One-time favourite for last year’s Golden Slipper, three-year-old Snitzel filly Chance Bye has been retired after pulling up lame following her last-place finish in the Group 3 Birthday Card Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

Owned and trained by the Kembla Grange-based battler Michael Tubman, Chance Bye enjoyed a fairytale start her to short racing career when she was one of the favourites to win last year’s Golden Slipper.

After winning on debut in the $250,000 Inglis Nursery (1000m) at Randwick on December 19, 2009, Chance Bye went on to take out the Inglis Classic and then the $200,000 Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes (1200m) during the summer of 2010.

This saw the smart filly start one of the top fancies in the 2010 Golden Slipper field but she could only manage to finish ninth, beaten four lengths by last year’s Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily in the $3.5 million showdown.

Chance Bye resumed in August last year where she had mixed results on the track placing third in the Group 3 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m), finishing three lengths away 10^th to Toorak Toff in the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) and fourth in the Group 3 Champagne Stakes (1200m).

In her final run last season she was disappointing, suffering her largest defeat beaten over 10 lengths in the Listed Gucci Stakes at Flemington on Emirates Stakes Day.

Tubman bought Chance Bye back this year running her first-up in the Birthday Card Stakes where she failed to beat home any of her 14 rivals, pulling up lame after the race and forcing connections to retire her.

Purchased for $15,000 as yearling by Tubman, Chance Bye had nine starts for three wins and a third producing over $540,950 in career prize money.

This Saturday a new field of upcoming two-year-olds will fight it out at Rosehill in the 2011 AAMI Golden Slipper with Darley’s glamour colt Sepoy remaining the favourite to win despite drawing barrier 10.

The $3.5 million Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) will run as Rosehill Race 7 on Saturday, due to jump at 4:05pm (AEDST).