Melbourne Group One glory for Cosmic Crusader

Already proven at the elite level in Perth, Cosmic Crusader (NZ) (Maurice) made his Group One mark in Melbourne on Saturday with a triumph in the A$750,000 TAB Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington.

The New Zealand-bred gelding soared through the Western Australian ranks with eight wins, culminating in the Gr.1 Northerly Stakes (1800m) last December.

Owner-breeder Bob Peters decided to see how his latest star measured up in the east this spring, and he transferred him into the Pakenham stable of Andrea Leek.

That Victorian venture got off to a perfect start with back-to-back victories in the Gr.3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) and Gr.2 PB Lawrence Stakes (1400m), followed by a third in the Gr.1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) and second in the Gr.1 Underwood Stakes (1800m). Stepping up to 2000m fifth-up in the Turnbull Stakes on Saturday, against elite weight-for-age performers like Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) and Sir Delius (Frankel) and dual Cups hero Half Yours (St Jean), they got the Group One result they wanted.

Cosmic Crusader was ridden by top Perth jockey William Pike, who took up a handy position in fifth as the front-running Light Infantry Man (Fast Company) threw down the gauntlet and opened up a big lead.

Light Infantry Man was still well clear coming into the home straight, and Sir Delius and Aeliana were under hard riding and seemingly not making much headway.

But then Pike unleashed Cosmic Crusader down the outside, and he lengthened his stride and set his sights on the leader.

Cosmic Crusader bounded past Light Infantry Man with 175m to run and pulled ahead to win by a length and three-quarters, with Aeliana getting going late to cross the line another length away in third.

“First of all, thank you to Mr Peters and his family,” Pike said. “They were backing me from the get-go, even when I put in a bit of an iffy one a couple of starts ago.

“It is really nice to get the job done. He was putting in those good runs without getting the job done, so I really wanted to get it done for him.

“What might have brought us unstuck last start was the firmer deck, so it was good to have the cut out of it today. I don’t think it’s quite as heavy as I initially thought, and he loved it.

“To the Leek family, they’ve prepared him really well. He’s back being edgy today. I like this version of him. I like him when he’s up and about, throwing his head. I like this version of him.”

The Turnbull was a career-first Group One win for Leek.

“Excitement, shaking, and I can’t wait to go and see the horse and see how he’s pulled up,” she said. “It was a great ride from Willie, I’m very appreciative of the Peters family, and I’m thrilled for my whole family.

“I just think he might have been the fittest in the field. He’s had a few runs now. I thought he had come on from the last run, and I just thought he would run the 2000m out.

“He’s a tricky horse, but I sent a message to Bob this morning, saying, ‘There’s no excuses today. He’s spot on.’ Thank God I was right.

“I galloped him one morning at Pakenham, and it was about a Heavy15. The tracks were closed, and they were good enough to let us work him because he was going into one of his previous races. He went across the top of it like it was a good track. So I was pretty confident he would handle the wet today.”

Cosmic Crusader has now had 22 starts for 11 wins, seven placings and A$2.52 million in stakes.

Cosmic Crusader is by Maurice out of the Street Sense mare Cosmic Storm, whose seven wins included the Gr.3 La Trice Classic (1800m) and three Listed races. Cosmic Storm is a half-sister to three stakes winners including the Gr.1 Cantala Stakes (1600m) winner Superstorm.

While in New Zealand, Cosmic Storm was served by Windsor Park Stud stallion Charm Spirit. The resulting filly foal was named Cosmic Spirit and has recorded two wins and three placings from a six-start career to date for Cosmic Crusader’s former trainer Michael Grantham.