Leading hoop James McDonald piloted his fourth stakes winner of the Royal Randwick fixture as Generosity swooped late to pip Marhoona in a dramatic Group 2 $500,000 Challenge Stakes (1000m) on Saturday.
From gate to post, the weight-for-age feature was full of thrills, highlighted by short-priced Raging Force suffering issues at the start and retired by jockey Tommy Berry shy of the corner.
Concurrently, veteran Mazu surprised with sharp early foot, dictating terms ahead of Marhoona and Generosity, as Giga Kick, the 2022 The Everest hero, dropped back early.
The turning point came courtesy of McDonald’s skill, detaching from Marhoona’s slipstream late to outlast the previous Golden Slipper winner by the barest margin.
McDonald said all three placegetters “fought it out really well”.
“Take nothing away from the second horse (Marhoona), I didn’t think I was going to get there, she’s a very good filly in her own right,” McDonald said.
“Generosity looked great in the parade ring and although I wasn’t intending to be there early, she jumped so well.
“Then she presented like the winner and jogged up to them. She’s a bonny little mare.
“Chris (Waller, trainer) was pretty confident before the race and you always get so much confidence when you get legged onto his horses because they’re primed and ready to go.
“She’s Group 2 placed (3rd in The Shorts) from memory but The Galaxy down in the weights is the perfect race for her.”
Generosity ($10) nosed out Marhoona ($9.50) by a short half head in the nailbiter, with Mazu ($8.50) a mere head adrift in third.
Her time for the 1000m stood at a swift 56.63s, underpinned by a scorching 32.59s closing 600m that sealed the deal against those positioned rearward.
Giga Kick ($3.20) produced a late surge to fill fourth, beaten by 1.5 lengths.
These three contenders are likely to cross paths again in the Group 1 $1 million The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 21, while Giga Kick eyes the Group 1 $3 million TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on April 4.
Preceding victories for McDonald came via Pinito (Group 3 Aspiration Quality), Beadman (Listed Fireball Stakes) and Chayan (Group 2 Reisling Stakes), rounding out his quartet.
An atypical move from trainer Chris Waller involved three trials to peak Generosity for the Challenge Stakes.
“Generosity needed to be fit and fresh to win this race,” Waller said.
“I didn’t lose faith in this mare, she’s got very good form in Perth and she’s a talented mare
“She was ready to go a month ago and then we thought, where are we going to run her?
“We know she is good fresh and we couldn’t find the right race so we put her on the treadmill for a week.
“Then we gave her a third trial as she had to be very fit and fresh for this race. She is a lovely horse to worth with, she is mentally mature now.
“So, we will go to The Galaxy on our home track at Rosehill now and could even look at the Sangster Stakes in Adelaide.”
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