Cosmic Crusader hands Leek 1st G1 in Turnbull Stakes

MELBOURNE – The Pakenham-based Andrea Leek has registered her biggest success after Cosmic Crusader took out the A$750,000 (S$666,000) Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2,000m) at Flemington on Oct 3.

Leek hopes to return for Australia’s weight-for-age championship race, the Group 1 Cox Plate (2,040m) at Flemington on Oct 24 with the Perth-owned gelding.

Ridden by William Pike, Cosmic Crusader ($30) appreciated the heavy conditions in running out a 1¾-length winner from Light Infantry Man (Harry Coffey) with Aeliana (Damian Lane) in third.

Leek said focusing on her horses had taken family pressures away as her husband John is sidelined through disqualification and is unable to currently stay on the family property.

“I think I’ve been lucky to have this focus,” said Leek.

“It’s been tough on the family, and focusing on my horses is what that has got me through.”

Cosmic Crusader – who also won another Group 1 in the 2025 Northerly Stakes (1,800m) when trained by Michael Grantham – had not raced beyond 1,800m before the Turnbull Stakes but he handled the rise in distance well.

Leek said the son of Maurice had race fitness on his side.

“I just think he was the fittest in the field,” she said.

“I thought he had come on from the last run, and I just thought he would run the 2,000m.”

It was the first time the six-year-old had seen a heavy track, albeit he had won five from six starts on soft tracks.

Leek had no concerns about the ground after working the gelding on a heavy track at Pakenham.

“It was about a heavy 15 one morning,” she said.

“He went across the top of it like it was a good track. I was confident he would handle the wet.

“It was a great ride from Willie, I’m very appreciative of the (owners) Peters family and I’m thrilled for my whole family.”

Pike said getting Cosmic Crusader back on a forgiving surface was crucial to his win.

“What might have brought us unstuck last start was the firmer deck,” said the Perth champion jockey.

“To get good cut out of it today, I think it wasn’t quite as heavy as I initially thought, and he loved it.”

Over in Sydney, apprentice jockey Siena Grima guided the Chris Waller-trained outsider God’s Window ($185) to a historic Epsom Handicap (1,600m) win at her first Group 1 race.

The 24-year-old rider became only the second female rider to win the famous A$1.5 million Royal Randwick mile after Kathy O’Hara won on board Rediener – also trained by Waller – in 2023.

The John Sargent-trained filly Global Goal ($15) got up by a neck under Dylan Gibbons in a three-way thriller in the other Sydney Group 1 race, the A$750,000 Flight Stakes (1,600m). SKY RACING WORLD