Darley's No.1 jockey Kerrin McEvoy has revealed how he was set to ride Guelph in the Golden Slipper until stablemate Sidestep booked a place in the field last weekend.

"Guelph was going to be my Slipper ride," he told an Australian Turf Club Golden Slipper function on Thursday.

"It was a case of how Sidestep won and how he pulled up."

Sidestep convinced the Darley team he should join stablemates Guelph and Kuroshio in Saturday's race after scoring with authority in the Pago Pago Stakes at Rosehill.

The stable reports he has taken no harm from the win but he will wear blinkers for the first time on Saturday with McEvoy chasing his second Golden Slipper triumph after his 2011 victory on Sepoy.

"He's had the blinkers on a few times this week and I've just got a quiet feeling he is peaking at the right time," McEvoy said.

"There is a sense of timing about his preparation."

Sidestep occupies the second line of Slipper betting at $9 while Guelph, a Christian Reith ride, is at $21 and Kuroshio for Josh Parr is one of the outsiders at $101.

McEvoy's mount will be one of the best-bred youngsters in this year's race as a half-brother to Skilled, a Group One-winning two-year-old, and Ambidexter, a consistent stakes-class racehorse for Darley.

Skilled was adept in rain-affected going, winning a Golden Slipper day support race in 2010 on a slow track enroute to his Champagne Stakes victory at the end of the autumn carnival.

AAP TU