The Godolphin-raced mare Colette relished the rain in Sydney for the $7.5 million The Golden Eagle at Rosehill Gardens winning the feature race on a Heavy (9) track in a thrilling late fight to the line.

Colette (pictured winning the ATC Oaks) thrived on a Heavy Rosehill track to salute in the 2020 $7.5 million The Golden Eagle. Photo: Steve Hart.

The country’s second richest race, the spring showdown for four-year-olds went down to the wire with young hoop Koby Jennings getting the job done aboard the gutsy James Cummings-trained Colette.

Over an unsuitably short 1500m distance, the well-bred daughter of Hallowed Crown found a way to win and retain her undefeated record – now three-from-three – on Heavy tracks.

A genuine staying type having won the Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m) in Sydney on a Heavy (8) as a three-year-old back in April, Colette celebrated her first win since fourth-up in The Golden Eagle.

“She just savaged the line,” Cummings told the media post-win.

“She looked like (her dam) Hallowed Crown there those last 100m!

“We’ve managed to get this mare absolutely spot on for the day.

“This farm has produced the most amazing crop of horses. This crop of horses we’ve got now have won the Golden Gift, the Golden Slipper and we’ve just topped it off with the Grand Slam in the Golden Eagle.

“You’ve got to remember on days like this, it all starts somewhere.”

Just Thinkin’ led them around in The Golden Eagle and was still in front on the turn for home before the challenges came.

On the improve was the Brad Widdup-trained Icebath, ridden by apprentice Tom Sherry, while Colette was winding-up late in a huge run.

She and Icebath went stride for stride, with Colette really digging deep to just win The Golden Eagle in a photo as Dawn Passage held for third off a wide run.

“She’s a super mare,” Cummings said.

“What a wonderful performance for her to win this fresh over a distance that was too short for her.”

2020 The Golden Eagle Results       

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	13	COLETTE	James Cummings	Koby Jennings		6	55.5kg		$10
	2	18	ICEBATH (NZ)	Brad Widdup	Tom Sherry (a)	0.1L	5	55.5kg		$6
	3	4	DAWN PASSAGE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	0.9L	13	57.5kg		$21
	4	17	ALL SAINTS’ EVE (NZ)	John O’Shea	Sam Clipperton	2.2L	3	55.5kg		$41
	5	9	BOTTEGA	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	James Innes Jnr	2.8L	4	57.5kg		$26
	6	3	SUPERSTORM	Grant & Alana Williams	Joshua Parr	3L	16	57.5kg		$20
	7	2	BRANDENBURG (NZ)	John Sargent	Regan Bayliss	3.2L	11	57.5kg		$31
	8	10	CRIADERAS	James Cummings	Keagan Latham	3.6L	9	57.5kg		$21
	9	15	EMERALDS	John Sargent	Jason Collett	4.8L	15	55.5kg		$41
	10	11	FLIT	James Cummings	Ms Rachel King	5L	14	55.5kg		$21
	11	5	RIODINI (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Brenton Avdulla	5.1L	7	57.5kg		$13
	12	16	SIERRA SUE (NZ)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Nash Rawiller	6L	1	55.5kg		$7.50
	13	7	RELOADED	Chris Waller	Robbie Dolan	7.3L	10	57.5kg		$201
	14	6	WINDSTORM	Grant & Alana Williams	Glyn Schofield	8.3L	8	57.5kg		$31
	15	1	ALLIGATOR BLOOD	David Vandyke	Ryan Maloney	8.5L	12	57.5kg		$10
	16	14	SUBPOENAED (NZ)	Chris Waller	Jay Ford	8.6L	2	55.5kg		$41
	17	12	FUNSTAR	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	11.6L	18	55.5kg		$4.80F
	18	8	JUST THINKIN’	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Ms Kathy O’Hara	12.3L	17	57.5kg		$151

Table Credit: Racing Australia.