Extragalactic’s quest for Group 1 redemption starts in this Saturday’s $750,000 Moir Stakes at Sandown.
Pakenham trainer Trent Edmonds will produce the four-year-old for the first time since she was beaten a nose by Desert Lightning in The Goodwood in the 1000-metre weight-for-age event.
The Goodwood was a bitter pill to swallow for Edmonds, but one that only heightened his desire to see the daughter of Deep Field break through at the top level.
Edmonds is convinced Extragalactic has improved between campaigns.
“I think she’s going better and I couldn’t have her any better for a first-up effort – she’s really on song and she’s right in the spot,” he said.
“I’m really confident that I’ve got the right horse going there and she’s in the right space.
“She’s filling me with confidence, she’s really well and I can’t have any better.”
The Moir will be just the eighth start for Extragalactic, who has three wins and three second placings to her name.
She is chasing Edmonds’ maiden Black Type win since stepping away from the partnership with his father Toby, with whom he won the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap with Tyzone in 2020.
The Queenslander took up residence at Pakenham midway through the 2023/24 season, which was around the same time he secured Extragalactic for $160,000 at the Magic Millions’ Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
She was the only yearling Edmonds bought at the 2024 edition of the famous sale.
The second foal from Al Maher mare Alliterate, Extragalactic’s immediate family members do not boast a lot of Black Type but some big names appear further down the page.
Fourth dam What Price Glory is a half-sister to Steam Heat, who is the granddam of The Everest winner Yes Yes Yes and Black Caviar Lightning and The Galaxy winner In Her Time.
Those bloodlines, combined with her physical appearance, made Extragalactic a must-have item for Edmonds.
“She just looked sharp,” he said of his first impression of her.
“She wasn’t overly big, but she was a good athlete that had a really good, long, fluent walk and great hind quarter.
“I thought, ‘alright, you’re obviously a pretty good sort and you’re well put-together, even though you’re not overly big, so I’ll have a crack’.”
Extragalactic, who was foaled in August 2022, is effectively part of the final crop by Deep Field.
He stood one final season at Newgate Farm the year that Extragalactic was born, but produced just seven live foals, only five of which have been named.
“They’re really good, versatile, tough stock and, basically, that was one of the reasons I wanted to buy her,” Edmonds said.
“I liked the sire, I knew that he wasn’t serving anymore, or that her crop was going to be one of his last full teams, and she was in my price range.”
It wasn’t Edmonds’ plan to tackle the Moir Stakes first-up, but she heads in without a lead-up run after being scratched from the Group 3 Carlyon Stakes (1000m) on August 22 due to the Heavy track.
Not because he is scared she will not handle a wet track, which she is a chance to strike this weekend, he just didn’t want her lead-up to be on one.
“I scratched her from the Carlyon purely because I didn’t want to rip the guts out of her first-up at 1000, knowing that my first big target for the preparation was in two weeks’ time,” Edmonds said.
“I wasn’t running away from the Heavy, I was trying to protect her and have her cherry ripe this week rather than trying to patch her back up after a Heavy track run.”
Extragalactic finished second at her two runs on Soft tracks – one of which was The Goodwood, which was run on a Soft 6 – and Deep Field is a noted sire of wet-trackers with a 34.2 percent winners-to-runners ratio and a 16 percent winning strike-rate on Heavy tracks.
