red Boxer in the Gosford Cup (2100m) but chose the group three Randwick Plate on March 10.
"It's less prizemoney than some of the races we could have gone for but we're hoping he'll only carry 57kg and being a small horse that's the main reason we chose the race," Waller said.
"It's taken us a while to nurse him back to his best and we thought we'd save him for Randwick."
- NZPA
