With Canonbury Stakes winner Blitzburg ruled out of the autumn due to a bone chip, trainers Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou may have found a strong replacement in King Of Pop.

The Warwick Farm winner, hailing from the family of super sire Snitzel, is now in the running to qualify for the Golden Slipper following a determined debut in the Find Your Next G1W @ The Chase Plate (1100m) on Wednesday.

“I always thought he was my best chance in the Golden Slipper,” Ryan said. “He pulled up shin sore in December, so we gave him time, and now we’ll step him up.”

Ryan was impressed by how King Of Pop sat off a fast pace and finished strongly in his debut.

The $800,000 Magic Millions buy is a son of Farnan, the 2020 Golden Slipper winner, and has a pedigree Ryan is familiar with. He is a grandson of stakes placegetter Wiener, a half-sister to Snitzel.

Ridden by Jason Collett, King Of Pop ($4.40 fav) narrowly defeated Savvy Hallie ($8), with the pair clearing out over third-place finisher Congressman ($6).

Ryan is considering several options for King Of Pop’s next race, including the Skyline Stakes, Todman Stakes, and Canberra’s Black Opal Stakes.

“He’s a good-doing horse, and it wouldn’t worry me if he went to the Pago Pago and backed up like Hinchinbrook did,” Ryan said.

Hinchinbrook placed third in the 2010 Pago Pago Stakes before finishing fourth in that year’s Golden Slipper.