Galaxy Pegasus will head to the 2014 Sandown Guineas on November 15 after he scored his maiden win at Group level in the 2014 Red Anchor Stakes at Moonee Valley this afternoon.
Galaxy Pegasus scored a narrow win in the 2014 Red Anchor Stakes at Moonee Valley this afternoon. Photo by: Sarah Ebbett
Galaxy Pegasus made his Australian racing debut with a dominant seven lengths win in a maiden at Geelong on August 29 and he was well-backed in the lead-up to the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on September 13, but he finished a disappointing tenth before returning to winning form at Kilmore on September 29.
The War Pass colt was well-backed in the lead-up to the Red Anchor Stakes, which is now known as the Telstra Phoneworlds Stakes, and he was given a lovely run into the race by jockey Damien Oliver in fifth position on the rail.
The leading hoop got Galaxy Pegasus off the rail at the 500 metre mark and the three-year-old responded well when asked for an extra effort to score a narrow win over Law and Nicoscene.
Oliver was impressed with the performance of Galaxy Pegasus in the Red Anchor Stakes, but he believes that the immature three-year-old still has plenty of improvement in front of him and will be even better as an older horse.
“He is a magnificent type and he is going to develop into a beautiful horse,” Oliver said.
“He is still putting it together and I was a bit scared by Law who flew through on the inside, but he still managed to hold him off.”
David Hayes was happy to record a maiden win at stakes level with Galaxy Pegasus and he revealed that he is hoping that the promising colt can produce an ever better performance over an extended trip.
The in-form trainer said that he would have a discussion with connections, but would like to set Galaxy Pegasus for the Group 3 Sandown Guineas (1600m) at Sandown on Zipping Classic Day before sending him for a stint in the spelling paddock.
“He is heading towards the Sandown Guineas hopefully via the Carnival Handicap at Flemington,” Hayes said.
“I’ll have a chat with Damien and I think that he more stargazed rather than stopped at the end of that race.
“I love his length, he has wonderful length, which suggests that he should get out over a bit of ground.”
Hayes is without a runner in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) after imported galloper Crackerjack King suffered an injury during the week, but he has Zululand in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) this afternoon.
