Popular mare Miracles Of Life has returned to her native Adelaide in the best way possible this afternoon; completing a perfectly-timed performance to pip Gregers on the line in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville.

Miracles Of Life pipped Gregers to win the 2015 Robert Sangster Stakes. Photo: Jenny Barnes
Jumping from the gates well, jockey Hugh Bowman settled the Not A Single Doubt mare off the pace of early leaders Tycoon Tara and Gregers; slightly better than mid-field.
Continuing to box on and receiving an ideal run in transit, Bowman began to slowly wind up the four-year-old upon arriving at the final straight before she exploded down the outside of the main pack; reaching a runaway Gregers who appeared to be home in the final 50 and nodding her head at the right time to post a second victory at the highest level of Australian racing.
Bowman delivered a typically brilliant ride aboard Miracles Of Life for success in the 2015 Robert Sangster Stakes and was thrilled to be the one aboard for her return to Group 1 success.
“She’s already a Group 1 winner obviously and everyone knows what her record is like,” Bowman said.
“She’s just so consistent, she’s an absolute pleasure to deal with and to come here and get a Group 1 as an older mare; I know it means a lot to the Snowden stable and it means a lot to me.
“It was a bit muttley the pace early stages but when we settled into position I was just three deep with cover and had a nice piece of cover on Sabatini.
“That horse was able to get me to where I wanted to go and then when I peeled off its back I had the engine to get the job done and full credit to her.
“It takes a Group 1 horse to win this race and Gregers wasn’t stopping, even Craig Williams said I thought I was going to hold you at the 50 But she’s a class mare, I had the momentum, I was very confident approaching the 100m and she certainly didn’t let me down.”
Co-trainer Paul Snowden was thrilled with Miracles Of Life’s 2015 Robert Sangster Stakes performance and revealed the team is yet to decide on her next course of action.
“It was great, especially for her to come back here and do what she did – it’s fantastic,” Snowden said.
“As a two-year-old you saw what she did and now she’s doing it again at four so she’s a really special horse.
“All the work was done at home and we had the horse to do it.
“I think we’ll get her home and have a look at her and see where we go from here but the main thing is to keep her fresh and basically that’s how she races her best.”
Miracles Of Life was a favourite amongst punters in the 24 hours leading up to the 2015 Robert Sangster Stakes but jumped at a still-generous quote of $4.40 with Ladbrokes.com.au.
2015 Robert Sangster Stakes Results
Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | MIRACLES OF LIFE | Peter & Paul Snowden | Hugh Bowman | – | 6 | 56.5kg | $4.20 |
2 | 6 | GREGERS | David Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Craig Williams | 0.1L | 7 | 56.5kg | $8 |
3 | 10 | I LOVE IT | John Salanitri | Stephen Baster | 1L | 1 | 56.5kg | $21 |
4 | 12 | MISS STEELE | Michael Kent | Mark Zahra | 1L | 15 | 56.5kg | $101 |
5 | 8 | TYCOON TARA | Symon Wilde | Ben Melham | 1.3L | 10 | 56.5kg | $14 |
6 | 7 | POLITENESS | Robert Smerdon | Dwayne Dunn | 1.4L | 13 | 56.5kg | $9 |
7 | 5 | VAIN QUEEN | John Sadler | Nicholas Hall | 1.8L | 12 | 56.5kg | $4F |
8 | 4 | AVOID LIGHTNING | Les Bridge | Tim Clark | 1.9L | 14 | 56.5kg | $12 |
9 | 17 | WAWAIL | David Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Michael Walker | 2.4L | 5 | 55kg | $12 |
10 | 9 | RUNWAY STAR | Peter G Moody | Damien Oliver | 3.8L | 2 | 56.5kg | $41 |
11 | 15 | NATURAL DISASTER | Alex Stra | Ronnie Stewart | 4.5L | 4 | 56.5kg | $201 |
12 | 2 | MAGNIFISIO | Jim P Taylor | Jason Brown | 4.7L | 3 | 56.5kg | $10 |
13 | 16 | SABATINI | Lee & Shannon Hope | Blake Shinn | 5.5L | 9 | 55kg | $7.50 |
14 | 14 | FINE APPROACH | Ryan Balfour | Todd Pannell | 7.3L | 8 | 56.5kg | $101 |
15 | 11 | TEXT’N HURLEY | Marilyn Smith | Dom Tourneur | 24.5L | 11 | 56.5kg | $151 |