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Vancouver has given Gai Waterhouse her sixth Golden Slipper winner to equal the training record held by her late father, TJ Smith.
Gai Waterhouse has stamped her name on a sixth Golden Slipper trophy to equal the record set by the man many regard as Australia's greatest ever trainer - her father TJ Smith.
Vancouver showed why he has been the dominant juvenile this season and punters stuck solid, sending him out the $2.50 favourite despite the widest barrier in Saturday's $3.5 million race over 1200m.
Tommy Berry rode him over from gate 16 to take up a position better than midfield with Haybah setting a slick pace.
As the field thundered for home, Waterhouse could not lose with Vancouver joined by his stablemate English ($12).
But the colt's superior power took over and he kicked into another gear with 100m to go and put three-quarters of a length on the filly.
"It's a dream come true," Waterhouse said.
"The Melbourne Cup is special but this is the race all Australians want to win.
"It is a stallion-making race and he will make a stallion.
"As for the filly, I thought she was the winner but he was just too dominant."
When she began training, Waterhouse's father was her mentor and harshest critic.
"The last words he said to me here at Rosehill before he died were `you make a man sick, you can't train the two-year-olds'," she said.
"When he passed away only two days after, I thought I'm never going to let that be my thing.
"He put me into motion."
It was a second Slipper for Berry who claimed the race on the Waterhouse-trained Overreach two years ago.
On that occasion the first person to congratulate him was his twin brother Nathan.
On Saturday it was his mother Julie, partner Sharnee and new baby Kaidan who celebrated and comforted him as they remembered Nathan who died almost a year ago.
"I've got no words," Berry said.
"Nathan is with me all the time. I've got my son here, Kaidan. One person leaves you in the world and another one comes along. I'm just so blessed to have my family here."
Waterhouse compares Vancouver favourably to her 2012 two-year-old triple crown winner Pierro but will not commit Vancouver to a start in the Sires' Produce or Champagne Stakes.
"He and Pierro are very similar," she said.
"They are both drop-dead gorgeous and incredibly masculine.
"But we'll just let the dust settle on today. I don't know whether this colt will go to the Sires'.
"I'm very mindful of his three-year-old season.
"There has already been interest from studs and we want to make sure we do the right thing by him."
Lake Geneva ($18) ran three-quarters of a length behind English to finish third with her Hawkes Racing-trained stablemate Headwater in fifth.
Waterhouse's third runner Speak Fondly ran 11th while the best of the four Godolphin runners was Furnaces who ran sixth.
