Victorian colt Guest House exploded on to one of Australian racing’s most coveted honour rolls with an impressive $5m Golden Slipper (1200m) romp at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr revelled in their most significant moment in partnership when the valuable son of Home Affairs scored a sensational win in the two-year-old main event.
The training duo had star jockey Zac Lloyd to thank after the young hoop delivered a 10 out of 10 steer to get the Guest House home.
It helped Price and Kent Jr complete the set of Sydney’s “Golden” trio of feature races.
Price and Kent Jr had already won the Golden Eagle with I’m Thunderstuck and Golden Rose with Jacquinot at Rosehill Gardens before tasting their first in Rosehill’s most coveted race.
“It’s so right for Mick,” Kent Jr said.
“I’m so lucky I work with Mick. He’s had so many close calls in this race. He’s a great two-year-old trainer. Himself and Timmy Rogers found the horse.”
“I’m very excited. I’m rapt for Mick Price. He gave me a big show in this game and I’m very lucky. And credit to all our staff back at home. A lot of work goes into these good colts.
“And what a horse. He won by a big margin, going away, so fantastic.”
Price had had his sights on a Golden Slipper for several years and came close when Samaready finished third in Pierro’s victory in 2012.
Gun colt Extreme Choice started favourite in 2016 but could only manage a midfield finish while Flying Artie was third the same year.
Price watched his latest attempt from a far with runners at Caulfield on the same day.
“Gai (Waterhouse) is seven in front and every single year I have a crack with the two-year-olds and taught myself how to train them properly,” Price said.
“Look, he has been a big strong horse. We had to peak him here for the Blue Diamond, which you can argue he may have won there.
“We had four weeks and resisted the temptation to trial him, gave him some nice stretchy gallops and took a punt and trusted my horse.
“I thought Zac understood him, he’s a tricky pair of hands type horse and I thought he got the ride pretty right, the horse was there for him. It was sensational.”
Lloyd hadn’t ridden Guest House in a race but was booked to ride the star colt weeks out from the two-year-old main event.
The former two-time Sydney champion apprentice executed to perfection to propel Guest House to an emphatic win.
Lloyd had the lightly-raced talent ridden with cover slightly worse than midfield and guided Guest House through the pack before unleashing him closer to the inside.
Guest House ($11) showed a devastating turn of foot when he got clear air to salute by 1¼ lengths from the Clinton McDonald-trained Streisand ($7.50) with Gratz Vella’s Music Time ($41) holding on for third.
“It was high pressure, but my colt, he was fantastic,” Lloyd said.
“He’s obviously a very good Home Affairs’ colt. He broke on terms. He’s been a bit tricky in his mannerisms, but today he was very attractable.
“I got on the back of the best jockey in the world and I thought, ‘Here we go, we’ll go from here.
“And I just quickened that well. I was just waiting for a run, but geez, he let down so well. So I’m very happy.
“I’m so pleased for the big ownership and Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr and Ben Elam, who works here in Sydney.”
Price and Kent Jr opened up a Sydney barn at Rosehill Gardens in the spring of 2024 with 16 boxes on course in a bid to take advantage of NSW booming carnivals.
The stable has been run by assistant trainer Ben Elam.
“When you win the pinnacle of two-year-old racing in the Southern Hemisphere if not the world for $5m with the best two-year-olds (it’s massive),” Elam said.
“I tell you what, he put them to the sword. He’s got a handy turn of foot doesn’t he.”
Streisand was vying to complete a rare Blue Diamond-Golden Slipper double and was game in defeat after racing on speed.