Golden Slipper weekend is here, and the 2026 Slipper looks intriguing.

Highly rated colt Warwoven gives Bjorn Baker the chance to prepare his first Slipper winner, but the Chris Waller-trained Central Europe has plenty of fans. As always there are multiple formlines to sort out, and if you can find the winner you should be well rewarded.

The Slipper heads what these days is arguably the best raceday on the Australian calendar, boasting no fewer than five Group 1s. The Rosehill Guineas for the three-year-olds, the Ranvet for the weight-for-agers, the George Ryder for the milers and the Galaxy for the speedsters round out the majors.

There's also Group 1 action in Melbourne, with the William Reid Stakes run at Caulfield for the first time.

You'll find Australia's best form guide for Saturday's Caulfield, Rosehill, Doomben and Morphettville meetings in this week's Best Bets.

On pages 4 and 5 you'll find four-state selections from some of the nation's leading form analysts as well as our popular Black Bookers, Sectional Stars and Video Stars features.

Best Bets ($7) is on sale Thursday morning in NSW newsagents, Friday elsewhere.