Marhoona clinches Golden Slipper with Michael Freedman emotional after beating racing big guns

Six weeks ago, she hadn’t started in a race and one week ago, no one could be sure she was in it, yet Michael Freedman’s Marhoona upstaged Sydney’s biggest stables to win Saturday’s Group 1 $5 million TAB Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill. The well-backed $8 TABtouch chance broke like a gazelle, whizzing over to find the fence before taking cover as a number of horses whipped over from wider gates. Bellazaine ($31) raced to the front from North England ($26) who trailed her, meaning despite the sprightly beginning, Marhoona was now shuffled to be three back the fence. Edging away from the fence on turning, jockey Damian Lane was forced to wait until the 300m when clear air finally appeared and the Snitzel filly exploded into action. By the 200m, Marhoona had hit the front but Wodeton ($7) and Tempted ($4.80f) had followed her momentum through and now pulled either side of her to give chase. In a desperate dive for the line, the head-bob favoured Marhoona, who clung on by a head from Wodeton, with Tempted breathing down their necks. Freedman is no foreigner to Slipper success, clinching four consecutive renditions of the race with his brothers in the 1990s and the 2021 event with his brother Richard. But it meant something more to win it on his own for the first time with Chris Waller’s Coolmore colt and James Cummings’ Godolphin filly clawing away in behind. “It’s hard. You’re a small stable taking on these big numbers. You do the best you can,” Freedman said. “I love training two-year-olds, I love training horses. It’s a big thrill. “It’s a cliché, but these moments are exactly why you do it.” Marhoona debuted in a Canterbury maiden on February 7 before a runner-up effort to Tempted in the Reisling Stakes a fortnight ago and Freedman was worried it was too much too soon. “I was a little bit concerned coming into today thinking maybe we needed one more run under our belt,” he said. “But I thought I had the right article, I really did. Her run in the Reisling was off the charts. She was a month between runs. “In these sort of races, you’re always wondering if you’re kidding yourself. I just thought she was the right article and she’s got the best temperament.”