Marhoona follows Golden Slipper with The Galaxy group 1 victory

Marhoona, under the guidance of trainer Michael Freedman, captured the Golden Slipper last year and came back strong to claim the second elite-level win of her career via The Galaxy.

"So much for the Slipper hoodoo,'' Freedman said.

"I don't think I've had a horse that's just got as much tenacity as she does. She hates losing.

"She looked out on her feet at the 100m there and just refused to lay down, a bit like the Slipper last year. What a filly."

The weight-for-age scale proved spot-on for The Galaxy, with nine contenders finishing within a length at the wire.

Marhoona ($12), with Kerrin McEvoy aboard, dug deep to triumph by a head over the surging Jedibeel ($21), as front-runner Mazu ($18) battled to third by a short head, and favoured Briasa ($4 co-favourite) was right there in fourth.

Excitement unfolded before the gates opened as hot favourite Grafterburners ($4) flipped in the stalls, fell rearward, dumping Golden Slipper pilot Zac Lloyd and postponing the start by more than five minutes.

Grafterburners was pulled up on vet grounds, while Lloyd departed with leg and ankle muscle discomfort.

This marked Marhoona as the first Golden Slipper winner to land a Group 1 as a seasoned campaigner since She Will Reign's double in the Golden Slipper and Moir Stakes during 2017.

In addition, she matches illustrious Luskin Star (1978) as the only Golden Slipper champions to also take The Galaxy.

"We discussed before the race maybe ending up in the one-one,'' Freedman said."But, you know, Kerrin showed great initiative and just went and parked outside the leader.

"I knew when she was there she'd be certainly right in the finish, but I was a little bit concerned, maybe at the furlong (a200m) where I thought maybe she's going to get sort of steamrolled, but she's just got such an incredible will to win.''

Rider McEvoy, notching Group 1 win number 88, revealed a touch of concern cresting the straight.

"But full credit to her, the more I asked, the more she dug,'' McEvoy said.

"Michael said to me, 'Look, she's right in it with the weight' and we were confident she would handle the ground.

"I was under pressure from the top of the straight but she kept fighting back.

"At the 100m, I was still there. It's a nice surprise when they get off the canvas like that.

"She's a star filly, its onwards and upwards from here. She's won a couple of Group 1 races now so well played by Michael.''

Next up for Marhoona, according to Freedman, is the $3 million Group 1 TJ Smith over 1200m at Royal Randwick April 4, eyeing the $20 million Group 1 The Everest at 1200m later in spring.

Jedibeel, prepared by Brad Widdup, dropped out last early then flew late down the outside to almost reel in Marhoona.

"He is in super order,'' jockey Tommy Berry said. "He gave away a bit of start from the gate and just narrowly missed. It was a tough effort."

From the lead, Mazu fought on valiantly almost to the death. "He is going super this horse,'' jockey Rachel King said of Mazu. "He has his quirks which we all know about, he likes to do things his own way, but he couldn't be going any better."

Last year's The Galaxy fourth Briasa went on to the TJ Smith Stakes win, and after another fourth in the Rosehill feature, Team Hawkes dreams of Randwick repeat in two weeks.

"I thought he was terrific,'' jockey Tyler Schiller said of Briasa.

"He got into a lovely spot from the wide gate, three deep with cover, and tracked into it nicely.

"His runcame to an end with the heavy weight and the wet ground. A couple with the pull in the weights got him but he did a great job."

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