Chris Waller‘s brilliant mare Fangirl proved her class once again, narrowly denying her stablemate Lindermann to successfully defend her title in the $1 million 7 Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
2025 7 Stakes winner Fangirl successfully defended her title in the $1 million event second-up. Photo: Bradley Photos.
The champion mare, who won the same race by two lengths last year, was forced to fight for her victory in a thrilling photo finish.
Returning to Sydney after a game fourth in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield, Fangirl relished the step up in distance and getting back to her pet track.
“Forget her run last start at Caulfield,” Waller said. “She just didn’t get around the track as well as we would have liked, and back at home today she was awesome.”
Ridden by the master jockey James McDonald, the seven-year-old mare came from well back in the field to charge down the home straight, lunging right on the line to down the front-running Lindermann by a nose in an all-Waller quinella.
McDonald was full of praise for the mare, saying, “She’s so good, I love her dearly. She’s such a thrill to ride and every time she gives her heart out there, she’s a line chaser.”
He admitted to some concern in the final stages, saying, “He (Lindermann) fought harder than I thought. Credit to him, he fought when I came up to him. I felt like I was going to have it easier and then he fought, but Fangirl was too strong.”
Waller was equally impressed with the performance of both his runners.
“It was an intriguing race,” he said.
“Lindermann, I thought was rolling along at pretty good sectionals, and I thought, well, he’ll be vulnerable late, but he kept fighting hard.
“I actually thought Lindermann won, but when it’s a stablemate fighting out the photo finish, you’re not too concerned.”
In a distant third, two lengths back, was the consistent Joe Pride-trained Ceolwulf.
Waller confirmed that Fangirl’s next target will be the Group 1 $5 million King Charles III Stakes at Randwick on October 18, a race she won in 2023.
“That’s her race. She loves the mile, she loves Randwick, nothing more to say. Four weeks’ time, it’ll be a big day,” he said.
Fangirl has firmed into $3 favoritism at Ladbrokes for the King Charles III Stakes, where she is likely to face her younger stablemate Autumn Glow, who is currently at $3.50.
2025 7 Stakes Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | FANGIRL | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 3 | 57kg | $2.05F | |||
| 2 | 6 | LINDERMANN | Chris Waller | Nash Rawiller | 0.02L | 5 | 59kg | $5 | ||
| 3 | 1 | CEOLWULF (NZ) | Joseph Pride | Chad Schofield | 1.97L | 1 | 59kg | $4 | ||
| 4 | 3 | PRIVATE EYE | Joseph Pride | Adam Hyeronimus | 2.66L | 6 | 59kg | $6.50 | ||
| 5 | 7 | KOVALICA (NZ) | Chris Waller | Zac Lloyd | 3.86L | 7 | 59kg | $81 | ||
| 6 | 2 | LIGHT INFANTRY MAN (FR) | Ciaron Maher | Ethan Brown | 4.48L | 4 | 59kg | $19 | ||
| 7 | 8 | MILITARIZE (NZ) | Chris Waller | Jason Collett | 4.54L | 2 | 59kg | $21 | ||
| 8 | 9 | KADAVAR (NZ) | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 11.32L | 8 | 59kg | $201 | ||
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