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Live sport on SN this weekendThe $51 Golden Slipper chance who should be on your radar
Connor Scanlon • February 2nd, 2026 3:51 pm
Prominent racing owner John O’Neill has spruiked an unraced colt to win or place in the $5 million Golden Slipper on March 21.
That two-year-old is Barracks and is owned by O’Neill himself.
The bay is the son of Home Affairs and has had only one trial across 650m in September of last year.
When the owner was asked about the colt on SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up, his face lit up with excitement.
“He's in work in Sydney,” O’Neill said.
“I had a good chat with our French trainer, Joey (Gerard-Dubord), with Ciaron (Maher) up in Sydney on the weekend.
“He will have a trial in the next week, I would say.
“He's going very well, he seems like a nice horse.”
With the Group 1 Golden Slipper slowly creeping up, Barracks currently sits as a $51 roughie with many bookmakers.
While O’Neill admitted that he hasn’t backed his horse yet, he did recommend a small bet on his colt at long odds.
Hall: “Have you backed him for a Golden Slipper?”
O’Neill: “No, I haven't backed him.”
Hall: “Would you?”
O’Neill: “Yeah, I would have something (on him).”
Hawkes: “Did your wife back him in the Golden Slipper?”
O’Neill: “She might have, Joe might have.”
Hawkes: “Oh, hello.”
O’Neill: “I would have something small (on him), let’s just see.”
The owner continued by pushing the two-year-old’s case, even stating that Gerard-Dubord personally told him to put an each-way bet on the horse.
“Lovely horse - big, strong, professional colt,” O’Neill exclaimed.
“Trialled really well early doors. We thought we'd be able to get him going (but) went shin-sore, (then) came back.
“Joe rang me the other day and said, ‘I think this is a nice horse’, which is a very rare thing for the great man to do.
“He said he's a very nice horse, he said have something each-way.”
The current favourite for the Golden Slipper is Hidrix at $7.50, while Barracks is an outside chance at $51.
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