Ruud Awakening all but booked her ticket to next month's Golden Slipper Stakes when she completely dominated the first group one juvenile field of the season in the Haunui Farm Diamond Stakes at Ellerslie yesterday.
It now seems just a matter of how the brilliant filly comes through yesterday's scintillating performance to decide whether connections will pay the A$150,000 entry fee to the A$3.5 million feature, scheduled for April 6 in Sydney.
In the glow of his first Group One victory, trainer Stephen Marsh confirmed that the Golden Slipper is definitely under consideration given the ease with which Ruud Awakening won today's 1200-metre feature, running the distance in a carnival best 1m 08.78s with a final 600 metres in 33.73.
"She was awesome, she did exactly what we thought she would and she did it in great style," Marsh said.
"The thing about her is that she looks as if she's getting cheap sectionals and then you see a time like that.
