The tickle with a feather penalty given to James McDonald could prove vital for Golden Slipper favourite Cylinder at Rosehill Gardens, and with Anamoe, which is wrestling with a “Meat Pie Champion” tag.

Astute navigation will be required with Cylinder in a field of green two-year-olds riddled with chances, while Anamoe – having drawn 11 and with a tendency to jump sluggishly – may require considerable assistance in the George Ryder.

The Golden Slipper is listed as the feature on Saturday, but, going on the honour roll over the last decade, it trails the other group 1s: the Ryder, Ranvet, Galaxy and Rosehill Guineas.

My first Golden Slipper was in 1957 when witnessing Todman (the best winner of the race and a champion), but the overall program is blitzed by the menu this year, particularly with Anamoe as the main course.

Darby Munro, who was arguably Australia’s greatest jockey and has a race named after him today, coined the term “Meat Pie Champion” for those acclaimed by the press but not worthy of the title.

To me, a champion is a personal feeling of being in the company of an exceptional force, human or horse – like Todman. It isn’t a statistic. Some have hundreds of champions; fair enough. Sure, there are many greats, which is the next cog down.

Just when the heat has died off Verry Elleegant (outstanding but not a champion in my eyes), Anamoe, like J-Mac, has come to the fore.

J-Mac had a “raft of discounts” applied by the appeals panel to a careless riding conviction in order to ride today. That panel included Kevin (“K”) Langby, the former outstanding jockey who has left his mark on the Golden Slipper.

“K” won the Rosehill charge three times – John’s Hope (1972), Hartshill (1974) and Toy Show (1975) – but came down on Imagele (1973). Back in 1970, he should have scored on Royal Show, which was knocked rotten at a vital stage by George Moore handling the great Baguette.