Unbeaten in his first four starts before a fourth in last year's G1 Coolmore Stud S., 3-year-old colt Russian Revolution (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) has been readied for his first-up assignment in the G1 Galaxy (1100m) with two impressive barrier trial wins.
Having defeated Group 1 winners Astern (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro {USA}) and Capitalist (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}) in his G2 Roman Consul victory last campaign, the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained colt has always shown above-average ability, and the first-up run at Group 1 level has always been on the cards for the colt.
In a fairly wide-open affair, Russian Revolution needs to contend with the outside barrier in the field of 14, while the Group 2-winning, Group 1-placed mare Heatherly (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}) will jump from his immediate inside. A noted leader, Heatherly will need to cross the field and with plenty of speed on her inside, she may be forced to travel wide, but in the wet conditions this could prove a positive.
Another mare likely to be right in the finish is the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained English (Aus) (Encosta de Lago ({Aus}), a Group 1 winner of the All Aged S. (1400m) last year. Having raced on this day for the past two years when second in the Golden Slipper and sixth in the Galaxy last year, the mare highlighted her class winning first-up on the heavy 10 conditions in the G2 Challenge S.
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