Golden Slipper heroine Marhoona has returned in style, winning a slick 800m trial at Hawkesbury on Monday morning in her first public outing since her Group 1 success in March.
The Emirates Park-owned filly, trained by Michael Freedman, produced a polished effort under jockey Keegan Latham, slipping up the rail on the home bend before edging clear to defeat Headwall by half a length. Shangri La Spring, Jedibeel and Ostraka rounded out the placings.
Freedman was satisfied with her hitout. “It was a nice trial, she looks to have come back in good order and she pulled up nice and clean after it,” he said. The Randwick horseman emphasised the trial was key given she is likely to go first-up into a feature race. “I wanted her to finish it off without coasting to the line… they ran very quick time and I was very happy with how she pulled up.”
Marhoona now has several first-up targets on the table: the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley, Sydney’s Concorde Stakes (1000m), or the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1200m) for fillies. Stablemate Apocalyptic also caught the eye in the same trial, finishing sixth at just her second racetrack appearance.
The morning featured several other notable trial winners, with Randwick Guineas winner Linebacker prevailing over 1000m, while Melbourne Cup-bound Sir Delius and Vauban scored over 1250m.
Punters can already access markets for Marhoona’s possible spring starting points at leading betting sites.