GOLDEN SUCCESS FOR WATERHOUSE Australia`s top female trainer Gai Waterhouse won her first Golden Slipper on Saturday with Ha Ha and also took all three placings in the world`s richest race for two-year-olds. Waterhouse became the first woman to train the winner of the A$2.5 million race. Waterhouse, whose late father Tommy Smith won 34 Sydney training premierships and six Golden Slippers, completed an amazing dominance of the 1,200-metre event when Ha Ha (13-1) broke clear in the final 200m for victory by one and one-quarter lengths, ridden by Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Jimmy Cassidy. A tearful Waterhouse, who had five runners in the field of 16, was lost for words and unable to finish her acceptance speech. 'I can`t tell you what it means to win this race. Dad won it six times and he had one of these trophies in the stables ... it`s just a fantastic feeling,' she said. Cassidy also had extra reasons to celebrate after completing the milestone of winning the four major races in Australia - the Melbourne Cup, the Cox Plate, the Caulfield Cup and the Golden Slipper. Excellerator (3-1 favourite) was a short neck clear of the third-placed Red Hannigan (20-1).
