The Galaxy shapes as one of the more wide-open Group 1 races on Saturday’s Golden Slipper program at Rosehill.
Run over 1100m, the sprint contest has attracted a handful of promising speedsters looking to take the next step, including Aft Cabin, Buenos Noches, and last year’s Coolmore winner, Ozzmosis.
Private Eye will carry top weight from a tricky draw coming off last fortnight’s forgive effort in the Challenge Stakes, while a handful of others hold genuine claims.
There’s a case to be made for a few, and our thoughts on this year’s Galaxy can be found here!
Suggested Betting Strategy
- 1 Unit Aft Cabin (Win)
- 1 Unit Uncommon James (Each Way)
Aft Cabin is a horse that has been knocking on the door of a win at the elite level for some time.
He’s been a tricky one to follow over the last 12 months, notably finishing within 1.5 lengths of Giga Kick in last year’s Doomben 10,000 during the Brisbane Winter Carnival.
We haven’t seen a great deal of him since, but he did return in good order in the Challenge Stakes a couple of weeks ago where he had excuses on his way to finishing third.
Second-up, his record reads quite well, and I do think he’ll get a nice cart into the race from a wider draw under James McDonald.
On talent, he’s capable of putting this talented field away, especially if rain continues to fall.
Buenos Noches looked a genuine threat to Imperatriz two weeks ago in the Newmarket Handicap before plenty went wrong in the run home.
Matthew Smith’s promising four-year-old pulled up lame and was never in the race out of the home turn, beaten over four lengths in the end where he finished down the order.
It’s hard to know how he’s pulled up only a fortnight on, but I do think he’s worth sticking with from a better barrier, especially if there’s a little sting out of the track.
Uncommon James is another one that should appreciate a rain-affected track in his return to the races.
The O’Dea and Hoysted-trained five-year-old went close on several occasions at Group 1 level last year, most notably running second in this race to Mariamia from a soft gate.
He returned in the spring to run a place behind Imperatriz twice and has since come out and won a nice trial at Doomben in the lead up to his return.
Whether he has the class to match some of these with race fitness is the question, but drawn the inside gate with Damian Lane back on board, a top three finish wouldn’t surprise.