COOLANGATTA WINS QLD GROUP 3

Coolangatta wins the Group 3 BJ McLachlan Stakes

It’s generally a pretty rare experience that a horse lives up to this level of hype but Coolangatta is certainly doing that and on the road to what should be an exciting Magic Millions carnival at the Gold Coast in January.

There was definitely significant support for the 2 year old filly as punters crunched her price into a near unbackable $1.25 at the jump. They would have been breathing easy from start to finish however as the filly sat close to the speed throughout and put her rivals to bed when charging clear in the straight. 

Melbourne Cup winning jockey James McDonald was extremely bullish about the win and claimed the best was yet to come. 

“It didn’t work out as well as I hoped, I think the run was better than it looked to be fair because we worked extremely hard early, had a little breather but then she was asked to go again,” he said.

“You have to be mindful she was first up and she did a lot of work early, the win was full of merit. I am very pleased with how she handled herself and her execution.

“I think there is plenty of improvement, she was very above herself, good ground will help her, the run over six furlongs will only help so there is a lot at play.”

Co trainer Maher had made the trip to watch the boom filly and was clear that the Magic Millions was the two year olds primary focus. 

“It is a slightly different horse this time, I think Away Game came here before the Magic Millions so that has worked before,” he said.

“She could have almost gone in fresh up but I just thought because she is an excitable filly, I would bring her here fresh to a tighter turning track, a bit like the Gold Coast so she can have that experience.”

“I just really hope it is firm or good ground come Magic Millions because I think she will be a bit better on it,” he said.

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