Private Secretary sprouts wings to win Magic Millions F&M
PRIVATE Secretary came with a withering burst to win the $1 million Magic Millions Fillies And Mares at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The Gregory Hickman-trained mare was well-supported in the betting at $4.80 with CrownBet, despite having not won in 587 days, but the punters had every right to be confident.
The seven-year-old produced one of the best finishes in Magic Millions history by storming down the outside to pip I Am Zelady on the post in a performance which had those on course in awe.
The crowd was confident Private Secretary had got the job done, but Hickman wasn’t going the early crow until the photo finish was shown.
“The other people went up in the crowd and thought they’d won and I thought ‘oh, I don’t know’, then they put the replay up and it looked pretty clear didn’t it?,” Hickman said.
The seven-time winner produced a big finish to run second last time out in the Colin McAlpine at Eagle Farm and Hickman said it only needed luck prior to the race.
“Everything’s gone well and I’ve been happy with her preparation and yes, we do need a bit of luck,” he said.
“She’s travelled here, there and everywhere. I’m just happy that she’s…(breaks down with emotion).”
Private Secretary was only a $32,000 purchase from the 2011 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale and after a string of close defeats, it was able to finally secure its grand final.
The Joe Pride-trained I Am Zelady looked the winner nearing the line before getting swamped. The five-year-old mare won this race last year when defeating Private Secretary by two lengths, with the quinella paying a handy $40.40 at WilliamHill.com.au.
Four-year-old mare Bidii Babe was unlucky behind Kinshachi last start, but everything went to plan this time around with the Robert Heathcote-trained runner finishing well for third at big odds of $10 to place at Bet365.com.